Telepathy - Concepts of Telepathy

Concepts of Telepathy

A physical model of telepathy, whether described as radiational or in other terms, assumes that transference is effected by means of a vibratory current linking one brain to another. William Crookes proposed a "brain wave" theory in which he claimed telepathy might occur due to high frequency vibrations of the ether. Crookes had stated that there may be parts of the human brain that may be capable of sending and receiving electrical rays of wavelengths. William Fletcher Barrett and Frederic William Henry Myers however pointed out problems in a physical theory for telepathy and instead advocated psychical theories.

In the early 20th century there were two other prominent concepts of telepathy: the spiritualist position which claimed telepathy was the result of external spirits, and a view claiming interactions between two or more subconscious minds. The subconscious mind view was advocated by psychical researcher Thomson Jay Hudson who wrote that the mind is a duality and actually consists of two minds: the objective mind (conscious) and the subjective mind (subconscious).

The psychical researcher John Arthur Hill wrote regarding telepathy "No physical theory of telepathy has been worked out — there are no "brain-waves" known, and no receiving stations yet discovered inside our skulls." George N. M. Tyrrell also claimed that a physical basis for telepathy was untenable as ideas can not be transmitted from one mind to another by any physical means without being first translated into a code. H. H. Price also suggested that telepathy was incompatible with any material explanation, as a physical theory of telepathy would reveal radiations detectable on physical instruments but none have ever been detected.