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Schwartzreport

Therapeutic Intention: Into the


Next Generation
| Stephan A. Schwartz |

T
he belief that one organism can Therapeutic intention has been ranked B or fair; and studies done by
affect the well-being of another demonstrated in both casual conditions religious groups seeking conrmation of
through therapeutic intention and under the most rigorous methodo- assumed effects rated D.1
(TI) alone is ancient; no one logical parameters that can be devised. In 2015, English researcher Chris
knows how old because the oldest data Randomization and blindness may com- Roe headed a team that searched eight
about belief we have show it. Across fort scientists, but the truth is that TI has major medical databasesSwets-wise,
time and geography this conviction can been observed to be pretty much the ASSIA, PsychNET, Web of Science,
be found in every human culture. same whatever the conditions of experi- Cochranel Library, British Nursing
Usually it is framed in a religious mentation or ritual. Index, Cinahl FullText, and Informa-
context so it is not the individual inten- In the second decade of the 21st world. They restricted themselves only
der, or even a congregation of intenders, century I think an open-minded assess- to studies published in the English
but an intervening deity, god, or spirit ment says we crossed the threshold; language. All the studies had to exam-
that is responsible for success, if it occurs. therapeutic intention is real and nonlo- ine the effects upon a biological system
This allows a measure of disassociation cal. Many readers will be familiar with of the explicit intention to improve the
it was not me but (ll in the name of the recent human studies, a number of the well-being of that target. Their search
god) that did this thing and, because it best of which have been published in produced 49 non-whole human studies
works with surprising regularity, it con- the pages of Explore. These human from 34 article and 57 whole human
veys acknowledged authority to the deity, studies are how we know TI is not studies across 56 articles.2 They
and this strengthens group faith. magical thinking, but a fairly robust concluded: Results suggest that
It should be noted that the same nonlocal intention effect. subjects in the active condition
effect seems to work whether one is Now on the other side of the thresh- exhibit a signicant improvement in
praying to the Buddha, Jesus, Allah, or old I think the relevant question is: what wellbeing relative to control subjects
the tree spiritsor with no religious do we know about TI? under circumstances that do not seem
context at all. Consider Therapeutic In 2002 physician and researcher to be susceptible to placebo and
Touch which by design is non-religious Wayne Jonas, after leaving as director expectancy effects. Findings with the
and used by nurses throughout the of the Ofce of Alternative Medicine at whole human database suggests that
country. the National Institutes of Health in the effect is not dependent upon the
But for some scientists and physicians 1998, decided to survey all the TI studies previous inclusion of suspect studies
that is not enough. So the question he could track down in the formal peer and is robust enough to accommodate
remains, Is this just magical thinking or reviewed literature. He found 2,200 such some high prole failures to replicate.
coincidence? Is it possible in principle, reports. Among them 122 were labora- How does the TI effect compare with
critics ask, for an individual, or indivi- tory studies, 80 were randomized con- other kinds of treatments? Overall we
duals, to inuence at a distance the trolled trials, 128 with summaries or dont know because no one has yet done
physiological function of another living reviews, 95 were observational studies the equivalent study to what Jessica Utts,
organism? I think the answer is, yes. on non-randomized trials, and 227 departmental chairman and professor of
were descriptive studies, case reports, or statistics at University of California,
surveys. Irvine, and perhaps the most sophisti-
Just as would be done in any other cated mathematician assessing nonlocal
The Schwartzreport tracks emerging trends medical treatment assessment, he used research, did comparing nonlocal per-
that will affect the world, particularly the
for this evaluation the 25-item checklist, ception to the famed 81 mg aspirin
United States. For EXPLORE it focuses on
matters of health in the broadest sense of that
Consolidated Standards of Reporting regime prescribed by physicians in the
term, including medical issues, changes in the Trials (CONSORT). U.S. and other nations.
biosphere, technology, and policy considera- He reported that mindmatter inter- Utts compared databases from two
tions, all of which will shape our culture and action studies rated as A or good; protocols, remote viewing and Ganzfeld,
our lives. studies involving prayer explicitly against the aspirin database and said:

158 EXPLORE May/June 2017, Vol. 13, No. 3 Schwartzreport


In summary, how are the remote Mtapsychique carried out an experiment This has been found to be true in all
viewing and Ganzfeld results different using Violet Tooth fungus cultures which nonlocal performance tasksremote
from the antiplatelet and vascular dis- had been cultivated under optimal con- viewing, presentiment, nonlocal pertur-
ease conclusions? ditions: 10 petri dishes with the culture bation of random number generators
for each participant. It became a total of (RNGs), and the like.
 The psi experiments produced stron- 195 dishes. There were 10 participants, Similarly, those who develop the dis-
ger results than the antiplatelet experi- each of whom carried out nine sessions cipline of attaining and sustaining inten-
ments, in terms of the magnitude of expressing TI. Their task was to inhibit tioned focused awareness do better than
the effect. There is a 36% percent the growth of the fungus cultures. To do those who do not. As an example, study
increase in the probability of a (result) this they concentrated for 15 minutes after study shows meditators do better
over chance, from 2534%. There is a from a distance of about four feet than non-meditators.
25% reduction in the probability (1.2 M) away, never touching the cul- In 1981, William Tedder and Melissa
of a vascular problem after taking tures. After TI treatment 151 showed Monty did a replication of Barrys fungal
antiplatelets. retarded growth.4 study in 1968. This time the participants
 The antiplatelet studies had more What makes this study particularly were 115 miles from the site where the
opportunity for fraud and experimenter interesting is that while most therapeutic yeast cultures were kept. In 16 of 16 trials
effects than did the psi experiments. intention studies are focused on improv- they were successful.6 Other TI studies
 The antiplatelet studies were at least as ing the function of the organism that is have conrmed that distance is not a
likely to be funded and conducted by the target of the intention, a number factor in expressing TI, which conforms
those with a vested interest in the out- successfully measure a negative effect, with other nonlocal consciousness task
come as were the psi experiments. showing that Therapeutic Intention databases, from remote viewing to the
 In both cases, the experiments works both ways. Perhaps because it is Global Consciousness Project, and has
were heterogeneous in terms of experi- something you could never test in been conrmed by them all.
mental methods and characteristics of humans; this is not widely considered Distance does, however, have signi-
the participants. All of this leads to in science. cance in TI when one considers the role
one interesting question: Why are Culturally, however, for millennia, of energy in Therapeutic Intent. But Ill
millions of heart attack and stroke throughout the age of empirical science, address that in moment. For now, I want
patients consuming antiplatelets on a negative TI was recognized. Voodoos to stay focused on the power of TI to
regular basis, while the results of the evil eye, the concept of curses; there are change the most fundamental life
psi experiments are only marginally hundreds of cultural variants of the processes.
known and acknowledged by the concept that the consciousness of one In 1982, and again in 1984, biologist
scientic community? The answer person could negatively affect the well- and parapsychologist Carroll B. Nash at
may have many aspects, but surely it being of a target organism. The echoes St. Josephs College carried out two
does not lie in the statistical methods. of this earlier time are still with us. studies using a particularly elegant pro-
On the evidence I think it is clear the In 1973, Icelandic researchers Erlen- tocol. He recruited 60 participants from
same can be said of the statistical dur Haraldsson and Thorstein Thor- the university community, and asked
protocols in TI studies.3 steinsson carried out a study of yeast. them to alter the ability of a strain of
Two hundred and forty tests tubes were bacterium, Escherichia coli, contained in
At this point I think the relevant prepared, and randomly distributed into test tubes to use lactose by changing its
question is not does TI exist but how two populations, 120 to be the target of known mutation rate in a designated
does this expression of nonlocal inten- TI and 120 to be controls. Seven parti- way, either from lactose negative to
tion operate? cipants, a cohort made up of one phy- lactose positive or the other way
To answer that I want to focus on sician who believed in healing (TI), two round. The bacteria mutated in the
some earlier studies that are simpler people who dened themselves as being desired direction. The controls showed
because their simplicity in this instance healers, and four nave students with no inuence.7,8
is of benet. For the most part, these are neither experience nor interest in TI, Nashs work stands out because it tells
not human studies with all of the com- took part in the study. Their task was us that not only can TI achieve a
plexities such high order mammalian to increase the growth of yeast cultures psychophysical effect immediately, it
systems entail. These are simple studies in test tubes by the mental method of can also fundamentally change muta-
using fungus, or bacteria, or simpler (their) choice. tion, which means long term effects.
mammal systems like mice and, I suggest The physicians and the spiritual hea- Quantum biologist Glen Rein, took
they provide insights into how TI works, lers produced quite signicant results Nashs work to its logical conclusion
and what variables we can use to increase (P o .00014). The students produced and asked: Can TI alter the DNA of
its effectiveness. I want to stress that I chance results.5 another organism? Beginning in 1992
could have offered up dozens of other I think this is a second lesson about Rein started to study and compare the
studies, but chose these because they variables that can affect outcome: The biological effects of different images,
made clear points. attitudes and expectations of all those in thoughts, and intentions. The growth
Lets start very small. In 1968, research a study involving nonlocal consciousness of tumor cells in culture was
physician Jean Barry of LInstitut become linked in a contract of intent. chosen because it could be monitored

Schwartzreport EXPLORE May/June 2017, Vol. 13, No. 3 159


quantitatively using state of the art All of this research puts one in mind relative telomere length after ve years
biochemical techniques and because of a 2008 study for which Dean Ornish of follow-up, compared with controls.13
the outcome was highly relevant clinically. was the Principal Investigator. The pro- Even more recently a Canadian
The protocol involved measuring DNA tocol called for men with diagnosed research team headed by Linda E. Carl-
synthesis by quantifying its ability to prostate cancer to go on a vegan diet, son, who holds the Enbridge Research
incorporate radioactive thymidine using while receiving stress management train- Chair in Psychosocial Oncology at the
standard biochemical techniques. The rate ing, doing aerobic exercise, and partici- University of Calgary looked specically
of DNA synthesis was determined relative pating in a support group of other men at whether meditation/mindfulness
to the total number of cells which were with prostate cancer for three months. could alter a practitioners DNA? The
counted in a hemocytometer.9 And again, The assessment was telomerase activity. assessment in this study was Telomere
Rein looked both ways. They chose this because telomerase is length.
He found, These results indicate that the enzyme that maintains telomeres by Working with breast cancer patients,
focused human intention can inuence adding DNA to the ends of our who were taught a form of Buddhist
the growth of tumor cells by modulating chromosomes.12 meditation, participants were divided
the rate of DNA synthesis. The effects In 2013, Ornish did a second follow- into three groups. The rst group was
observed here on DNA synthesis were up study also using men with prostate randomly assigned to an 8-week cancer
shown to be dependent on the intention cancer and found once again that these recovery program which involved the
of the healer with some intentions pro- life-afrming lifestyle interventions are participant in meditation and low stress
ducing larger effects and others produ- associated with longer telomeres. Tel- Hatha yoga; the second group received
cing effects in the opposite direction. It omeres are stretches of DNA that cap 12-weeks of group therapy, whose goal
was also demonstrated that imagery as our chromosomes and help prevent was to allow the women to process with
well as intention was a critical compo- chromosomal deteriorationbiology others in the emotions and experiences
nent of the states of consciousness professors often liken them to the of having breast cancer. The third group
which produced biological effects.7 plastic tips on shoelaces. Shortened acted as the controls. They received a six-
Brenio Onetto and Gita Elguin at the telomeres arent known to cause a hour stress management course. Eighty
University of Chile added another piece specic disease per se, but they do eight women completed the study and
to the puzzle. In a study they did in whither with age and are shorter in had their blood analyzed for telomere
1966 they injected 60 mice with a people with cancer, diabetes, heart length before and after the interventions.
tumoral suspension. The mice were disease, and high stress levels. Telomeres were maintained in both treat-
