Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
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: