ESP Zener Cards Test (Parapsychology)

[Nightmaker47]

Here is my own online example of ESP testing for those who are interested in parapsychology or just want to try it out of curiosity. This test gives you a total of 30 guesses based on 5 Zener Cards: star, circle, waves, square, cross. To make this test more controlled, I used blind protocols to prevent the guesser from knowing whether or not the 30 guesses are correct. It will help eliminate, if not, highly minimize any conscious or unconscious bias that can ruin the test (this can only remain true if the guesser does not cheat by looking at the targets at the end of the test or repeats the test again). Now last but not least, the selection of the 30 targets are based on the supposed random website, Random.org.

In order to pass/show evidence for the ESP test, you must score 12 or more hits (correct guesses) after guessing 30 times. Statistically speaking, the chances of getting this much or more are about 5%, meaning that out of 200 cases, only 10 (by average) would score that high by luck/coincidence. A score of 13 or higher is even more unlikely since there will be about 2 or less out of 200 getting that much. Paradoxically, a score of 1 or less can also be considered evidence of ESP because the guesser is psychically getting the targets but unconsciously avoids them. Who says that getting 0 heads out of 1,000 coin tosses is not weird?

If you scored between 2-11, your results are nothing more than random chance that fall at the 95% population. Whether you take this ESP test seriously or not (without cheating), it won't matter. As long as the selection of targets is random and not being cheated, the statistics will remain constant regardless of how many people take the test.

Be sure to get something to write on to record those 30 guesses. Also, feel free to publish your results at my channel or here.

Good luck and Merry Christmas! Edited December 25, 2013 by Nightmaker47

[taniwha]

Merry Xmas

I scored 9.

[Nightmaker47]

Merry Xmas

I scored 9.

Hello, taniwha.

Thank you for taking my online ESP test

The p-value or the probability of getting 9 or more correct is roughly 0.257 or about 1 in 4. Even though it is not considered evidence for ESP, you did much better than approximately 75% (sorry for the wrong 85% calculation before) of the population would.

Congrats

Edited December 25, 2013 by Nightmaker47

[Nightmaker47]

Do not be discouraged if you did not reach the psychic score. This test does not prove that you don't have psychic abilities. A real scientific ESP test requires large numbers of trials to conceive a more accurate estimation of evidence. I only added 30 trials so it won't be as boring as taking 1,000 trials. Again, the fact that you did not reach a psychic score does not necessarily mean you are not psychic. Only that the data fails to find any evidence via statistical significance.

[Professor T]

I scored 10.

Well I didn't reach the magic Limit, , then again, my higher self has been directing me towards removing limitations, not achieving any limitations imposed on me by others...

There are hidden dangers in this exercise..

My advice to those who aspire to become more attuned than they are already is don't put any faith in these kinds of tests.

[libstaK]

I scored 8 - I have to say 2 things.

1 - The music was annoying and distracting

2 - Zener cards come in colours

Blue for the Waves

Green for the Star

Red for the Cross

Orange for the Circle

Black for the Square

I see/feel colours more than shapes, but it was a fun test and thank you for that .

[Nightmaker47]

I scored 10.

Well I didn't reach the magic Limit, , then again, my higher self has been directing me towards removing limitations, not achieving any limitations imposed on me by others...

There are hidden dangers in this exercise..

My advice to those who aspire to become more attuned than they are already is don't put any faith in these kinds of tests.

That's an impressive score you got there. Not statistically significant of course but impressive for someone who hit the 12% probability mark. Perhaps if there were more trials you would hit the magic limit?

Personally, I think faith and disbelief play a huge role in psychic probability. If I believe my impressions are correct, there's a chance that I may be right or not. If I doubt it, I'd probably ignore the real target unconsciously. I believe it's called the Sheep-Goat Effect. Now given my knowledge in statistics, I know that faith and disbelief cannot help you do better or worse without ESP.

Hidden dangers? What do you mean?

[Nightmaker47]

I scored 8 - I have to say 2 things.

1 - The music was annoying and distracting

2 - Zener cards come in colours

Blue for the Waves

Green for the Star

Red for the Cross

Orange for the Circle

Black for the Square

I see/feel colours more than shapes, but it was a fun test and thank you for that .

