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The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) program was established at Princeton University in 1979 by Robert G. Jahn. The program had a strained relationship with Princeton, and was considered "an embarrassment to science."

PEAR's primary purpose was to engage in parapsychological exercises purporting to examine the interaction of human consciousness with physical devices, systems, and processes common to contemporary engineering practice. An interdisciplinary staff of engineers, physicists, psychologists, and humanists conducted a comprehensive agenda of experiments in human/machine interaction and remote perception, and attempted the development of complementary theoretical models to enable better understanding of the role of consciousness in physical reality. The laboratory concluded its University-based operations in February 2007.

Research

Human/Machine Interactions

PEAR employed random event generators (REGs), to explore the ability of untrained volunteers to influence the random output distribution of these devices to conform to their pre-recorded intentions to produce higher numbers, lower numbers, or nominal baselines. Most of these experiments utilized a microelectronic REG, but experiments were also conducted with a macroscopic random mechanical cascade (RMC), and other random physical device. In all cases, the observed effects were very small, but over extensive databases they compounded to statistically significant deviations from chance behavior.

Consciousness Fields

Since many PEAR operators frequently spoke of "achieving a state of resonance" with the devices they were addressing, an experiment was designed to examine the influence on REGs in environments entailing group resonance. Portable REG devices were operated in a variety of venues where groups of people were engaged in emotionally charged shared experiences, and the output compared with data generated in more mundane situations. Results indicated highly significant deviations from chance during the resonant applications, and suggested that the emotional/intellectual dynamics of the interacting participants somehow generated a coherent ‘consciousness field.’Bonded co-operator pairs, working together at a shared task also showed anomalous effects that were several times larger than the results produced by the same individuals working alone.

Staff

• Robert G. Jahn, Program Director
• Brenda J. Dunne, Laboratory Manager
• Roger D. Nelson, Operations Coordinator
• York H. Dobyns, Analytical Coordinator
• G. Johnston Bradish, Technical Coordinator
• Arnold L. Lettieri Jr., Communications Director
• Elissa Hoeger, General Factotum

External links

• PEAR home

References

1. ^ Benedict, Carey (February 10, 2007). "A Princeton Lab on ESP Plans to Close Its Doors". New York Times.
2. Jahn, R.G. (2005). "The PEAR Proposition" (PDF). J. Scientific Exploration. 19 (2): 195–246. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
3. Jahn, R.G. (1997). "Correlations of Random Binary Sequences with Pre-Stated Operator Intention: A Review of a 12-Year Program" (PDF). J. Scientific Exploration. 11 (3): 345–367. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
4. Dunne, B. J. (1988). "Operator-Related Anomalies in a Random Mechanical Cascade" (PDF). J. Scientific Exploration. 2 (2): 155–179. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
5. Nelson, R.D. (1998). "FieldREGII: Consciousness Field Effects: Replications and Explorations" (PDF). J. Scientific Exploration. 12 (3): 425–454. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
6. Dunne, B.J. (1991). "Co-Operator Experiments with an REG Device". Tech. Report PEAR 91005. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

• Princeton University
• Parapsychology
• Consciousness studies