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All rights reserved N o pan o f this b o o k may be reproduced, utilized or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical—including photocopying, recording on any information storage and retrieval system, or the internet— without written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations in a review. Copyright C 1992 by G Harry Stine First Printing 1 9 9 2

Fourth Printing 1995

Second Printing 1993

Fifth Printing 1 9 9 7

Third Printing 1 9 9 4 TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN PUBLISHING PO Box 2244 Pinellas Park, Florida 3 3 7 8 0 - 2 2 - 1 4 U S A Phone ( 8 1 3 ) 3 9 1 - 3 9 5 8 - Fax ( 8 1 3 ) 3 9 1 - 4 5 9 8 Website http://abcinfo c o m Email

Librar)

[email protected]

of Congress ('aiaJoging-Ith-Puhlication

Stine, G. Harry ( G e o r g e Harry)

Data

1928-

Mind machines you can build / by G Harry Stine p. c m . Includes bibliographical references ISBN 1-56087-075-3 : $15.95 1. Machinery 1 'lltle TJ153.S774

1992

133.028—dc20

91-27801 CIP

T h e Energy W h e e l i M is a registered trademark o f Powell Productions C o v e r and text design by Powell Productions Tag Powell and M a r c o s A Oliveira Manufactured in the United States o f America

r TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 5

THE REALIST'S DILEMMA 9

DETECTOR RODS 21

PYRAMIDS 37

THE ENERGY WHEEL 61 PENDULUMS 83

THE HIERONYMOUS MACHINE 103

SYMBOLIC MACHINES 125

THE SYMBOLIC HIERONYMOUS MACHINE 1/13

THE WISHING MACHINE 165

POSTSCRIPT 181 BIBLIOGRAPHY 195

TO:

Patsy and Clyde

INTRODUCTION

T h e intent of this book by my friend and colleague Harry Stinc is to challenge the technic.il community and amateurs to build these machines, then try to figure out why they work. All ol diem seem to violate the well-known laws o f physics or mechanics. Thus, die challenge is to resolve the apparent contradiction. In the history o f science, the resolution ol a discrepancy is o n e o f die mostfruirfiil ways to make progress. For example, it was Rutherford who saw an apparent contradiction in the course o f his study o f alpha particle emission by radioactive nuclei. H e asked how it was possible for an alpha particle of measured range and energy to emerge from a nucleus without having die energy to penetrate die higher energy potential barrier around the nucleus - which could also be measured. Such penetration by an alpha particle was energetically

5

impossible. It was the challenge oi'this apparent discrepancy tliat led Gurney and Condon to the discovery and development of quantum mechanical tunneling which has been of major importance not only in physics but also to modern solid-state electronics. In science, one progresses from an observation lo a hypothesis about how or why theobserved phenomenon works, then to an experiment in which one proves not only that die hypothesis is correct but that the hypothesis is indeed a dieory. The dieory must then predict other observable effects that can be tested and experimentally confirmed. The tact that a certain device in this book works docs not mean that all our theories are wrong but only that our understanding of how diese theories should be applied is faulty in this particular«. a sc. Essentially, we do not know everydiing. Indeed, w hat we do know may nor be so, but may have some curious little twist diat we have overlooked. Apparent violations of die laws o fphysics are usually an opportunity to make progress in our knowledge of the universe. In science, we also seek to understand how nature works. And we often misunderstand or follow false leads. Actually, die "laws of nature' are generalizations from experience. For example, the violation of the law of gravity is punished not by a jail sentence but more fittingly by falling on one's face. Further, such generalizations are living concepts needing modification in details as we go alone. Einstein did not prove Newton to he

6

wrong but rather provided the next approximation in our understanding of what actually happens when we make measurements at speeds approaching thatot light Mass, length, and time must be measured, taking die Speed o f light into account. A basic physics experiment is that of measurement, and it is important to carefully think tlirough the details of the actor procedure in a step by step fashion. Science is a living and growing discipline, and much remains ro be done. This book will, one hopes, stimulate people to build and test these odd devices, to think alxnu them, and perhaps to hit upon further approximations loourundersLnndingofthcunK'ctse. G o o d science is done not with apparatus but in people's heads by thinking. - Prof. Serge A. Kortf (Prof. Korfj was projessoi emeritus, department physics, New York University, Fellow, American

of

Physical

Society; pasi pr«r.s;V/cnt and life metnber, New York Academy oj Sciences; life member, American Society for ti\e Advancemerit of Science; past president and director, the

CliiOj and

Chevalier

lixplorcrs

of (lie Legion of I lonor.)

f

Mind Machines You Can Build

8

CHAPTER O N E

THE REALIST'S DILEMMA For more than thirty years, I've been working in high technology areas - rocketry, space flight, aviation, advanced industrial processes, electronic instruments, and space industrialization, among others. I've managed an industrial research laboratory, designed escape pods for pilots of supersonic aircraft, and been involved in hightechnology marketing. None of these jobs existed in 1 8 8 5 . In fact, these scientific and technical areas would have been considered "magic" as recently as a hundred years ago, and I would have been Lagged a wizard or, even worse, a witch.

9

Mind Machines You Can Build Many people still believe or would like to believe that much o f the modern technology widi which they must cope every day has indeed been created by wizards and witches. We've all encountered machinery diat seems lo be magical or diat doesn't or should*'t work because our common sense or expertise tells us so. But in my career as an industrial research scientist and an engineer dealing with far-out areas of advanced high-tech, I've run onto a series ofbaflling, mist rating, and vexing machines and devices diat shouldn't work a: aii according to what we presetidy know about the Universe. Bi it they do. Sometimes diey don't work for everyone. But they do work for some ;people. Tlie apparent fact dial some things work for some people but not for odier* doesn't bother me. Although 1 enjoy good brass band music, I can't get a single musical note to come from a trumpet. Some people can, and some people can't. But playing the trumpet isn't a magical fear. It is mystical, however, as we'll see Later. But people can teach other people how to do i t Perhaps 1 can't get music out of a trumpet because I've never been trained ro play die trumpet. But I can't get music to come out of a trumpet or a violin. I'm a ''grubby-handedengineer.'' I can build things that work. I can usually discover why something doesn't work when it quits, and 1 can usually manage to tlx it or

10

The Realist's Dilemma get it working well enough to get me to a place where a real expert: can make it work properly again. Tin at home in a scientific meeting of die New York Academy of Sciences as well as at the controls of an airplane. I'm a pragmatic and skeptical person. I've run onto n let of wild and wonderful devices that don't work as claimed. But if a gadget works, I'll use it. S o I'm not a mystic in the way 1 look at die world around me. Murphy's Law notwithstanding, 1 believe that if something works in a demonstrable and reasonably repeatable manner, there must be a reason why because the Universe isn't a place that behaves capriciously. Murphy's I.aw exists and the Universe only seems to lx- capricious occasionally because we still don't know everything there is to know about it. T h e nineteenth century philosophy of materialism says that we do indeed know everything there is to know about die I Iniverse, but that beliefseems to be incredibly presumptuous. As J.B.S. I laldane lias observed, the Universe is not only stranger than we know, it's stranger thai 1 we can possibly imagine. I've collected enough dataand condi icted enough experiments with these amazing gadgets now that it's time to put all die data togedier in a book so that other people with inquiring minds and an open oudook on the Universe can also try diem for themselves.

11

Mind Machines You Can Build But 1 didn't write this tor mystics or tor those who dabble in the occult. This is a collection o f how-to instructions tor demonstrable gadgets diat are somehow based upon technology we don't understand yet. W e don't know why or how some of these devices work, hut apparently they work reliably tor a large number of people. Scientists haven't explained them yet. But you don't have to accept the reality ol diese devices on blind faidi. By following the directions given herein, you can build the strange device, test it, and determine for yourself whether or nor it's a hoax. Some of these machines maybe precursors to the big scientific breakthroughs of die future. After all. die early parlor experiments with electricity and magnetism in the late eighteenth century arc still used today in grade school and high school science classes to provide a background for understanding electronics, radio, television, and computers. I can't tell you what particular scientific principles diese devices demonstrate liecause I don't know what the science of the twenty-first century will be all about. I ' m a futurist but nor a prophet. My crystal ball is very cloudy indeed when 1 try to look beyond the year 2C10. But I can tell you something about die basic principles behind scientific methodology diat will be as valid tomorrow as the,' are today:

12

The Realist's Dilemma T h e solid edifice called ''Science' thar looks so imposing and monolithic when viewed from a distance really isn't that way at all when you get close to it. As Dr. William O . Davis pointed out in 1962, "'Science is a cracked and sagging edifice built upon die constantly shifting sands oi theory." It's in die process of being continually built, re-built, modified, remodeled, and changed. Like New York City or the United States or America, it's never finished. However, some scientists have tried to convince people this isn't so and thai they alone know everything there is to know about die Universe. Therefore, these scientists occasionally need to be shaken out o f their rut. Scientific and technical controversy must be generated from time to rime to stir the pot and promote progress in I uimnn kilowlcdge. As tl »e famous aerospace scientist, Dr. Theodore von Karman, once observed, " H o w can we possibly make progress without controversy?'' My formal academic education is that of a physicist. After I'd graduated and obtained diat important academic degree that amounts to a scientific union card, I was given my real education in die big outside world beyond the groves ol academe. My work became more and more involved with applying scientific principles in order to solve technical problems. Thus 1 was converted from a scientist into an engineer who had to deal widi things as they are, not with the reasons «i'/r\die Universe worked in that particular manner. ("Never mind theoriz-