Sorry about the music. I originally added meditation music with the relaxing sounds of water, but YouTube sent me a third-party copyright notification and had to change it. I thought the test would be quite boring without music, so I added one. Thanks for letting me know about the colors. I'll probably add that to my next ESP test .

Glad you enjoyed it.

Merry Christmas!

[Professor T]

That's an impressive score you got there. Not statistically significant of course but impressive for someone who hit the 12% probability mark. Perhaps if there were more trials you would hit the magic limit?

Personally, I think faith and disbelief play a huge role in psychic probability. If I believe my impressions are correct, there's a chance that I may be right or not. If I doubt it, I'd probably ignore the real target unconsciously. I believe it's called the Sheep-Goat Effect. Now given my knowledge in statistics, I know that faith and disbelief cannot help you do better or worse without ESP.

Hidden dangers? What do you mean?

I kind of agree that faith and disbelief play a role, but probably not in the same way many would think that it all comes down to faith.. That, IMO, is a cop out.. Faith probably represents just a portion of what's necessary to engage ones ESP faculties, an important piece of the puzzle perhaps, that can be easily shattered by failing to reach an imposed limit in a test.. hence the hidden dangers in testing ESP..

To test one's subtle extra sensory perceptions for the intention or purpose of validifying the existence, strength or reliability of their faculties is counterproductive. These kind of tests tend to inflate and stimulate the ego, which is turn seems to drown out ones own ability to connect with ESP's. Validating hit's and misses with ESP in my experience takes hours, day's, weeks and sometimes years.. Instant gratification is 99% egoistic and counter productive..

Also, these statistical limitations is kind of dangerous.. Everyone has these ESP faculties to various degrees.. Finding means to connect with them and use them in a practical non-egotistic and non self serving manor is much more important than measuring it.. also, today one might score 10, tomorrow one might score 3, next week one might score 20.. Having a bar to reach for to prove or disprove ESP is pointless when one considers that much of the time it comes down to connection, strength of connection, and comprehension of data..

I recently read about the sheep/goat effect.. It was very interesting, but again, this brings us to limitations, where describing one's self as believer or non believer, or sheep or goat is in effect creating self imposed limitations upon ones self.. If I choose to label myself a believer (Sheep) then I have forsaken the benefits of non believers (Goats).. If however, one comes to understand what limitations these belief structures create and impose one can straddle the true magical line in-between (the liminal) where both sides are clear and not distorted by sheepish or goatish perceptions.

[Brian Topp]

I got 14, I am a skeptic and I don't believe it was physic abilities.

[Nightmaker47]

I kind of agree that faith and disbelief play a role, but probably not in the same way many would think that it all comes down to faith.. That, IMO, is a cop out.. Faith probably represents just a portion of what's necessary to engage ones ESP faculties, an important piece of the puzzle perhaps, that can be easily shattered by failing to reach an imposed limit in a test.. hence the hidden dangers in testing ESP..

I'm not really sure whether faith can be considered an aspect for engaging one's ESP faculties, but I suppose it's a possibility. Why not? If one can psychically know the correct target, then surely he/she must add some degree of faith for picking it, right? There is no plausible theory yet for how ESP works. It was believed that electromagnetic fields were the cause of psychic abilities; however, experiments like the Ganzfeld (which uses electromagnetic-shielded sound proof chambers) showed otherwise. Whatever the mechanism is, I have no doubt that it will change the scientific paradigm of the universe.

To test one's subtle extra sensory perceptions for the intention or purpose of validifying the existence, strength or reliability of their faculties is counterproductive. These kind of tests tend to inflate and stimulate the ego, which is turn seems to drown out ones own ability to connect with ESP's. Validating hit's and misses with ESP in my experience takes hours, day's, weeks and sometimes years.. Instant gratification is 99% egoistic and counter productive..

Also, these statistical limitations is kind of dangerous.. Everyone has these ESP faculties to various degrees.. Finding means to connect with them and use them in a practical non-egotistic and non self serving manor is much more important than measuring it.. also, today one might score 10, tomorrow one might score 3, next week one might score 20.. Having a bar to reach for to prove or disprove ESP is pointless when one considers that much of the time it comes down to connection, strength of connection, and comprehension of data..

I agree that trying to verify one's existence of ESP via statistical tests can be counterproductive, but only in a certain level. It is true that statistical tests can make researchers give up their research, even if what they're trying to find is true. The cause for this actually has more to do with the lack of statistical power. Now I don't want to lose you in the dust with all these statistics stuff, so I'll try to make it as simple as I can. Statistical power is basically the probability of a statistical test finding an effect (i.e. the hypothesis that's being tested).

