Our minds seem to extend far beyond our brains. Many experiments have now shown that people can influence others at a distance just by looking at them, even when all normal sensory clues are eliminated. The sense of being stared at also occurs among non-human animals and may have evolved in the context of predator –prey relationships: if a prey animal knows when a hungry predator was watching it, it might have a better chance of escaping than if it didn’t know. Intentions can have effects at a distance, and can be detected telepathically, as shown in experiments with dogs that know when their owners are coming home, and in people’s ability to anticipate who is about to call on the telephone, or send them an email or a text message. Minds are also extended in time. Just as memories connect us with our pasts, precognitions and presentiments sometimes connect us with our futures.
Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D. is a biologist and author of more than 80 papers in scientific journals and 11 books, the most recent being The Science Delusion. He was a Fellow of Clare College Cambridge and a Research Fellow of the Royal Society, and from 2005-2010 was Director of the Perrott–Warrick Project, funded by Trinity College, Cambridge. His web site is www.sheldrake.org