13

Mind Machines You Can Build ing why; just get it built or working and in saleable condition by next Wednesday! ') By and large, however, die principles o f physics and odicr sciences that I'd learned in college comfortably supported my engineering work. B u t an unquestioning faidi in what they'd told me was true during my formal academic education and even some of the pragmatic principles I'd learned afterwards was shattered by my first encounter with an inexplicable machine in 1956. John W . Campbell, Jr., die late editor o f ANAL O G magazine, published a science-fact article describing a strange device known as a "Hieronymous machine"' for which a U.S. patent existed. H e gave explicit instructions on how to build one and invited the readers of the magazine to try it for themselves before they labelled it an impossible fraud. T h e device-which is described in this book is an electronic instrument whose purpose is to determine die qualitative constituents of a metallic alloy. It uses a * tactile" detector that is stroked and t h a t f e e l s different'1 when the device detects a given metallic component in an alloy. However,

Campbell

reported

that

the

Hieronymous machine worked whether or not it was plugged into a wall socket. He also claimed that it would work if you made one simply using die diagram of the elecnonic circuit and substituted thread tor wire.

1-

The Realist's Dilemma T h i s open invitation to blow away an obvious sham, fraud, and hoax was too much for me. 1 built o n e ol die "symbolic" Hieronymoiis machines to prove to die world o n c e and for all that it was a total impossibility. It worked. [ still have it, and it still works. But it works for some people and nor for others. I don't know why it works or hou> it works, but it docs. I don't know how to begin conducting truly scientific research to answer these questions because I don't know what questions to ask o r even what measurements to make. It's just not possible with ihe current stoteofthe art in science and technology to be Kelvinian alxiut it, and I a m a firm believei in the advice given by Lord Kelvin (William Thompson) in 1886: "1 often .^ay thai when you can measure something

and express ir in numbers, you know swneflungrtfcoui it But ti'lien you canfiot measure ir, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a vieagei and

unsatisfactory

kind; f'r may be the beginning of knowledge, but you scarcely,

haie

in your rhoug/us, progressed to the (cwl of M'ienee.

regardless of what the matter tucr, be." Obviously, therefore, die Hieronymoiis machine and odier amazing mind devices thar shouldn't work but do are not scientific and are not yet amenable to scientific analysis. Various hypotheses concerning how they might

15

Mind Machines You Con Bui c work have been put forth, but these hypotheses have yet to be rigorously tested and thereby transformed into dieories. Ill the meantime, the machines are fascinating. M o s t o f t h e m are simpleto build. Mostofthem will work for most people. O n c e a group o f "garage gadgeteers.' the sort who have created the basic foundations tor most modern science, begin playing around with them, someone stands a good chance of eventually coming up with a testable hypothesis that will at last provide a basis tor the establishment of die scientific field which embraces dicse machines. O r perhaps not. T h e history of science and technology is notonlv rifewith serendipitous discoveries that changed the world but also ideas, concepts, and gadgets that didn't workout right in spiteofeveiydiing. B e aware that dicre are more failures than successes, more frauds and hoaxes dian straight arrows. In any event, here are some impossible machines diat work for some people, diat anyone widi some manual dexterity can build in a home workshop, that anyone can build and test for himself. 1 repeat: This is not an occult book. It's a book o f experiments with weird machines. 1 haven't included any machine or device that 1 haven't built, worked, or rested myself. 1 don'r ask die reader to believe diat these machines work. 1 merely present a description of each machine, what it's purported to do. how it worked ior

16

The Realist's Dilemma me, exactly how to build it, and precisely how to operate it. T h e remainder oi the exercise is left up to the reader who's tree to experiment or to snort "Impossible!" But be careful before you snorr, ''Impossible!" W e often have the tendency to snort, "Impossible!" when confronted with a radically new idea, concept, or device. But these machines arc different. They can be built. They can be tested. They are tweakers of the curiosity. They shouldn't work, but often they do. And if you don't believe this, why don't you see for yourself? The basis o f scientific endeavor is die reproducible experiment. And the concept of reproducibility also includes the possibility that the experiment will fail the same way every lime. Right down at the basic level, this is a book about magic, after all. But it's "magic" as defined by Robert A. 1 leinlein: " O n e man's magic is another man's technology. And Arthur C . Clarke advises, "Any sufficiently advanced technology will be indistinguishable from magic." T h e book is a "how-to'" instruction manual. Irs individual chapters are each devoted to a single strange machine. Each chapter starts outwidi a brief description o f die device followed by a brief history, and step-by-step instructions for building it. A set of instructions forusing the device is provided along with a suggested program o f

17

Mind Machines You Can Builc experiments that can be conducted. H i e only thing I ' m telling you is: Here it is; build it and try- it tor yourself, because it appears to work ior some people, it can be built, and the author has either tried it and can work it, or tried it and can't work it (I'm pretty good with most of die gadgets.) I have gone out on a limb (as if some ot my colleagues won t believe diat I've already done so) by daring to suggest one or more hypotheses concerning why die machine is doing what it's doing. But in many cases, there is no tenable hypothesis, and I'm forced to simply say, "1 haven't die foggiest notion why it works." I don't believe any of the gadgets are dangerous. N o reports have been received tkitany of them or the use of any of them has caused physical or mental injury to anyone. I lowever, I must state die following caveat which the reader must keep finnly in mind at all times: It's (possible to be hurt by entiling and it's possible to misuse any device made with any level of technology. People continue to be burned by campfires, and the technology of lire is millennia old. However, diere have been no reported problems with anything herein. Most of us have internal "programming" that trips our internal "circuit breakers" to keep us from going over rhe edge. Don'r dismiss any o f die devices as an impossible hoax just because it >o:!uralites r.on esc ponenda .sine necessitate-"multiplicity ought uot to be posited without necessity. " In other words, choose the simplest possible solution or, in modern parlance, K. I. S. S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid. ) In applying Occam's Razor to the hypothesis diat dieactionottheenergy wheel is die resulrofpsychokinetics or "thought waves,' it must be pointed out dial this hypothesis is complex because nobody yet knows what thought waves are or how they can be measured. O r can even agree diat such things exist, much less on the reality of some attempts at detection and measurement of diese p h e n o m e n a . T h e r e f o r e , until

psychotechnology

progresses to die point where we can hang numbers on

11H

The Energy Wheei things and get everyone to agree oil die basis of repeatable experimentation, we'd better see ifwe can find other hypotheses with simpler explanations based on whatever part of the Universe we do indeed already understand well enough to have measured accurately. This, in turn, brings up another principle o f science: If you're going to propose a new dieory, it must not only account for newly observed phenomena but must also allow for the existence o f thit igs that are already known. In addition, it must also predict phenomena diat arc totally new and unsuspected. With these concepts in mind, let's look at some odier hypotheses that might account lor the action of the energy wheel. This may not be the only possible one nor die only one that meets the qualification ol William ot Ocldiam, but it's a point o f departure that may make the energy wheel a little less hokcy. The hypothesis that the wheel is being unconsciously turned by selective unconscious direction of the operator's breath is put to rest by the experiment in which die rotor is operated while enclosed in an inverted glass water tumbler. O n the basis of results of experiments conducted by the author, die following hypothesis is put forward as a point of departure. Ir may not be correct. But it offers somewhere to start and something to be proven or disproven... or replaced by a better hypothesis.

76

Mind Machines You Can Build As discussed in the previous chapter, the planet that we live on functions because of electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields (and these diree things are separate phenomena; sec any elementary physics text). T h e planet Earth has an electrostatic field along with a magnetic field. So does every living creature o n Earth. A human being exhibits a change in electrical resistance of die skin which can be measured and which has been previously correlated with emotional states and action of the nervous system. A human being is a complex electronic system with a skin that has a definite dielectric constant, which in turn can change because of emotional state (aldiough die re has been little work done and reported concerning this factor). A human being also has an electrostatic field that is only partially the result of the body's immersion in the Earth's electric field. Since it is already known that the voluntary (and involuntary) actions o f the nervous system can alter the electric and magnetic characteristics o f die human body in a highly localized manner - i.e., the galvanic skin resistance can be ditierent at different parts o f die body - it therefore follows diat it is possible to voluntarily alter die electric charge on each hand or on different parts of a single hand. O n e ol the first experiments in electricity that a freshman physics student sees or carries out has to do widi the electrostatic attraction of oppositely-charged bod7TF