randomly assigned to one of two popu- ment groups but shortened in controls.
lations, treated or control. The treated The results:
half were the focus of intentioned Eighty-eight distressed breast cancer
awareness. The intention being to nega- THE ORNISH TEAM REPORTED survivors with a diagnosis of stage I to III
tively affect the growth and develop- Relative telomere length increased from cancer [using the American Joint Com-
ment of the tumors by daily healing baseline by a median of 0  06 telomere mittee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging
treatments. to single-copy gene ratio (T/S) units system] who had completed treatment at
To assess the action of TI they mea- (IQR: 0.050.11) in the lifestyle inter- least 3 months prior participated. Using
sured the weight and volume of the tumor vention group, but decreased in the analyses of covariance on a per-protocol
growth. They found that the average control group (0.03 T/S units, 0.05 sample, there were no differences noted
tumor area was signicantly smaller in to 0  03, difference P .03). When data between the MBCR and SET groups
the treated group than in the controls from the two groups were combined, with regard to the telomere/single-copy
after 16 and 22 days (P o .001), and adherence to lifestyle changes was sig- gene ratio, but a trend effect was
following sacrice of the mice at 23 days, nicantly associated with relative telo- observed between the combined inter-
direct measurements of the tumors con- mere length after adjustment for age and vention group and controls (F [1,84],
rmed a signicant difference (P o .01).10 the length of follow-up (for each per- 3.82; P .054; 2 .043); TL in the
William Bengston and David Krinsley centage point increase in lifestyle adher- intervention group was maintained
in 2000 took the demonstration of ence score, T/S units increased by 0  07, whereas it was found to decrease for
mutation and evolution another step 95% CI: 0  020  12, P .005). At ve control participants.14
forward. In their study 29 of 33 experi- years, telomerase activity had decreased I think all this research is telling us
mental mice (87.9%) were cured of from baseline by 0  25 (2  25 to 2  23) that through our own intentioned
cancer versus 18 of 26 site control mice units in the lifestyle intervention group, focused awareness we can control our
(69.2%) and zero of eight off-site and by 1  08 (3  25 to 1  86) units in physical beings down to the DNA level,
controls. the control group (P .64), and was not even when there is no real cognitive
But here is the important part. Later associated with adherence to lifestyle awareness of how that might be accom-
reinjections of tumor cells in the treated changes (relative risk 0  93, 95% CI: plished. And this is further supported by
and cured mice did not retake. They did 0  721  20, P 0  57). thousands of placebo drug trials, in
not get cancer. They reported, the mice Their interpretation of their study which 3540% of participants get a
retain an immunity to the same cancer was, comprehensive lifestyle interven- result as good or better than those taking
after remission.11 tion was associated with increases in the medication.

