236 THE INTUITIVE INVESTOR
on those islands began using the washing technique at exactly the
same time.
To explain this bizarre event, Rupert Sheldrake, a biochemist,
has postulated a morphonogenetic field (M-field), which al-
lows conveyance of information within like species (Sheldrake, A
New Science of Life, Inner Traditions International 1995). Experi-
ments with rats conducted by William McDougall, recreating the
hundredth-monkey phenomenon, suggest that when some critical
mass is reached, information enters the species’ M-field (McDougall,
The Group Mind, Ayer 1973). (This must be why I never win at
Trivial Pursuit—my mind chatters the answer and the opponents
pick it up.)
Dr. Larry Dossey’s studies, performed with patients in hospi-
tals, document other instances in which minds appear to have
“teamed up” and become coherent (Peace, Love and Healing:
Bodymind Communication and the Path to Self-Healing, Harper
& Row 1989). Groups of people were asked to pray for certain
patients, while a control group of patients had no such support.
The studies indicated that the “prayer” patients recovered more
rapidly. Again, there seems to be a threshold level, as with the
monkeys, beyond which there is enough critical mass to help heal
illness.
So, I began wondering if there is an M-field that affects inves-
tors. Are we influenced, perhaps unknowingly, to buy or sell secu-
rities because of the mindsets of investors around us? When tech-
nicians state that market sentiment is very positive, is that senti-
ment feeding on itself and creating a powerful M-field that con-
vinces still more investors to buy? Is an M-field the real explana-
tion for social imitation (i.e., fads)?
As if in response to these questions, the Wall Street Journal ran
a front-page story with the headline: “Levitating Meditators Rely
on Vibes to Bring Peace, Cut Crime, Boost Stocks” (Oct. 11, 1990).
The article states that “Maharishi International University research-
ers say that they can show that previous waves of ‘super radiance’26-29 ware 236 1/19/01, 1:19 PM