The Energy Wheei ies and the mutual repulsion of bodies with the same electrostatic charge. W e experience it daily willi some plastic films that cling tenaciously to foods and odier materials, including themselves; widi dust and diit that is electrostatically attracted to the front ol a television set; with electrostatic dust precipitators both in homes and 011 factory chimneys; and with any cat diat has had its tiir nibbed vigorously. '.t does not take much energy in the form ot an electrostatic charge to make its presence known beyond die shadow of a doubt. And our own personal experience indicates that electrostatic forces, even small ones, can exhibit pronounced physical effects. T h e energy wheel may (unction because ot the operator's unconscious (but also, strangely, willed) ability to alter the electric field at different points ol die palm ofthe hand or both hands. This should not appear to lie a fantastic hypothesis since it is already well-known diat a person can willfully alter the galvanic skin resistance and, therefore, die body's electric field. Thus, die energy wheel could be nothing more than the bio-electric analog ofthe common, ^arden-variety, everyday electric motor. T h e c o m i n o n squirrel-cage induction motor used in tans and most small appliances is in itself an impossible device unless, o n e understands alternating current dieory. And it's interesting to note diat alternating current theory and therefore die squirrel* cage induction motor depends entirely o n a mathemati.-

79

Mind Mochines You Can Build ail concept known as "i which is die square root ot minus-1. This is a totally imaginary number thar does not and cannot exist in the teal Universe! Yet ii is absolutely necessary in order to provide a theoretical foundation tor the electrical power ol alternative currents that today run our world. The energy wheel may not have anything to do with "thought waves,' but only the mind's natural ability to alter die electrical characteristics of die skin. This hypothesis (which, by calling ita hypothesis, means that it is. at best, only an educated guess waiting to be tested and proved) satisfies the requirement that wecontintially wield Occam's Razor. Viewed from the standpoint o f an electrical phenomenon, die operating principle Ixrhind rotation o f the rotor is straightforward in nntiire. The rotor is at all times at negative potential 01 charge, resting o n an extension of the surface o f die negatively-charged Eardi. T h e rotor has tour points or corners at which its negative electric charge is concentrated. If an operator can alter die electric field ol one palm to make it positive while the fingers on the same hand are negative, the difference in electric charge would cause die rotor to turn. This hypodiesis can be checked by experimentation and measurement. All rotors o f all energy wheel devices seen by die author to dare have been in cruciform (cross) shape ot possessed some sharp points around their peripheries.

80

The Energy Wheei

A critical experiment (die reader is invited to try it) is to determine whether or not a circular rotor (i.e., o n e without sharp corners) can also be made to rotate. T h e author has tried it and challenges die reader to perform the same experiment. But why does a regular energy wheel appear to work well under a glass tumbler and not under a tumbler made o f polystyrene plastic' Obviously, glass has a different dielectric constat it than does polystyrene plastic. Cai» glass Ixr given an electric charge more easily than plastic? T h e author hasn't investigated these areas yet. I hey are ripe tor amateur experimentation. From the professional or semi-professional scientific: research standpoint, die human operator should be instrumented to measure galvanic skin resistance, skin temperature, and electric field |X>tential and gradient at several locations on the skin, including critical points on the hands and palms. Solid-state electronic devices available today make such measurements possible where they were patently impractical ii not impossible a mere twenty years ago. Such experimentation and measurement wouId serve to answer die questior 1 ot how a person manages to operate an energy wheel and reveal the physical factors involved, but it will not answer the question o f how a human being actually manages to change the electrical characteristics of the skin.

81

Mine Machines Ycu Ccn Bui a' Conclusions: T h e energy-wheel is a simple device to make and, tor some people, a simple device to operate. Its simplicity may mask a complex set of reasons why it. works. However. its very simplicity permits a wide variety o f experimentation by amateur scientists and otters professional researchers an opportunity to test and measure some physical factors diat may be involved in its mode o f operation. In the long run, both sorts of experimentation may reveal a great deal about the human mind and body diat is currendy cither unknown or assigned to the realm of the fantastic or the province o f charlatans. However, the simple fact that a large number of otherwise ordinary peoplecan make this simple device operate indicates that ir is not mystical in nature. M o d e m scientific procedures and instrumentation can l\? applied in an attempt to learn the mechanics o f operation. Furthermore, proto-sciences such as parapsychology need nor be invoked to provide an explanation of why it works.

82

CHAPTER FIVE

PENDULUMS

Basic Description: I n some respects, the two different pendulum types described in this chapter are similar in operation to die energy wheel ofdie previous chapter. Both consist ofvery light masses suspended from supports by thin direads. It is claimed that the action of volitional dioitght. can cause die pendulum to move. I n die case or die pendu-

83

Mind Mochines You Can Build lum, however, it appears to offer

4

yes-no r answers to

questions. It also appears that it can be used to indicate the direction to a wanted object T h e first type of pendulum is hand-supported. It is undoubtedly the easiest to operate. However, die possibility of minute, subconscious movements on die pan of the operator casts considerable doubt o n any claim that a hand-supported pendulum is n "amazing mind machine" operating because o f as yet unknown operational principles. T h e second type o f pendulum i* supported front a rigid point such as a lampshade edge, desk lamp, or simple tripod support made from wooden dowels. T h e independently-supported pendulum eliminates the possibility that the human operator could control its swing by unconscious and minute finger, hand, and/or arm movements. T h e independently-supported pendulum may also be operated under a transparent cover to eliminate die possibility thatair currents might affect its swing* T h e operator "thinks"' or concentrates o n the pendulum, asking a question that can be answered in a "yes-no" manner. By previous agreement, the swing ot die pendulum to and away from the operator may mean "yes' while a swing from left to right may mean

M

nc.'

T h e operator must announce prior to the stair of die experiment which direction of morion signifies affirmative and which indicates the negative response.

84

Pendulums T o use the pendulum as a locator similar to detector rods, the operator asks the pendulum to swing in the direction o f th e o bject whose loca ti o n is being sought. There is, of course, an ambiguity in die fact that die unknown object can be located in cither direction diat the pendulum swings - i.e., if the pendulum swings in a north-south plane, die object could be located either north or south of the operator. Some operators appear to be extremely adept in getting the pendulum to swing in a most unusual fashion when in the locator mode: they can cause the pendulum to swing Irom its vertical rest position to a displaced position in the direction of the object, then cause the pendulum to swing between the vertical rest position and the displaced position.

Historical Background: ' T h e Magic Pendulum" has its origins lost in the mists o f prehistory. It has long been a device used by wizards and shamins. Just because a device has a long history doesn't mean that we, with our immensely increased wisdom growing from a centuries-old legacy of scientific progress, should bodi scoff at and ridicule such devices diat appear to have 110 rational explanation in terms o f the Universe as we know and believe ir rr» be. All our ancestors lor several hundred thousand years not only believed in such "magic" devices but conducted their affairs in accordance with what these devices told

85

Mind Machines You Con Build them. W e know beyond the shadow of a doubt diat their reliance c n these devices could not have teen foolish a nd/ior d isas trou s because ou r once 5 tors! ived and th rived and produced progeny culminating in ourselves. It" all our ancestors were fools and we ofthe modern "scientific" age are so smart, diis would mean that the Mendelian Laws ol genetics and heredity are plainly nonsense. B u t we also know for a tact that these principles of biotechnology are indeed valid, tnie, and (most important) pragmatically workable. Ask any breeder of horses or dogs or any fanner who relies on hybridized crops. Perhaps our forebears were not quite the stupid clods we tend to believe, but possessed some evidence that strange machines such as the pendulum did indeed have some validity, even diough the*/ didn't understand why diey worked and die re fore placed them in the "magic" classification. Human beings are also emiiiendy practical. I f it doesn't work, it's discarded. If it seems to work most o f the time or enough ofthe time to make it useful, it's used until something better is discovered or developed. Very liule research work or further development has been undertaken with this extremely simple machine. It exists today in nearly die same lonn as it has lor uncounted centuries. However, die social milieu has changed. I n most of the world today, you will no: be burned ar die strke as a witch lor experimenting widi such devices as the

11H

Pendulums

Figure 5-1: Hand-supported pendulum. Rest your elbows on a (able lo steady your hands. pendulum. (I lowever, there arc still some locales in the I nited States where you would he well advised to be somewhat circumspect in such experimentation simply because America has all types ot people in it, including dlose who are still very superstitious, fearful, and violent.)

Author's Experiences: I do not remember when I first tried using a pendulum. It may have been when 1 was about twelve or thirteen years old and became fascinated byaouija board, which led me to experiment with some of the other

37

Mind Machines You Can Builci devices of "witchcraft and sorcery" that my juvenile colleagues brouglit fordi from time to time. Many of these machines were "discovered" and subsequently expenmented with because we were at mat age and that level o f scholastic sophistication where we were being introdt iced to tile Scientific Method and to die mysteries ofthe Universe revealed by our resident scholastic magician, die junior high school science teacher, one Donald J o h n O b e e at C h e y e n n e Mountain School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. O n e thing I can say lor Mr. Obee: He made science and technology fascinating, tun, and also frustrating enough to encourage me out of curiosity to continue to be i nterested in science and technology for die rest o f my life. The mere idea diat I didn't have to \x captive to the whims of nature but could, if I understood enough about it. manipulate the Universe so that 1 could do magic things like fly in the air and go to dte moon got me hooked at an early age because, even then, I felt 1 had been jerked around enough by a capricious Universe. I can make a hand-supported pendulum work. But 1 don t always know whether or not it gives me die correct "ves-no" answers because 1 haven't use.: irenoilgh for diar purpose. T h e pendulum requires thar die operator play die game o f "Twenty Questions."' IToing this often takes longer to answer a question than toeidier go look it up in a suitable reference book o r think ir through and work it our myself. A n d I've never really been certain diarl wasn't unconsciously making die pendulum swing

8H

Pendulums die way I wanted if to swing. 1 often have much the same feeling about detector rods but in die case of diat device, diere is absolutely no question in my mind diat I am not making diose rods swing for the simple reason diat the response is so strong. I can also make a self-supported, glass-enclosed pendulum swing. I don't know why, although, as you will see later, I do indeed have a hypothesis. Observations of odier people operating pendulums of both sorts shows that about 8 0 % o f volunteer subjects can make a hand-supported pendulum do something while about 5 0 % of people can make the selfsupported pendulum operate. I don't know why.

