Carpenter, L., Wahbeh, H., Yount, G., Delorme, A., Radin, D. (2020). Possible negentropic effects observed during energy medicine sessions. EXPLORE, 17(1), 45-49.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2020.09.003
Abstract
Introduction
Previously reported experiments suggest that aspects of the physical environment, in particular measures of negentropy (i.e., order) associated with the statistical outputs of truly random number generators, may be affected during periods of focused mental attention. The present study was designed to conceptually replicate those reports during energy medicine sessions.
Method
A custom-built “quantum noise generator” (QNG) was used to continuously record and digitize (at 1 KHz) 16 independent channels of random samples (i.e., noise) produced by electron tunneling and avalanche effects in Zener diodes. One metric was developed to quantify temporal dependencies in the noise samples aggregated across the 16 channels, and a second metric was formed that measured spatial dependencies among the 16 channels. The two metrics were combined into a single “spacetime” variable used to measure fluctuations in entropy during 110 half-hour energy medicine sessions. As a control, the same measure was examined in data recorded eight hours after each energy medicine session took place, when no one was in the laboratory.
Results
QNG data recorded during the half-hour sessions showed significant deviations from chance expectation, with a peak deviation observed at 24 minutes into the half-hour (z = 4.24, p < 0.00003, two-tail), and with deviations associated with p < 0.05 from 20 to 29 min, after correction for multiple comparisons. By comparison, data recorded eight hours after each session showed uniformly null results. This outcome is consistent with previously reported studies, suggesting that during periods of focused attention negentropic deviations emerge in random physical systems. Counterarguments to this interpretation are discussed, as well as recommendations for future studies.