This probability is affected by three things: trials, the strength or magnitude of a hypothesis/claim (i.e. effect-size), and the decision to reject the null (the one that says there is no effect) at a given significance level or p-value. The lower these three factors are, the more unlikely the statistical test will find an effect. This is one of the reasons why skeptics don't generally see evidence of ESP. They rely on small samples, expect a probability of a million to one or so, and assume that psychics have a 100% or near accuracy. It's nothing but double-standards. They simply set the bar too high to find an interesting effect. That's where false-negatives come to the picture. This is why I advice others to not be discouraged of my test. Statistical tests can't prove or disprove a hypothesis/claim. The best they can do is justify in the basis of probabilities.

I recently read about the sheep/goat effect.. It was very interesting, but again, this brings us to limitations, where describing one's self as believer or non believer, or sheep or goat is in effect creating self imposed limitations upon ones self.. If I choose to label myself a believer (Sheep) then I have forsaken the benefits of non believers (Goats).. If however, one comes to understand what limitations these belief structures create and impose one can straddle the true magical line in-between (the liminal) where both sides are clear and not distorted by sheepish or goatish perceptions.

Yes, it is an interesting effect. I agree with you although we can't really be certain whether the sheep/goat effect is real or not. It would be a worthwhile theory to test nevertheless.

[Nightmaker47]

I got 14, I am a skeptic and I don't believe it was physic abilities.

That's a very unusual score you got there. If what you say is true and didn't cheat, the chances of you scoring that much is about 0.002 or 1 in 500. Assuming it wasn't the work of ESP, this can only be done by coincidence in 1 out of 500 cases via average. The majority of here who took this test reached what would be expected by chance alone. I even tested about 7 people in person and they scored only between 5-8. You did an amazing work. Thanks for taking the test

[Brian Topp]

That's a very unusual score you got there. If what you say is true and didn't cheat, the chances of you scoring that much is about 0.002 or 1 in 500. Assuming it wasn't the work of ESP, this can only be done by coincidence in 1 out of 500 cases via average. The majority of here who took this test reached what would be expected by chance alone. I even tested about 7 people in person and they scored only between 5-8. You did an amazing work. Thanks for taking the test

I knew you were going to say that

[libstaK]

I knew you were going to say that

lol

[Professor T]

I'm not really sure whether faith can be considered an aspect for engaging one's ESP faculties, but I suppose it's a possibility. Why not?

*snip for size*

Yes, it is an interesting effect. I agree with you although we can't really be certain whether the sheep/goat effect is real or not. It would be a worthwhile theory to test nevertheless.

Having no faith in the ability IMO would lessen the effect.. And yet, in saying that, Brian Topp (local skeptic) has just pooped on that Idea.. He's a goat with the senses of a sheep. and in scoring 14 has effectively thrown yours & my Map of reality out the door..

sweeeeeet.. because the map is not reality..

Thanks Brian..

[Bendy Demon]

Well..considering that the results are already predetermined, I simply let the clip run out without choosing anything and the results won't be any better than if I chose anything.

The only saving grace was the cute picture at the end.

[Nightmaker47]

Well..considering that the results are already predetermined, I simply let the clip run out without choosing anything and the results won't be any better than if I chose anything.

The only saving grace was the cute picture at the end.

Not if you're really unlucky

Even if you didn't choose anything, your results wouldn't qualify since you did not guess.

[Nightmaker47]

I knew you were going to say that

Go get that million dollar prize from Randi!

[Bendy Demon]

Not if you're really unlucky

Even if you didn't choose anything, your results wouldn't qualify since you did not guess.

Fine then. I did the "test" and my "results" were just as dismal as if I hadn't chosen anything at all.

The test is useless as the results at the end never change..it is all predetermined which makes it even more useless and worthless. (which is nearly impossible considering it's lack of validity to begin with).

A fun party game but nothing more.

[Xynoplas]

Since this test reveals the correct answers after the guesses are made, then this is a precognition test rather than a clairvoyance test.

[Nightmaker47]

Fine then. I did the "test" and my "results" were just as dismal as if I hadn't chosen anything at all.