Instructions for Fabrication: This is one of the simplest of all mind machines to build and operate. T h e following materials are required: 1. A thumb tack, paper clip, or a minute pinch o f plasticene modelling clay to use as a pendulum bob. 2. A spool of sewing thread tor the pendulum itself; this can be made o f nylon, silk, polyester, or any other material. Cellophane tape to use for affixing die upper end of the pendulum to a support.

39

Mind Mochines You Can Build 4 . A pendulum support: this can be nothing more so phisri ailed than the shade of a desk lamp, studylamp, or table lamp; or the lower edge o f a kitchen or bathroom cabinet 5. A glass water tumbler and a polystyrene plastic water tumbler (this last item optional). C u t an eighteen-inch length of thread (longer it your pendulum support is higher than this distance from die table or other horizontal surface; in fact, pendulum,

longer

the more sensitive it will be).

Tie one end o f the diread to the pendulum bob - the paper clip or thumb tack - or mold a bean-sized lump o f plasticene modelling clay around die end of the diread. No further fabrication is required for the handsupported pendulum. An independendy-supported penduium can lxmade by taping die free end to the lamp shade so diat the pendulum bob swings freely just above die surface o f a table. T h e pendulum can also be fabricated inside die water nimbler by taping the free end o f die pendulum support to die inside of die bottom of the glass so that the pendulum bob swings freely inside the nimbler when it is inverted. For a pendulum that' s more sensitive, use one of those tall conical beer glasses.

90

Pendulums

Figure 5-2: An independently-supported pendulum. Any method of supporting the pendulum will work. The longer the pendulum, the more sensitive the pendulum will be.

91

Mina Machines You Can Builc: Serious investigators, may wish to fabricate a series o f pendulums having bobs ofdiffering sizes, weights, shapes, and densities; supports made from various thicknesses ot thread and thread materials; and enclosures consisting©! cylindrical glassand luciteplastic tubes with suitable supports or caps on theirupper ends from which to suspend the pendulum. But die common, pa dor-variety pendulum tor "quick-and-dirty' empirical experiments can be made in satisfactory form with die very simple materials detailed above.

Operating Instructions: Hand-supported pendulum Seat yourself in a comfortable chair at a table in a location tree o f air currents from air conditioners, heaters, fans, and drafts from open windows. Take die tree end o f t h e pendulum support diread between rite lingers of your hand, and place bodi hands together to steady one another. (Fig. > 1 ) Place your elbows on the surface of the table ro steady them. Adjust die lengdi o f die pendulum until die bob swings just clear ofthe table top. Determine die direction ofthe pendulum swing in yes-no response to your questions. It is normal in most

92

Pendulums

European cultures for the 'yes" response to be a swing toward and away from the body of the operator while a " n o " response is a side-to-side, left-right swing. Determine what you wish to know. T h e questions must be phrased so that they can be answered as "yes' or "no." Hits often means framing a series of questions to arrive at die desired answer. People who are experienced at playing "Twenty Questions' will find it easier than someone who is nor. Most people will get a pendulum response when it is operated in this hand-supported mode.

Independent suspension mode: Affix the free end of the pendulum thread with cellophane tape to an overhanging support (Fig. 5-2) such as a lamp shade or shelf in a location reasonably free o f air currents from air conditioners, fans, hearers, and drafts from open windows. Adjust die pendulum length so that die pendulum bob swings freely just above the surface of the table or counter. Seat yourself comfortably in front o f die pendulum. With your hands, still die swing o f die pendulum that may have been produced in die act of suspending it. Once die pendulum is hanging quietly, place your arms on d ie table and cup your hands

93

Mina Machines You Can Builc: aroi i nd the pendulum bob about th ree to six i nches away from. it. Novices may discover that it is easier to work die pendulum with their hands cupped closet to it. Operate the pendulunias described for the handsupported u n i t Frame and ask your questions in die same manner.

Experiments: li the hand-supported pendulum experiment works for you, try die independently suspended pendulum. O n c e you have obtained results from the independent !y-suspcnded pendulum, try milking it swing ui'dtOH t cupping your hands around the pendulum bob. As in die experiments with die energy wheel in the previous chapter, try coating your palms with a thin film ot baby or bath oil ro change the electrical characteristics and dielectric constant of your skin. O r wash your hands dioroughly and completely to remove as much natural skin oil as possible. Ifyou suspect that air currents from your breath, someone else's breadi, or ambient air currents in tiie room are die cause ol pendulum action, perform die enclosed pendulum experiment by suspending the pendulum inside an inverted glass water tumbler. (Fig. > 3 ) C u p your hands around the outside of die tumbler and repeat die basic operating instructions given above.

94

Pendulums

Figure 5-3: To eliminate any possibility of air currents swinging the pendulum, mount it inside an inverted water tumbler as shown.

95

Mine Mochines YOJ Can Build If die pendulum works inside an inverted glass tumbler, try die experiment with die pendulum inside die polystyrene plastic water tumbler. T h e longer the pendulum support diread, die more sensitive the pendulum will be to any disturbing force. Try extending the length o f t h e pendulum diread and note die results. T h e heavier the pendulum bob. die less sensitive die pendulum will be to any disturbing force. Replace the paper clip or thumb tack with a blob of plaiigorizationM, they involve methods and procedures that can be instrumented for measurement ot die physical factors involved and designed to be conducted under die most rigorous protocols. Mechanical devices can be used to appiy die required forces, eliminaring die human factor ofthe experimenter. T h e scope of these experiments can be expanded - for example, do other muscles in die body react in die same manner? Some ol the experiments are so simple in nature, conduct, and protocols that they are prime candidates for high school science lair*. Yet none of diem are so complex nor are any oi their extensions or "rigorizations" so difficult that they cannot be carried our by amateur investigators with limited means. They can also be carried out, of course, by professionals in research facilities. But, since die basic knowledge of dicse experiments has been around for ar least several decades and since no professional organization has yet looked into them, it seems unlikely that anyone except amateurs will exhibit the willingness to undertake diem. These amateurs, oi course, may well become die non-amateur expert professionals o f a totally new and unanticipated field of scientific endeavor. Eimy field o f science was started by amateurs (by definition) and usually widi the scoffing (if not the opposition) of rhe established professionals. T h e reasons are easy to discern. Many professionals acquired dieir expertise at a young

140

I

Symbolic Machines age and at great personal expense; many die re fore will unconsciously oppose anything which remotely threatens their expertise arid/or position. They would prefer to see scientific progress made slowly and carefully in such a way diat it doesn't threaten diem, diat they can adapt to it. and perhaps diat diey can be tenured or retired before their expertise becomes obsolete. But every great advance in mankind's knowledge of the Universe has come about as the result oi a bold, daring generalization. T h e "daring generalization' here is that symbols and their relationships have a definite physical effect upon human beings. The amazing mind machines that will now be discussed are further examples thai tend to strengthen die basic hypotheses stated earlier in ibis chapter. What is different is that you don't haw 10 beiU'iV in anything in order to get them to work, just as belief played absolutely no role in the simple physical experi ments described in this chapter. Belief apparently has little or nothing to do with whether 01 not the devices work or the experiments succeed.

I his is the most

important factor that separates what we are doing from mysticism. I lowever, die fact diat it works and is apparently teal (if not understood) doesn't make it any the less puzzling, frustrating, and/or disturbing.

141

Mind Mochines You Can 3ui!d

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE SYMBOLIC HIERONYMOUS MACHINE

Basic Description: T h i s strange m a c h i n e is strange indeed. Ii is a Hieronymous machine consisting entirely o f symbols save tor a few moving physical parts needed to rotate die prism, rhe sensor coil, and die tactile detector. Iris typical ol many inexplicable but operable devices made lip ol" symbols representing physical objects. These symbols are arranged in rhe same relationship as die physical

14 >

Mind Machines You Ccn Build devices in the original machine. It produces die same result as die non-symbolic machine with about die same degree of reliability and repeatability. Furthermore, it operates with no apparent input o f energy as energy is presently understood in rhe physical sciences. However, ir may not operate under any of the presendy-known principles o f physical or psychological sciences. T h e symbolic I lieronymous machine consists of die standard pickup coil or sensor of the non-symbolic machine, the tactile detector plate, a means to rotate a symbolic prism to tune the device, and all other elements of the machine reduced to inked drawings on cardboard connected with symbolic electrical wires made of diread. It is enclosed in a standard electronics parts box. The model for use during experiments also contains an A C |X3wer cable and plug, a small transformer, a switch, and a pilot light, n o n e o t which are connected to any ofthe symbolic circuitry inside die box. T l i e device behaves essentially as the original noiv symbolic Hieronymous machine does. Many people have tried it and have gotten results tiillv equivalent to the results obtained on the non-symbolic Hieronymous machine.