160 EXPLORE May/June 2017, Vol. 13, No. 3 Schwartzreport


It also appears that this same effect taken on that day showed a temperature doesnt the existing research data
down to the DNA level can be produced of 437.51C/99.51C.11 show a distance correlation?
by one organism focusing therapeutic Treatment consisted of, A remote, (2) How does the signal sender locate
intention on another. Consider the clin- retroactive intercessory prayer ... said and direct their signal to a single
ical applications of that fact for medi- for the well-being and full recovery of receptor for which they have only a
cine in coming years. the intervention group.11 rst name, or no name at all just a
We also know, thanks to the work of Mortality for the intervention group sealed envelope containing a picture
Israeli epidemiologist Leonard Leibovici, was 28.1% (475/1,691). For the controls of the target person? Or that is a
that just as with spacial distance, time is it was 30.2% (514/1,702) (P for differ- bacterium? And yet that is what the
not a limitation. ence .4, non-signicant). But time in data shows happens.
Leibovici wanted a study in which hospital and duration of fever were (3) How does one send energy to recode
nothing by TI could be causal. His signicantly shorter in the intervention DNA, and how is it targeted? Yet,
protocol was a hospital sited retroactive group than in the control group (P .01 again, thats what we see in the study
intercessory TI study, only a retrocausal and P .04, respectively). results.
one. Leibovici concluded, Remote, retroac-
His protocol was a double blind, tive intercessory prayer said for a group I want to propose that what the
parallel group, randomized controlled is associated with a shorter stay in hospital nonlocal consciousness research proto-
trial of a retroactive intervention and shorter duration of fever in patients cols, each of which has reached a six
[emphasis added].15 He also designed with a bloodstream infection and sigma effect size1 in 1,000,000,000
it to have a large enough n to have some should be considered for use in clinical are telling us is that this is not an energy
gravitas. practice.11 phenomenon, but an informational one.
In July 2000, Leibovici identied 3,393 I go into some length about this study In TI, I do not think energy is the
adult patients each of whom had suffered because it suggests that time is not the explanatory model for the reasons I have
from a serious bloodstream infection with limitation one would assume in TI, a already outlined. Only information
a high mortality rate, which was detected conclusion that is again reinforced by a transfer, accommodates the data. Space
while they were in the Rabin Medical wide range of other nonlocal task protocol and time dont matter, and the targeting
Center in Israel, between 1990 and 1996 studies. But more than that, the time issue mechanism is intentioned attention.
410 years earlier. All patients were long directly addresses what I think is a central That the process is not one of sending,
out of the hospital or dead. The patients misunderstanding in TI research. Is TI an but of opening to that aspect of con-
were randomly assigned to one of two energetic process or something else? sciousness which, as Planck said is
groups: 1,691 in one group and 1,702 in A great many books and articles argue fundamental, and that it is expressed
the other. Then a second randomization for the energy model. This is what I through the manipulation of
determined which group would be what thought, indeed so far as I know I information.
Leibovici called the intervention popu- coined the term subtle energies and This issue of information is a growing
lationthose individuals who were the even named a journal by that name. But concern in several disciplines. One of the
focus of therapeutic intentionwhile the I think closer examination suggests that leading information theorists, Thomas
other group constituted the controls. this is not a viable explanation. Cover, professor jointly in the Electrical
That was the 1,691 group. To begin with if it were energy Leibo- Engineering and Statistics at Stanford,
The therapeutic intention practi- vicis study could not have succeeded. and Joy Thomas, Chief Scientist at Stra-
tioners were given only the rst names The second law of thermodynamics tify, Inc., a Silicon Valley start-up specia-
of the people in the intervention group, does not permit sending energy back in lizing in organizing unstructured
and were asked to focus on the names time. More than that, the kind of energy information, while not directly addres-
and to say a short prayer for the well- that would be required to get a signal the sing the idea of nonlocal consciousness,
being and full recovery of the group as a distances reported in TI studies is not or indeed consciousness at all, provides
whole. There was no sham intervention available to the human brain. one model worth pursuing.
for the control group.11 The brain contains E80 billion neu- They approach it this way: The con-
Remember, these patients had all been rons, 1% of which are ring at any given cept of information is too broad to be
in the hospital 410 years in the past, moment 800 million neurons gener- captured completely by a single deni-
were long ago dead or discharged, and ating 0.085 W. To give some sense of tion. However, for any probability dis-
they knew nothing of this study. proportion, my iPhone battery has tribution, we dene a quantity called the
Leibovici settled on three primary 5.74 W hours, so a 1% neuron trickle entropy, which has many properties that
outcomes to be compared: the number charge would take 285 days to charge the agree with the intuitive notion of what a
of deaths in hospital, length of time the battery. Basically our brains could dimly measure of information should be. And
patient was in hospital from the day of light one low power LED. And to send a then treating a datum of information as
the rst positive blood culture to dis- signal it would be subject to the Inverse a measure present the mathematics of
charge or death, and duration of Square Law of EM propagation. So: how information works.16
fever.11 A patients was dened as Monendra Grover, a quantum biolo-
having a fever on a specic day if (1) How does the signal register thou- gist heading a research team at the
one of three temperature measurements sands of miles away? And why Centre for Agricultural Bioinformatics

