Julie and I headed down to Tucson for a talk being given by Mark Boccuzzi (parapsychologist) from the Windbridge Institute for Applied Research in Human Potential. He was giving a talk for a psychic explorers group about EVPs and some interesting gains in the field using real-time ITC (instrumental trans-communication). I will be reporting more on my notes from that talk on Monday's post about "Everyone Can Talk to Ghosts with a Computer."
Luckily, one of our POE team members lives there and told us about it, so Julie and I hit the road to do a little Thelma and Louise time photographing and videotaping abandoned sites and exploring and decided to stay for the night and come back the next day another route to explore yet more abandoned sites.
Here's my interview with the very interesting and engaging, Mark Boccuzzi:
What subjects does Windbridge study?
The majority of studies at the Windbridge Institute address the survival of consciousness hypothesis which posits that some aspect of our identities or personalities continues to exist after physical death (“life after death”). The main research areas include mediumship, instrumental transcommunication (ITC), and haunt-related phenomena. We are also interested in the additional implications and applications of non-local consciousness. These studies explore a variety of topics that focus on understanding our connection to each other and unlocking the potential that exists within each of us. The main research areas include parapsychology (telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, and mind-matter interactions), intention, alternative healing, experimenter effects, and non-human animal consciousness. For further information, please visit here:
Of all the ongoing studies, what shows the most promise in furthering understanding of the subject matter?
The mediumship research program at the Windbridge Institute involves the largest amount of robust data. Through our unique quintuple-blinded readings with Windbridge Certified Research Mediums (WCRMs), we can demonstrate a phenomenon called anomalous information reception (AIR) which involves mediums reporting accurate and specific information about the deceased loved ones (termed discarnates) of living people (termed sitters) without any prior knowledge about the discarnates or sitters, in the absence of any feedback, and without using deceptive means.
This research paradigm is ideal in that the phenomenon is easily replicable and occurs on demand. We do not need to try to catch spontaneous events or experiences as they occur; we can bring the mediumship phenomenon into the laboratory and study it under controlled conditions and on a schedule that is convenient for all of the participants.
Where has most research been missing the mark in regards to psychic phenomena, an approach perhaps overlooked or
underrated?
For the most part, a lot of robust and rigorous parapsychological research has been and is currently being performed. The problem is that it is difficult to get the results of psi research published in mainstream journals even though the work is of very high quality. This prevents scientists in other fields from becoming aware of the current state of parapsychological findings and the field as a whole continues to be overlooked or dismissed.
Additionally, replication studies are ideally run to scientifically demonstrate the existence of phenomena, but funders, investigators, and journals are often more concerned with newer methods than in really establishing the existence of these phenomena. This makes it difficult for even open-minded scientists to accept the reality of psi phenomena.
In the realm of psychic research, have your studies revealed psychic phenomena to be a legitimate skill?
Based on the intensive testing procedure we use to screen prospective WCRMs and the subsequent studies in which they participate, we can confidently state that certain mediums are capable of AIR.
We can’t speak directly to other psychic phenomena that we haven’t specifically investigated. However, we are familiar with the literature regarding research into those other psi topics and there is definitely substantial data collected under controlled conditions that demonstrate the existence of, for example, telepathy, precognition, presentiment, clairvoyance/remote viewing, and micropsychokinesis.
With ideal funding, where would you like to take the studies in the future?
As our name indicates, we are primarily interested in applied research; that is, we are interested in the practical social applications of the phenomena and experiences we study. Ultimately, our goal is to develop clinical treatment options based on the results of our research in order to better people’s lives on a daily basis. We hope to move these phenomena out of the lab and into the real world.
Bio’s:
Julie Beischel, PhD, is Director of Research at the Windbridge Institute for Applied Research in Human Potential. She received her doctorate in Pharmacology and Toxicology with a minor in Microbiology and Immunology in 2003 from the University of Arizona. She is a full member of the Society for Scientific Exploration and the Parapsychological Association and serves on the scientific advisory boards of the Rhine Research Center and Forever Family Foundation and the Council of the Society for Scientific Exploration. She has received research grants from the Bial Foundation, the Society for Psychical Research, and the American Association for Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP). Dr. Beischel’s academic training in several interdisciplinary scientific fields allows her to design and apply traditional research methods to investigating more unconventional phenomena.
Mark Boccuzzi, researcher and Director of Operations at the Windbridge Institute for Applied Research in Human Potential, is currently an associate member of the Parapsychological Association. Mark’s research interests include intuition, animal psi, applied psychokinesis, photographic anomalies, distant mental interactions on living systems (DMILS), and instrumental transcommunication (ITC). He is the recipient of a 2011-2012 research grant from the Helene Reeder Memorial Fund for Research into Life after Death for a project titled “Invited Ostensible Discarnate Interactions with Electronic Equipment.” Mark’s research has been presented at the Toward a Science of Consciousness and the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM) conferences and has been published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration.
For the most part, a lot of robust and rigorous parapsychological research has been and is currently being performed. The problem is that it is difficult to get the results of psi research published in mainstream journals even though the work is of very high quality. This prevents scientists in other fields from becoming aware of the current state of parapsychological findings and the field as a whole continues to be overlooked or dismissed.
Additionally, replication studies are ideally run to scientifically demonstrate the existence of phenomena, but funders, investigators, and journals are often more concerned with newer methods than in really establishing the existence of these phenomena. This makes it difficult for even open-minded scientists to accept the reality of psi phenomena.
In the realm of psychic research, have your studies revealed psychic phenomena to be a legitimate skill?
Based on the intensive testing procedure we use to screen prospective WCRMs and the subsequent studies in which they participate, we can confidently state that certain mediums are capable of AIR.
We can’t speak directly to other psychic phenomena that we haven’t specifically investigated. However, we are familiar with the literature regarding research into those other psi topics and there is definitely substantial data collected under controlled conditions that demonstrate the existence of, for example, telepathy, precognition, presentiment, clairvoyance/remote viewing, and micropsychokinesis.
With ideal funding, where would you like to take the studies in the future?
As our name indicates, we are primarily interested in applied research; that is, we are interested in the practical social applications of the phenomena and experiences we study. Ultimately, our goal is to develop clinical treatment options based on the results of our research in order to better people’s lives on a daily basis. We hope to move these phenomena out of the lab and into the real world.
Bio’s:
Julie Beischel, PhD, is Director of Research at the Windbridge Institute for Applied Research in Human Potential. She received her doctorate in Pharmacology and Toxicology with a minor in Microbiology and Immunology in 2003 from the University of Arizona. She is a full member of the Society for Scientific Exploration and the Parapsychological Association and serves on the scientific advisory boards of the Rhine Research Center and Forever Family Foundation and the Council of the Society for Scientific Exploration. She has received research grants from the Bial Foundation, the Society for Psychical Research, and the American Association for Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP). Dr. Beischel’s academic training in several interdisciplinary scientific fields allows her to design and apply traditional research methods to investigating more unconventional phenomena.
Mark Boccuzzi, researcher and Director of Operations at the Windbridge Institute for Applied Research in Human Potential, is currently an associate member of the Parapsychological Association. Mark’s research interests include intuition, animal psi, applied psychokinesis, photographic anomalies, distant mental interactions on living systems (DMILS), and instrumental transcommunication (ITC). He is the recipient of a 2011-2012 research grant from the Helene Reeder Memorial Fund for Research into Life after Death for a project titled “Invited Ostensible Discarnate Interactions with Electronic Equipment.” Mark’s research has been presented at the Toward a Science of Consciousness and the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM) conferences and has been published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration.