Historical Background: W h e n John W . Campbell, Jr. began working in 1 9 5 5 - 1 9 5 6 with die original Hieronymous machine described in Chapter Six, he discovered that it ceased to

144

The Symbolic Hieronymous Machine work if a vacuum tube burned o u t - i f the filament broke, if die glass or metal envelope broke, or if die Lube somehow ceased to function effectively as an electronic deviceHe also discovered that it wouldn't work if one of die wires came un-soldercd or broke. Bur he accidentally discovered during an experimental tu J i with a vol 11 nteer si i bject that d le 11 icronymous machine worked perfectly well even though he'd completely forgotten to plug ii into the 120-volt A C wall socket. In Other words, the I lieronymous macliinewould operate without any power supply at all! Campbell wrote, "I can't defend, or even describe, the process liy which 1 arlived at the hunch, 'These things depend upon rclationship^s-a-thing-initself."' Campbell then took that hunch as a postulate, did some deductive dunking, and carried out some physical equipment tests. It relationship only was involved, dien the presence o r absence of a power supply in the I lieronymous machine should make no dilterence because it wouldn't change the relationship ot the parts. But a burned-out tube or a broken connection 'would make a difference; it would alter die relationship oi the parts. He went directly to die purest fonn o f this postulate. He reasoned that the closer the experiment was to a pure symbol, die less objective reality diete would be and die more nearly a perfectly pure relationship would exist. " T h e letter A scratched in die mud is a symbol; it has precisely the same symbolic, properties as a letter A 145

Mind Machines You Ccn Build made oi reinforced concrete and standing forty leer high.. T l i e material object structure has zero significance; only the relationship partem has meaning.' He built a Hieronymous machine leaving out most o f the material objects o f rhe system by substituting symbols which maintained rhe same relationship to one another. Because he was also a realist and felt that the mind-set oi "impossible" or "possible*' might strongly affect the initial results a subject experienced, he added die totally non-functional but equal I v totally misleading on-off switch and pilot light. Externally, therefore, the symbolic Hieronymous machine looked completely normal save lortheunusua! tactile detector which, o n the basis ot his previous experiments with the non-symtalic Hieronymous machine, he knew diat people would accept. His first subject was his young daughter who'd gotten results widi the non-symbolic machine. S h e got a response with the symbolic machine and reported .1 "tacky feeling' at two points o n the tuning dial. S h e was able to renine to die same dial readings, plus or minus two percent, o n successive tries, even when her view of die dial was blocked and die vernier returned to die zero point before each trial nin. After approximately a hundred additional subjects had tried ir. Campbell continued diat die percentage of subjects who got a reading was die same as with the non-symbolic machine-approximately SC%. Additional dam: Children under die age ot fifteen got consisrendy repeatable results while professional re-

146

The Symbolic Hieronymous h/cchine search scientists almost invariably got a clean, 1 0 0 % no response record. Convinced mystics got wild responses all over the dial. Once a subject bad gotten a response, Campbell would open die machine and show them what was inside. The most common reaction was, "Why, there's nothing inside!" But nearly 9 0 % of the subjects continued to get responses even when tl ley knew that die inside of the box contained only symbolic components and diat die pilot light and "oivoff switch had absolutely no fu nc t LO N wh a r.soeve R. Campbell published the full instructions on howto build a symbolic I lieronymous machine along with his results and hypotheses in die February 1957 issue of Astounding Science I'icUm. What was truly astounding was the resounding silence that followed and has been maintained ever since. No researcl i laboratories have followed upon rhisdiscov • cry. Perhaps some amateur researchers have carried on, but their results have not seen general publication.

Author's Experience: When 1 read the first Hieronymous Machine article in the June 1956 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine and built a non-symbolic I lieronymous machine, the results 1 got were interesting because the machine shouldn't have worked. Okay, I thought, the World is full o f weird machines diat we really don't

147

Mind Machines You Ccn Build understand yet, and 1 was intimately familiar with n let oi diem that went under die general tide ot" rockets. Bur when 1 read die February 1957 issue with Campbell's article on the symbolic Hieronymous machine, diat was too much tor me. Remember. 1 was educated as a physicist at id trained in die field as an engineer. T h e article was obviously a hoax. 1 immediately set out to prove drat it was a hoax by building a symbolic Hieronymous machine myself. I carefully followed die instructions given in Campbell's article. 11 didn't work on die first trv. I was about to write it oil when I decided that there was something wrong with the circuit. There was no provision for a filament heater power supply for the vacuum tube symbol. So I added a symbolic filament inside die symbolic tube and "wired" it symbolically to a symbolic filament battery. I was then hugely surprised when my symbolic Hieronymous machine worked! My wife Barbara could get no response from it. But about 8 0 % o! my scientific and engineering colleagues did at While Sands Proving Ground and :it the New Mexico College o f Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. 1 kept die machine and still have ir. I take ir our from time to rime to try it on a new and unsuspecting subject. 1 ve encountered two tasrinaring and inexplicable problems: (a) every couple o f years. I must re-ink rhe batten/ symbols because rhe symbolic batteries appeal to go "dead," and (b) 1 have to re-ink the vacuum tube symbol every ten years to puta"newand fresh' tube 148

The Symbolic Hieronymous

h/cchine

Figure Q-1: The author's symbolic Hieronymous machine built in 1956. It still works. But why does it woik in the first place? in die system. My solid-state versions haven't been in operation long enough to have encountered any failures ofthe "circuit chips'' which, if my computer is any typical example, will exhibit outstanding reliability and longlile exemplary ot solid-state electronic components in the real world.

149

Mind Machines You Ccn Build Instructions for fabrication: T h e symbolic Hieronymous machinc is easier to construct than one of die full-blown hardware types. I lowever, hardware is required: 1. An aluminum or plastic electronics component box. 2. A National Velvet Vernier Dial ol the sort used in die standard Hieronymous machine. 3. A 4-inch by 5-inch piece of polystyrene or Incite ("Plexiglas") plastic sheet for the tactile detector plate. 4. A pickup coil - this can be wound as several turns of f 7 18 A W G solid wire to make a simple air-core coil. 5. A small triangular-shaped pieceofclear plastic to serve as a symbolic prism. 6. Various and sundry mounting and assembly hardware - nuts and bolts, standoffs, insulators, etc. If you wish to include the pilot light and "on-off switch, die following additional matei ials will be needed: a single-pole single-throw toggle switch, a 1 2-volt powet trnnstormer, a 12-volt panel-mounted pilot light and bulb, and an A C line cord and plug, plus mounting hardware. The symbolic circuitry can be uiked onto white cardboard or Crescent No. 201 Illustration Board (or equivalent). The circuit board and the tactile detector's

150

The Symbolic Hieronymous Machine coil con he cut our using a sharp modeling knife. Ordinary sewing thread may be used to connect die circuit board ro rhe tactile detector coil board. T h e precise size and shape ofthe symbolic components are notimpoitant. The material used in making die symbolic parts is not important Workable models have been built from cardboard, plastic, vinyl tiles, sheet metal, and a host of other materials. Tiny pockei-sized machines have been built. T h e actual electronic circuits Used don't seem to be important; a multi-staged tratisis-

Figure 8-2: Symbolic Hieronymous machine's vacuum tube amplifier circuit board. Drawing is full-sized tor author's machine, but size isn't important. Following the drawing accurately from a symbolic point of view seems to be critical.

151

Mine' Machines Ybu Can 3 j i d

tor amplifier sceuis to work as well as a single-transistor unit. T h e precise type o f symbolic op-amp circuit is apparently irrelevant. The only important factor is the ^iatiaixship between the components plus die tact that operable circuits must be used - ifacnial physical electronic circuits were built using actual hardware and the circuit diagrams used in die symbolic machine, die physical circuits would indeed work as amplifiers. I have seen an operable symbolic Hieronymous machine inked on die back o f a 2-inch square ot bathroom tile widi die slick tired-enamel surface of die hie serving as the tactile detector.

n

Figure 8-3: Symbolic Hieronymous machine's transistorized amplifier circuit board for the "modern" solid-state version.

152

The Symbolic Hieronymous

h/cchine

Figure 8-4: Symbolic Hieronymous machine's integrated circuit amplifier board for the latest state-of-the-art version. So it doesn't seem ro matter u /irrt you u>e to make ir. how tag you make it. 01 lion- you put it together just as long as the relationship between the symbolic pads k mains the same. Figure

86.

Inside

the a u r h o r s

symbolic

Hieronymous machine showing placementot die prism and amplifier board. 1 ranstormer provides i 2-voir power tor function I ess "pilot light" because die device is "battery powered."

153

Mind Machines You C c n Buiic'

i —

17 M

1

SPIRAL DETECTCR CO!L SYMBOulC HIERONYMOUS MACHINE

Figure 8-5: Detector coil layout drawing of the author's symbolic Hieronymous machine. Neither the number ot turns nor the direction seem to be critical. Dashed line is "ground" symbol.

