ReaderReader’’s Digests Digest156 september 2019and back. After 20 to 30 seconds, you
will see the cup start to move forwards
and back. Then, again using only your
mind, order the cup to stop. Repeat
the exercise, this time willing the cup
to sway left and right like a pendulum.
No, you can’t literally move things
with your mind. But this experiment—
which feels eerily like telekinesis—
proves that your unconscious exerts
extraordinary control over your
muscles, causing them to contract
in subtle ways that produce tiny but
precise motions that move the cup.
Although you probably weren’t aware
of which muscles you contracted
to cause the cup to sway, your body
knew what to do through a process
called implicit memory, in which your
brain files away enormous amounts of
information unconsciously, such as
which muscle groups will cause which
kinds of subtle motions. Perhaps such
unconscious movements are what
gave rise to the concept of telekinesis
in the first place.3
Navigate in the dark
Bats navigate in the dark by
listening for the returning sound
they create from ultrasonic clicks,
chirps and tones. We all have an
inner bat that can also echolocate.
Find a long stick or pole with a hard
tip (metal is ideal) and a friend to
spot you, then go to an uncarpeted
area of your house. Close your eyes
and tap the stick in front of you, as
blind people do. Observe that you canget a rough sense of the presence of
large nearby objects, and even their
distance, just by listening to the clicks.
If you’re like most sighted people
who do this for the first time, you will
just ‘know’ when you are getting close
to a wall or a large object without
knowing exactly how you know. This
‘knowing without knowing how’ is
another example of implicit memory.
But if you listen carefully to the
clicks of your stick, you’ll start to
notice that a click made from tappingWE ALL HAVE AN
UNCONSCIOUS ABILITY
TO SENSE SOMEONE
IS BEHIND US.