Correlations of Continuous Random Data with Major World Events
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Plain English Summary
What if major world events could nudge random number generators scattered across the globe? That's what the Global Consciousness Project tested, using about 50 devices spitting out random data 24/7. Researchers examined 109 big events — wars, celebrations, disasters — checking whether the random outputs got less random during those moments. The combined result hit a whopping 5-sigma deviation (meaning the odds of this by pure chance are roughly 1 in 3.5 million). The September 11th attacks stood out dramatically, producing the strongest device synchronization in over a year. An independent news-intensity measure also tracked with the deviations. No ordinary physical cause was found. Skeptics raise fair points about how events were chosen and the lack of any known mechanism. It's a genuinely puzzling dataset.
Abstract
The interaction of consciousness and physical systems is most often discussed in theoretical terms, usually with reference to the epistemological and ontological challenges of quantum theory. Less well known is a growing literature reporting experiments that examine the mind-matter relationship empirically. Here we describe data from a global network of physical random number generators that shows unexpected structure apparently associated with major world events. Arbitrary samples from the continuous, four-year data archive meet rigorous criteria for randomness, but pre-specified samples corresponding to events of broad regional or global importance show significant departures of distribution parameters from expectation. These deviations also correlate with a quantitative index of daily news intensity. Focused analyses of data recorded on September 11, 2001, show departures from random expectation in several statistics. Contextual analyses indicate that these cannot be attributed to identifiable physical interactions and may be attributable to some unidentified interaction associated with human consciousness.
Links
Related Papers
Cites
- Evidence for Consciousness-Related Anomalies in Random Physical Systems — Radin, Dean I. (1989)
- Correlations of Random Binary Sequences with Pre-Stated Operator Intention: A Review of a 12-Year Program — Jahn, Robert G. (1997)
- Gathering of Global Mind — Nelson, Roger D. (2001)
- Coherent Consciousness and Reduced Randomness: Correlations on September 11, 2001 — Nelson, Roger D. (2002)
- The Strange Properties of Psychokinesis — Schmidt, H. (1987)
Extends
- FieldREG Anomalies in Group Situations — Nelson, Roger D. (1996)
- FieldREG II: Consciousness Field Effects: Replications and Explorations — Nelson, Roger D. (1998)
- The Persistent Paradox of Psychic Phenomena: An Engineering Perspective — Jahn, Robert G. (1982)
- Engineering Anomalies Research — Jahn, Robert G. (1987)
- The PEAR Proposition — Jahn, Robert G. (2005)
- The Strange Properties of Psychokinesis — Schmidt, H. (1987)
Precursor
Same Research Program
- The Global Consciousness Project — Nelson, Roger D. (2014)
- The GCP Event Experiment: Design, Analytical Methods, Results — Bancel, Peter A. (2008)
- Anomalous Entropic Effects in Physical Systems Associated with Collective Consciousness — Radin, Dean. (2023)
- Searching for Global Consciousness: A Seventeen Year Exploration — Bancel, Peter A. (2017)
- Searching for Global Consciousness: A Seventeen Year Exploration — Bancel, Peter A. (2017)
- Coherent Consciousness and Reduced Randomness: Correlations on September 11, 2001 — Nelson, Roger D. (2002)
- Evidence for Consciousness-Related Anomalies in Random Physical Systems — Radin, Dean I. (1989)
- New Year's Eve as a Case Study in Experimental Metaphysics: Exploring Global Consciousness in Random Physical Systems — Radin, Dean I. (2025)
Extended By
- Effects of Mass Consciousness: Changes in Random Data During Global Events — Nelson, R.D. (2011)
- Alterations in Random Event Measures Associated with a Healing Practice — Crawford, Cindy C. (2003)
- Searching for Global Consciousness: A Seventeen Year Exploration — Bancel, Peter A. (2017)
- Searching for Global Consciousness: A Seventeen Year Exploration — Bancel, Peter A. (2017)
- Stock Returns and the Mind: An Unlikely Result that Could Change Our Understanding of Consciousness — Holmberg, Ulf. (2020)
- Anomalous Entropic Effects in Physical Systems Associated with Collective Consciousness — Radin, Dean. (2023)
- New Year's Eve as a Case Study in Experimental Metaphysics: Exploring Global Consciousness in Random Physical Systems — Radin, Dean I. (2025)
Critiqued By
Cited By
- New Year's Eve as a Case Study in Experimental Metaphysics: Exploring Global Consciousness in Random Physical Systems — Radin, Dean I. (2025)
- The Global Consciousness Project — Nelson, Roger D. (2014)
- Searching for Global Consciousness: A Seventeen Year Exploration — Bancel, Peter A. (2017)
- Searching for Global Consciousness: A Seventeen Year Exploration — Bancel, Peter A. (2017)
- Evidence for Anomalistic Correlations Between Human Behavior and a Random Event Generator: Result of an Independent Replication of a Micro-PK Experiment — Walach, Harald. (2020)
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📋 Cite this paper
Nelson, Roger D., Radin, Dean I., Shoup, Richard., Bancel, Peter A. (2002). Correlations of Continuous Random Data with Major World Events. Foundations of Physics Letters. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024138403182
@article{nelson_2002_correlations,
title = {Correlations of Continuous Random Data with Major World Events},
author = {Nelson, Roger D. and Radin, Dean I. and Shoup, Richard. and Bancel, Peter A.},
year = {2002},
journal = {Foundations of Physics Letters},
doi = {10.1023/A:1024138403182},
}