Operating Instructions: ri.e operating instructions tor the symbolic I lieronymous machine are die same as those for die physical component 1 lieronymous machine ("die original Hieronymous machine").

Experiments: The symbolic Hieronymous maciiine can be used tor a wide variety oi experiments.

154

The Symbolic Hieronymous

h/cchine

Figure 8-6: Inside the author's symbolic Hieronymous machine showing placement of the prism and amplilier board. Transformer provides 12-volt power lor functionless "pilot light" because the device is "ballety powered." Some oi these experiments can be done wirh die internal symbolic systems of the machine itself si nee this lorm of Hieronymous machine can be quickly and easily modified. For example, various sorts oi symbolic transistorized amplifier circuits should be tried - common base, common emitter, common collector, F'NP, NPN, direcr-

155

Mind Machines You Ccn Build coupled, wide-baud, and odier soils oi transistor amplifier circuits can be inked onto plug-in boards to permit quick change. Various sorts of operational amplifiers and other integrated circuit diagrams can be rested. W h e n ir comes ro resnngrhe machine on-human subjects, you may wish to gather data on how many people get responses'when a dummy "on-otf 1 switch and pilot lightare used versus how many get a response when a "self-contained batten/ powered" version is used. A very critical experiment needs to be done and verified by a large number o f experimenters. Basically, it amounts to this: T o what level o f simplicity in terms of symbols can the Hieronymous machine be reduced before it doesn't work any more.7 C a n box symbols be used to indurate circuits (the "black box" approach). I have done this myself, but I don't wish to afreet die re suits o f experiments by indicating the level to which I was able to reduce a Hieronymous machine before it stopped working for

me. R e m e m b e r :

My original

symbolic

Hieronymous machine would not work for me until 1 had satisfied, in my own elecrronics-trained mind, that die re was a proper battery symbol tor die symbolic vacuum tube filament. 1 "knew" diat a vacuum tube wouldn't work without a heated filament That obviously affected my ability to get a response. BUL on the other hand, I had built die machine. T h e absence or die nLunent battery and filament symbol should not have had any effect whatsoever on anyone operating die machine who did

156

~he Symbolic Hieronymous Machine

Figure 8-7: The other side of the interior of the author's symbolic Hieronymous machine showing placement ol the spiral coil underneath the plastic detector plate and the connection between the amplifier and the coil boards using symbolic wires made from black thread. not know what was inside tl ic box! Campbell's original symbolic Hieronymous machine widioui a vacuum tube filament and battery worked tine lor him and tor the people diat were his subjects.

157

Mine Machines You Con Bui d What If It Doesn't Work? As originally pointed our by* Campbell, professional research scientists in physics and chemistry had an almost perfect zero score in getting any response from the symbolic Hieronymous machine, even when they didn't know what was inside it. I f you build a symbolic Hieronymous machine and cannot get it to work for you, you may have fallen victim to this unknown and un-named syndrome. Maylx* it just won't work for you, period. T h e Hi st re^t is. of course, to try it on someone else, prelerably a child or a person who isn't a professional researcher. Inotherwords. try iron someone who doesn't already "know" in die back of his/her mind that such a device, no matter what's inside the box, can't possibly work and is probably a hoax or a joke. IV exceedingly careful in running experiments with voluntary subjects lest you provide them with clues or hints as to what you think die response should be, or what results you mighr like diem to get. People will sometimes (more often dian not) work very hard to produce the sort of results someone else wants or riiaL they've determined diat someone else wants. If you don r get responses from anyone, or it vou want to check to make sure you've built die device properly in the Hrsr place, go back and make sure diat die relationships

between die symbolic parts are secure and

as they should be. Check to make sure diat your pen

1 58

The Symbolic Hieronymous Machine hasn't skipped and made an incomplete line while drawing die circuit diagrams. Check die "polarity' oi die symbolic batteries and solid-state dcvices; you may have inadvertently switched battery polarity so diat a PNP or NPN transistor symbol is wired in backwards and dieretbre couldn't work if the symbolic circuit were used as a map to construct die "real' ; physical circuit. Check to make sure that the threads used as symbolic wires are secure and attached; make sure they aren't touchingone anothei and thereby symbolically "shorting o u t ' each other. Change the orientation ol die symbolic plastic prism by ninety degrees, test, and il no response is achieved, rotate it another ninety degrees. in my device, the symbolic Ixutery went "dead' after several years as "real" batteries ale wont to do. I got my device working again by re-inking the battery symbol, thereby "'recharging" or "replacing' rhe "dead" symbolic battery. As a last resoit, give the ma< bine to an acquaintance and ask them to run experiments on odier people without your foreknowledge ol who, what, and where. The results should he interesting. T o what extent wore you nMeeting the performance ol the machine, it you had any etlect at all. And il so, why? T h e re is no rea so n why th e syinbolic Hie i oiivi 1 rot t > machine shouldn't work for at least .some subjects, even i: it won't work tor you. Data on who can and can't gel a response should be kept. It should he correlated with personality and mood data ol die subject. 159

Mind Moch;nes You Can Build We're plowing very fresh andveryunusual ground here. With the symbolic Hieronymous machine* we really don't yet know what the important parameters are or what measurements are important. Therefore, take as much data as seems to be relevant. W e need some sort o f organization or society, perhaps computer networked, diat can collect the experimental results from amateur investigators and develop a nationwide data base tor experiments with die symbolic Hieronymous machine...and the other amazing mind machines discussed in diis book. But you organize it. not me. If I organize it. it will be tainted from the beginning because it may be claimed that I put it together in order to sell thi« book. You do tt; I'll be there to help.

Hypotheses: Dr. T . Galen Hieronymous, die inventor ofthe original Hieronymous machine, lias developed a hypothesis relating to die rationale for his device that invokes die concept of "el op DC radiation'' as discussed in rhe previous chapter dealing widi the Hieronymous machine. The symbolic 1 lieronymous machine pretty well demolishes the "eloptic radiation" hypothesis. No known torm oi "radiation' and 110 aspect o f t h e Universe diat we currently define as "radiation" could possibly be in-

160

The Symbolic Hieronymous Machine voiced to explain why symbolic marks and surrogate* can cause an apparent physical change in a plastic plate diat would he sensed by a human being. As remarked previously, radiation is a sharplydefined class of entity having definite characteristics and relationships with energy, which in turn can he convetted back and forth as many tonus of energy - heat, light, etc. Waves and radiations and panicles cannot be invoked in any hypothesis relating to the symbolic Hieronymous machine. Occam's Razor would quickly trim any hypodv esis based on exlrascnsoiv perception (ESP), "mental radiations," "thought waves," or even suggestibility. If die operation o f the Hieronymous mac bine can indeed be explained by any ol these hyjxadierical causes, ii is therefore die first and most powerful ol the instrument? to be used in para psychological research, ll it docs operate because ol the subconscious mind, telepathy, or even suggestibility, ir is a powerful tool tor psychological research and should therefore immediately be seized upon and put to work there. But it hasn't. And it's been around long enough lor die original patent protection to have expired. Details of both types ot devices have been published in a magazine with more than 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 circulation on a worldwide basis. Dr. Hieronymous himself was not die typical inventor who wished to maintain control of all rights to his invention; in connection with the original

161

Mind Machines Vcu Can Bu c magazine article on the Hieronymous machine, he publicly gave pcnmssion tor investigators to build and investigate i t Therefore, no one can give as an excuse that die machine was (a) obscure because publication, ii any, was in private journals that weren't widely circulated, or (b) too righdy controlled by the inventor, a factor that prohibited serious investigators from looking into it tor fear of legal action on the part ofthe inventor. None of these two factors are true. Nor can die operation of either 1 lieronymous machines be easily fobbed ofi or explained away as a 1 loax. Ir has operated sttccessti illy for far too many people. Hieronymous machines ot tadi types have been built and operated by |>eople who have had nothing more to follow and learn from than the printed words and illustrations in a magazine. Hieronymous machines have been built and operated by high school students in science fairs as well as high-technology engineers (and a few physical scientists). It is patently apparent diat we are here dealing with a totally new and formerly unsuspected a spec Lot die I Jniverse. 1 do not know what ir is, and I cannot describe ir to you. But 1 can make some W A G s (Wildly Assumed Guesses) concerning it because one must have somewhere to start. 1 will probably be proven wrong. But in

The Symbolic Hieronymous Machine displacing my W A G , someone will have to come up with a hypothesis, and it should he a testable hypothesis. My guess is based upon data. With both Hieronymous machines, 1 submit that we a re dealing with devices that are definitely no! physical science devices. T h e physical power o: pure symbols can be physically demonstrated and titfs in the previous chapter. T h e Hieronymous machine is capable ot being built and operated on a pti rely symbolic basis. TIlcrefore, it is nor a physical sciences device. W e are working on the level of pure symbolism. A symbol is what t: is because it \< defined as being that symbol which is further defined by us as having certain powers. "Ihis fact, demonstrable by the I lieronymous machine, makes the behavior ol symbolic systems such as this device completely capable ol apparently violating one ol the basic laws ot the pi lysical sciences whic h states drat any object in the Universe must have the same characteristics for any two observers. That this pnncij >le doesn't apply to cveiything in die Universe should come as no giear surprise to those researchers involved in the life sciences where ir is widelyaccepted diat no two given organisms, even those widi the same genetic material, need have the same characteristics for any two investigators. But. a very large statistical Universe or these organisms can and do operate in predictable manners as a

popination.

