Wednesday, April 02, 2008

'They're here': The mechanism of poltergeist activity

Brovetto and Maxia hypothesise that the changes in the brain that occur at puberty involve fluctuations in electron activity that, in rare cases, can create disturbances up to a few metres around the outside of the brain.

These disturbances would be similar in character to the quantum mechanical fluctuations that physicists believe occur in the vacuum, in which "virtual" particle and antiparticle pairs pop up for a fleeting moment, before they annihilate each other and disappear again.

Brovetto and Maxia believe that the extra fluctuations triggered by the pubescent brain would substantially enhance the presence of the virtual particles surrounding the person. This could slowly increase the pressure of air around them, moving objects and even sending them hurtling across the room.


A few off-the-cuff thoughts:

1.) I'm convinced poltergeist phenomena are real and ultimately amenable to science.

2.) I'm automatically wary of attempts to invoke quantum mechanics to explain "the unknown."

3.) Despite my reservations about unwarranted use of the "Q"-word, Brovetto and Maxia could very well be onto something. Assuming they're not pilloried for advancing what can only be an unpopular hypothesis, it's not entirely unreasonable to expect some form of laboratory confirmation.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Puberty and Quantum Physics? Sounds like a perfect title for a Pickover Book. Maybe Glands Gone Wild would be a better selling title, but I think that one has already been used for a spring break video!

Michael

Anonymous said...

Occult experiences are:

A) Not properly speaking "phenomena" in any real scientific sense in that they do not participate in material causation.

B) Are therefore NOT amenable to the so-called "scientific method" and require a different method altogether.

The scientific is not the only "way of knowledge" by any means, as all serious students of the occult are aware. Therefore, the explanation quoted is wrong in principle because it partakes of what the philosopher Ken Wilbur calls a "category error," attempting to explain a non-material experience with an appeal to material causation. (Occult experiences, including poltergeists, are deeply "acausal" in a fundamental sense.)

Thank you for shopping Wal Mart.

Mac said...

Not properly speaking "phenomena" in any real scientific sense in that they do not participate in material causation.

I think cutlery and appliances flying through the air qualify as a decidedly material phenomenon.

Anonymous said...

"I think cutlery and appliances flying through the air qualify as a decidedly material phenomenon."

Mac, can you cite the most authentic case or data online that would be related to your comment?

I think we have to be very careful here, when considering the issue of how quantum mechanics may or may not be involved in effects external to the body that relate to the extraordinarily controversial subject of telekinesis.

I read the abstract of the article you cited, and it's not clear to me that what is being referred to there, deriving from a quantum fluction on the macro level as suggested, is actually demonstrable or in any way documented so far. Careful...

A new favorite quote of mine:

"In science one must always also avoid the fallacy of 'ignotum per ignotius,' or seeking to explain the not well understood by the even less well understood."

Anonymous said...

In this context, Michael, "Glands Gone Wild," is a pretty damn hilarious title! Ha! 8^}