The test is useless as the results at the end never change..it is all predetermined which makes it even more useless and worthless. (which is nearly impossible considering it's lack of validity to begin with).

Exactly my point. That is why I recommend not to repeat the experiment after you done guessing 30 times or seen the results. Doing so can lead to conscious/unconscious bias and therefore, invalidate the test given that the test-subject knew them at first-hand.

it is all predetermined which makes it even more useless and worthless. (which is nearly impossible considering it's lack of validity to begin with)

I beg to differ. What determines a test being valid is if it is done under blind conditions, meaning that the test-subject is completely ignorant to the anonymous targets. Another thing to consider is to make sure there are no patterns that the guesser might find out. Otherwise, there's a chance of hit inflation and make it seem as if he/she is psychic. The only aspect I would agree with is the lack of a laboratory controlled environment. There is no way to ensure that the results I been told here and on my YouTube channel are genuine or just lies. Parapsychologists rely heavily on data gathering (typically meta-analyses) and other statistical methods like funnel plots. This I cannot do. If I want a serious test, first it needs to be done person to person and published in some peer-reviewed journal. That is how my test would be taken seriously.

[Nightmaker47]

Since this test reveals the correct answers after the guesses are made, then this is a precognition test rather than a clairvoyance test.

You are correct.

Precognition still falls in the category of ESP though.

[Professor T]

Since this test reveals the correct answers after the guesses are made, then this is a precognition test rather than a clairvoyance test.

You are correct.

Precognition still falls in the category of ESP though.

You are both ignoring the 100th monkey effect and the collective conscious.. The theoretical existence of one or the other invalidates a pre-determined ESP Test such as this.. It's hard enough to comprehend and control our own thoughts and perceptions as it is without a bunch of other monkeys out there telepathically helping our subconscious along & or having a small percentage of collective conscious knowing the results already..

seriously.. I'm all for the creation of exercises similar to this, but not as tests or validation.. The concept and the energy behind exercises like this needs to serve a unified purpose.. Any exercise such as this and others that I've toyed with have served as validation of existence or accuracy of ESP. As a result, it's served to strengthen polarity and duality which ultimately is counterproductive.

[Nightmaker47]

You are both ignoring the 100th monkey effect and the collective conscious.. The theoretical existence of one or the other invalidates a pre-determined ESP Test such as this.. It's hard enough to comprehend and control our own thoughts and perceptions as it is without a bunch of other monkeys out there telepathically helping our subconscious along & or having a small percentage of collective conscious knowing the results already..

I actually had someone mention to me about this collective unconscious theory during our discussion with the Ganzfeld studies. I really don't believe this "collective unconscious" can invalidate pre-determined ESP tests like the Ganzfeld. I'm more fond into statistics and in favor of the Gambler's fallacy. I believe that independence and collective conscious/unconscious are not coexistent. Just because you know the 5 targets or the previous ones does not necessarily mean that you have a better chance of getting the next one right. No matter how much you memorize or know, it won't increase the chances of guessing the next one right. A coin gambler might be almost 100% confident that heads will almost likely come up simply because tails came out so many times. That's not how I see it. The probability still remains the same as the previous ones, regardless how many times you guess. As long as the test remains truly random and blind, I don't see an issue with this collective unconscious.

As for the 100th monkey effect, I agree. Although it doesn't really rule out ESP as a possible explanation though.

seriously.. I'm all for the creation of exercises similar to this, but not as tests or validation.. The concept and the energy behind exercises like this needs to serve a unified purpose.. Any exercise such as this and others that I've toyed with have served as validation of existence or accuracy of ESP. As a result, it's served to strengthen polarity and duality which ultimately is counterproductive.

I agree that it could be counterproductive. I believe I mentioned this somewhere in the beginning of this thread.

[Professor T]

Hell, I'm only speculating, and as far as the practice of exploring these levels goes I'm only a newbie..

The way I figure it the 100th monkey effect could be a form of telepathy operating at a collective conscious level. Or the 100th monkey effect could be just a symptom of a collective consciousness operating at these subtle levels seldom explored in peoples day to day existence.. Telepathy may very-well be a fundamental aspect of the collective conscious and most forms of ESP, to be honest I don't really know, except to say that gaining knowledge without use of any physical senses (ESP) involves the broadcasting of and the connection to another source of knowledge outside of your physical senses.. Broadcasting & receiving is IMO Telepathy in a nutshell..