163

Mind Machines YouCcnBuiic'

Conclusions: I sub mil that Dr. 1. Galen Hieronymous has indeed discovered and put to use a totally new-to-us principle o f t h e real Universe diat can and will, in time, be thoroughly tested, defined, and proven as a dieory and. eventually, as a new Universal law. Furthermore, I submit rhat practically none o f t h e initial work will Lie carried out b\ professional scientists as a professional inquiry because 1 know very few professional scientists - even those with very open minds - who could easily afford ro undertake such investigations for fear of peer pressures. It will be done by amateurs such as you and I because there are no professionals in this new "proto science'' vet. Further conclusion: I don't know what this new Universal thing is. and I don't dunk anyone else knows either. But it's certainly goingro be challenging, dm, and exciting to nnd out what s involved!

164

CHAPTER NINE

THE WISHING MACHINE

Basic Description: T h e Wishing machine is a reasonably standard threetransistur common-emitter RGcoupled audio frequency amplifier widi two simple ilat copper plates on the input - o n e at ground potential and the odier connected to the high-impedance input o f die amplifier - and an output consisting of a simple vertical rod antenna, h i s powered by a 6-volt battery.

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Mind Mochines You Car Build T h e device appears to be effective in accelerating growth or decay of reasonably simple life forms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, plants, insects, and lower animals. W h e n a symbolic sample - a photograph of a plant, field, tree, or person, for example - is placed between the two copper input plates and die amplifier is turned on, die experimenter then consciously thinks o f some change he desires to occur or some u is'i concerning the object symbolized in the sample placed between the plates. T h e device has apparently been known to (a) achieve a 9 0 % + kill ratio o f Japanese beetles in 9 0 test plots in tests conducted in the 1950s by the Pennsylvania State Department of Agricultures (b) achieve a 7 0 % kill ratio against corn borers in other tests conducted by the same agency; (c) destroyed tent caterpillars in a tree 1 2 0 0 miles from die site ot die device; (d) .ill but eliminated acne from die skin of an adolescent girl: and (e) eliminated a large number ol severe warts on an infant girl. There may have been other tests conducted and other results achieved, but die author has some documentation on these. T h e device apparently does notworkinadestnicnve mode against other human beings. In other words, ir is nor a murder machine, which is why it can l^e considered lor publication in this book. However, it appears to be a member o f a class of "Wishing ma-

T

he Wishing Machine

Figure 9-7; Block diagram of the wishing machine. chines" in general, some of which can and apparendy have been used as such. This doesn't seem to be voodoo magic, but it appears indeed to be magic under the definition o f that term as il has been used in this book.

Historical Background Work on this particular machine apparen'ly was initiated in about 1946 by Colonel 1 lenry Gross (Yale, 1906), a banker and investor who was at dial time head of the selective service system lor die state of Pennsylvania. I le was assisted by two other gentlemen named Upton and Armstrong, bodi Princeton Class ot 1905. Additional data on these latter two men has not been located. Work began when the wives of I Jpton and Armstrong bodi died ol cancer within two months of

167

Mind Machires You Can Bu c one another in 1946. whereupon the three men decided that if nothing known to science at diat time could "have saved rhe two women, they should start locking beyond science. All diree pursued dieir goal as a hobby with no desire ro make money; they'd already done that. They apparendy were pure amateurs in diis regard. T h e Pennsylvania te^ts were apparendy conducted in the early 1950's.

Author's Experience: I heard about this Wishing machine in a private communication from John W . Campbell. Jr. dated June 12. 1956. Apparendy, Campbell's publication of the article about die Hieronymous machine brought responses from a large number of people working on or having had experience with other such machines. Since this was such a simple device (like rhe symbolic Hieronymous machine), 1 built one. My eldest child, C^oi istatice, was at that time less dian three years old and suffering badly from wans Warts are, ot course, caused by any one o f a number ot different viruses. She was especially susceptible because she had warts everywhere, and we had grown increasingly concerned about dieir locations and extencof growth. Medical treatments had included such severe measures as direcr treatment oi the warts widi arsenic acid, a procedure thar seemed ro me rife wirh hazard in an intant.

The Wishing Machine I placed a photograph of my daughter between the input plates o f my Wishing machine, turned on die battery power, and consciously thought about those warts going away, about killing the virus that was causing die warts, and about my daughter without diem. 1 kept die Wishingamplifier constantly operatingon baLtery power, since from time to rime during the subsequent days I kept thinking about her and those warts. T h e result was frightening. Within three days, my daughter's warts had decreased markedly, including diose that were beginning to grow inside her nostrils. Will tin four weeks, she was free of warts and has not had anything like them since. I disassembled my Wishing amplifier because 1 was afraid o f what I might henceforth do with ii At that time in my life, it seemed thatthis phenomenon involved too much personal power o f a sort that 1 didn't understand and felt that it might not be controllable. 1 wasn't certain whether or not I could handle it. All oi us are secretly aware ol the impulsive beast dial hides deep within us. Indeed, most of our rearing and education is aimed toward demanding that we restrain that bcasT in a mental cage in the deep recesses ol oui mind...and please throw away the key. H i e machinewas also sheer, outright magic whose consequences were far beyond those ol machines such as the dowsing rods and Hieronymous machine which were, by comparison, almost parlor games.

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Mind Machines You Ccn Buiic' In tli e years since, I have learned that such devices land there are many oi them) can be safely used by most people because we have built-in "circuit breakers* or ''emotional fuses' diat prevent most o f us from using such machines tor destructive purposes. Furthermore, we've been taught to use and depend upon them with dire consequences tor those who didn't. Beyond that, however, appears to be an accumulation o f data thar indicates such machines are useful only against fairly simple living organisms which operate totally on a pre-programmed or instinctual basis. Such organisms behave as systems without feedback with onlylinear programming; disrupt the programming and the system stops. Itdoes not work on human beings who can anddo over-ride instincts with higher thought processes. I hesitated to include this device in this book for two reasons: (a) it is probably the most atrocious and impossible of all the amazing mind machines I've ever encountered and one of a class ot devices for which it is extremely difficult, il nor impossible, to either dismiss out oi hand, explain away, or even generate a reasonable hypothesis of how and why it works at all, v. hich ir does; and (b) because ot rhe total lack of any concept o f why and how it works, diere is always a serious question about whedier or not die data on die limitations of its effectiveness are complete and totally valid. However, simply

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The Wishing Machine because of diese two factors, it is necessary to get die information out to amateur investigators so that some additional experimentation may clarity the situation.

Instructions for Fabrication: As discussed above, this device is a strnightforward transistorized audio amplifier. Ir may be operable on the symbolic level in concert with other

devices

>uch

as the 1 lieronymous machine. Instructions given here are tor the physical parts unit, however. A suitable transistorized ampliliercircuit is sh o w 11 in Figure 9-1. T h e values of the components are called out. All of the parts can lx* purchased at stores such as Tandy Radio Shack. T h e amplifier can be built on an ordinary phenolic board and enclosed, along with its battery and the antenna mount, in an electronic component box. Hie two metal input plates ran be easily obtained at most craft and hobby shops. Although copper was used in the original device built by the author, any electrically conductive plarecan be used. Alumint tm and brass sheets are available in mosr hobby shops. T h e antenna is a simple collapsible rod diat can be taken from a scrapped portable transistor radio or C B transceiver. O r die antenna can be nodi ing more than a piece of stiff wire.

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Mind Machines You Can Buiid

Figure 9-2: Circuit schematic for a transistorized audio amplifier that can be used in the wishing machine. Actually, any audio amplifier can be used. This one is presented as a suggestion only. Question: Will the wishing machine work with only the drawing of the amplifier as the symbolic Hieronymous machine does?

Operating Instructions: T h e operating instructions are as deceptively simple as rhe instructions lor making this machine. T o he effective, the device must use some input sample that is di reedy connected symbolically to the object die experimenter wishes to be changed. For example, a photograph of the insect-infested tree or rieid

The Wishing Machine can be used. A lent from die plant or a piece ol paper containing a drop of dried blood from die individual can be used. T h e only factor affecting die operation ol die machine appears to be die direct causative connection between the machine and the subject - i.e., light rays from die nee tell upon die photographic negative, cat isinga change i:i the chemical salts of rhe negative material. Place die photograph or sample between die two input plates. Turn on the amplifier. Make your wish. Leave die amplifier turned on. From time to time, dunk about your wish or desired action. As is typical of machines of this class, distance has no effect upon its operation - i.e., the distance between the machine and the actual subject or the distance between the machine and the operator apparently have no effect upon its operation.