Schwartzreport EXPLORE May/June 2017, Vol. 13, No. 3 161


in New Delhi asked: If consciousness is 3. Utts J. The signicance of statistics in 14. Carlson L, Beattie T, Giese-Davis J, et al.
fundamental could it be possible to mindmatter research. J Sci Explor. 1999; Mindfulness-based cancer recovery and
create a living organism from inorganic 13(4):615638. supportive-expressive therapy maintain
material? Will it be possible for science 4. Barry J. General and comparative study telomere length relative to controls in
of the psychokinetic effect on a fungus distressed breast cancer survivors. Cancer
to create life?
culture. J Parapsychol. 1968;32:237243. 2014. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
This was how they saw it: Living 5. Haraldsson E, Thorsteinsson T. Psychoki- doi/10.1002/cncr.29063/full. [Accessed
organisms are reduced dimensions of netic effects on yeast: an exploratory experiment. February 10, 2017].
elementary form of consciousness Research in Parapsychology. 1972. 1973; 15. Leibovici L. Effects of remote, retroactive
the elementary eld of consciousness is 2021. intercessory prayer on outcomes in
(the) only thing which is. So all divi- 6. Tedder WH, Monty ML. Exploration of patients with bloodstream infection: ran-
sions, we humans make in this universe long-distance PK: a conceptual replica- domised controlled trial. Br Med J.
are the product of our limited cognition. tion of the inuence on a biological 2001;323:14501451.
In essence the reality is one undivided system. Research in Parapsychology. 1980: 16. Cover T, Thomas J. Chapter 2: entropy,
whole . 17 It is a very Planckian view. 9093. relative entropy and mutual information.Ele-
7. Nash C. Psychokinetic control of bacter- ments of Information Theory. New York:
They go on to argue, In fact organisms
ial growth. J Soc Psychical Res. 1982;51: John Wiley & Sons; 1991;1249.
from articially synthesized DNA have 217221. 17. Grover M, Kumar S, Kumar R. Quantum
been created. So our guess is it may not 8. Nash C. Test of psychokinetic control of mechanics and biologysome new
be impossible to create living organisms, bacterial mutation. J Am Soc Psychical Res. thoughts. Int J Sci Res Sci Technol. 3,
but for creating sophisticated multicellular 1984;78:145152. (1), 2017. pp. 173-174.
organisms we may need more than arti- 9. Rein G, Effect of conscious intention on
cially synthesised DNA. we have to human DNA. Proceedings of the Interna-
learn to manipulate (the) elementary eld tional Forum on New Science, Denver;
of consciousness. But there may be a limit 1996.
imposed by laws of consciousness.15 10. Onetto B, Elguin G. Psychokinesis in
Stephan A. Schwartz is the editor of the
experimental tumorigenesis. J Parapsychol.
I am not so sure that I agree that daily web publication The Schwartzreport
1966;30:220.
science can create life, or will be able to. 11. Benngston W, Krinsley D. The effect of (http://www.schwartzreport.net), which con-
Ultimately that seems to me too physic- the laying on of hands on transplanted centrates on trends that will shape the future,
alist a view. But I will go where the data breast cancer in mice. J Sci Explor. 2000; an area of research he has been working in
does, as I have done, which is what has 14(3):353364. since the mid-1960s. He was previously the
gotten me to my present understanding. 12. Ornish D, Lin J, Daubenmier J, et al. Senior Samueli Fellow in Brain, Mind,
I do agree that there are laws of con- Increased telomerase activity and com- and Healing at the Samueli Institute.
sciousness, and that it behooves us to prehensive lifestyle changes: a pilot For over 35 years Schwartz has also been
learn them. study. Lancet Oncol. 2008;9:10481057. an active experimentalist doing research
13. Ornish D, Lin J, Chan JM, et al. Effect of
on the nature of consciousness, particularly
comprehensive lifestyle changes on telo-
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