Experiments; If there was ever a mind machine diat was •superamenable to experimentation, this is it. ! have not been able to obtain the results Irom die tests conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture in rhe early 1950's in which it is reported diat Japanese beetles were eliminated from 9 0 lest plots in the western part o f die state when the machine and operator were in die eastern part of die state. T h e results may Languish in some archives there or, most probably, were

-.73

Mind Machines You Ccn Buiic' tossed out years ago because any scientist in bis right mind knows that such a machine can't wotkand that the results have somehow been rigged. A numberofdennitive experiments suggest rhctiv seh'es and can be carried out simply and easily by amateur scientists at the high school level. The easiest of these would use numbered Petri dishes containing bread mold from a common source. T h e experimenter should concentrate o n reducing die growth rare in a Petri dish with a given identification number on ir. A photograph of diat Petri dish should be placed between the input plates. T h e machine may be located anywhere during this experiment, but the Petri dishes should all be kept together m tl ie same environment. T h e growth of ti ie bread mold in the various Petri dishes can be visually determined, and a record should be kept. Another experiment with bread mold growth can he conducted when the operator is not the experimenter and does nor know die number of the Petri dish whose photograph is between the plates, and who simply wishes tliat the object whose photograph is at the input Iv changed. Experimental organisms can also include bacteria, insects, and plants. Does this device have any effect upon die growth rate ot bean sprouts as in die pyramid experiments 1

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The Wishing Machine If positive results are obtained, the experiment should be repeated with die machine located in a remote site ro test die apparent fact diat distance has no bearing on die experimental results. T h e Pennsylvania tests can and should be repeated by many investigators. Choose a tree or a field with Insect or fungal infestation. Photograph i t Put d ie photograph between the plates. Have an independent observer keep a record of what happens to die test plant or lield as well as to a control plant or field nearby widi similar infestation whose location and condition is totally unknown lo the experimenter. These experiments and otheis are simple, inexpensive, easy to conduct, easy to control, and easy to evaluate. 1 hey can and should be made I »y a large number ol investigators. Il is quite unlikely thai they will be carried out by professional researchers, but, it any are. it is also equally likely diat the results will turnout negative. Thar is why ii is necessary and desirable to have these experiments conducted by amateurs who have nothing at stake except curiosity or a flaming desire ro prove diar die author is staik, raving mad. (This lattei motivation was the one thar got me started in diis whole tiling in die first place because I kneu> it tuid to be a fraudulent hoax and it was so easy and cheap to run the experiment to prove my point.)

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Mind Machines You Ccn Buiic' What If It Doesn't Work? I f your Wishing machine doesn't work, there may be one ol several reasons: 1. You didrftbuild it right or you're not doing something right when trying to use it. As die old saying goes. "If at first you don'tsticcecd. try reading the instructions.'' 2. There's a bad transistor, component, solder joint, etc. in die machine that disturbs something thar affects die Hieronymous machine and probably affects the Wishing machine: the relationship within die system has been disrupted. 3. You're too impatient. Give ita couple of weeks. Rome wasn't burned in a day.... 4 . Your personal circuit breakers are set very low and you just can't operate such a device no matter how hard you try; you're blocking yourself somehow. !xvr someone else try it. 5. Subconsciously, you believe it's magic and it can't work, or diat you'll be discovered and burned as a witch. D o n ' t dismiss die powerful effect of our cultural programming. Since nobody really knows what's going on here in the first place, maybe none of diese reasons are basically valid. Maybe you just can't ger one to work, period. O n die oilier hand, others can and have.

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The Wishing Machine Hypotheses: It's possible ro come up with any number of* hypotheses concerning why the Wishing machine and its genet.il class o f devices work. But it's totally impossible at this poi nt to effectively rest any ofthe hypotheses because we can't come up will i any Irypothesis based on what we already know in science. In the case of the detector rods, it was possible lo hypothesize some means of information transfer trom the object to the searcher that would cause a change that would cause the rods lo move. Not so here. Peiidiiluins aiid energy wlieels may bo cxplainei I by hypotheses that include the well-known principles of electrodynamics and rhe ability of people to willingly change the electr ical characteristics ol their bodies. Not so here. 1 he actions of pyramids may be explicable on the basis of extremely weak electromagnetic activity, the resonant characteristics o f t h e pyramid shape, and the low energy levels required lo affect molecular bonds in crystalline materials. Bur none o f thar appears ro have any bearing on Wishing machines. The concept ol 'eloptic radiation" was one hypothesis relating to the operation of the Hieronymous machine, although the success o f t h e purely symbolic Hieronymous machine would seem to render any "ra-

177

Mind Machines You Ccn Buiic' diation" hypothesis invalid. I n the first place, die basic conceptol 'radiation' includes the concept of "distance,' 1 and "distance' apparendy has little it any effect upon die operation or effectiveness ol Wishing machines. Therefore, the concept oi radiation cannot be invoked here. As with die symbolic Hieronymous machine, we are beginning to get into a totally unknown realm. Unlike the previous dev ices, with die symbolic machines such a* the Wishing machine, we appear tolx 1 dealing widi phenomena that are truly our at die very fringe ot our Universe o f knowledge. W e may he unable to formulate any hypothesis whatsoever for decades or perhaps a century. But, unless someone lx*gins looking, we may never lindoutatall and may forever be denying ourselves some important bit of information about tins Universe that could be ot enormous IxmcDt to people. No rational hvpodiesis can be formulated diat would even begin to rake into account most ot the experimental data and reported phenomena of die Wishing machine. W h y is distance apparendy nor a factor when wid i every odier aspect of the I "liiv erse distance i - indeed one oi die primary dimensions? W h y does die Wishing machine appear 10 operate only o n die level ol organic life and dien only 011 those organisms widi no volition, no ability to over-r.de dieir instinctual, genetic progiamming?

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The Wishing Machine T h e easiest way our is die Ostrich Syndrome: It : s a hoax- Then please explain what happened lo diose Japanese beedes in those Pennsylvania fields... to thai teenager s acne... to my infant daughter s warts. Coincidence. you say? If those were mere coincidences, they were indeed fortuitous. And it the machine somehow affected diese coincidences or rhe probabilities thereof, it's far more environmentally benign than insecticides and far more effective than Clearasil and arsenic acid! And if it is affecting the probabilities in these cases, how and why is it acting this way and would it do something similar in l a s Vegas and Atlantic City:' O r one might excuse it away by claiming that it simply operates to reinforce suggestibility. If it s that good at it. this data should lie extremely useful in psychology and psychiatry because it's far superior to hypnosis and conscious-altering drugs. And Madison Avenue would have snapped it up long ago.... Saying it works because the opeiatoi believes il works doesn't explain it and is no hypothesis, only an admission that it does work and that diis may be a reason. Why does it work only il the operator believes it does? According to what we think we know about rhe rest ot the Universe, this shouldn't he. It strikes at die very roots of scientific inquiry. Maybe that's basically all it's about anyway.

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Mind Machines You Con Bui c Conclusions: These are conclusions reluctantly arrived at o n rhe basis o f data in hand to date: 1. T h e Wishing machine works. 2. It works only against living organism* whose nervous systems are not complex enough to include volitional action as an operational mode. 3. Distance appears to be no factor in its effectiveness. 4. There is no basis in current scientific knowledge to support any hypothesis concerning why it works. 5. With continued experimentation, we can probably learn why ir works. 6. W e must lxr willing to continue experimenting.

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CHAPTER TEN

POSTSCRIPT I ve presented each device herein as an example ol a particular class or type o f mind machines machine. You may know of others. L also tried tu constrain the machines 1 discussed not only to those which 1 had built and tested myself, but also those that could be built and operated by anyone who could read and follow instructions. Furthermore, none of them require personalized instruction or train-

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Mind Machines You Ccn Buiic' ing. T h i s approach has always been the hallmark of scientific inquiry as opposed ro mysticism where the operator must he personally trained by an adept Therefore, I didn't discuss such weird and wonderful machines as the Drown machine and the De La W a r r machine. According to report?, both, apparendy work. However, I have not seen one. built one. or operated one. In addition, both machines require training by experts in their use. Not everyone can operate them by reading an instruction manual. I didn't exclude them on the basis that die American Medical Association ha* declared them to be hoaxes. 1 had no basis for deciding whether they were real or shams. However, the tact that something lias been poohpoohed by experts was, is, and never will beany reason for me to pooh-pooh it, too. An expert is another human being just like thee and me. Said expert merely has acquired a mass ot expertise diat thereafter he must jealously guard because it may be the only prop supporting the person. 1 lere's thewaytotreatan "expert"': Listen to diem to get die benefit of their expertise. They'll tell you what can be done; and ir undoubtedly can. W h e n they tell you it a m t be done, try to do it anyway. W h e n they begin to pontificate on subjects outside their field of expertise, they pack no more clout than you or me. 1 don't claim

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Postscript to be an expert o n anything. I'm >rilI learning. I ' m an amateur and proud of il. If there were more amateur scientists, perhaps sciencewould advance more rapidly. Some readers may feel Fvc included some strange machines herein that they consider mystical and whose results they consider extremely subjective. Re advised diat 1 deliberately eliminated trom consideration a ven,' large number of devices thar .ire not understood and produce questionable physical responses. By now, you've realized that these ei^lir strange machines share several characteristics: 1. In light of everything we've been taught about the ' 'niverse, these machines shouldn't work. But they do work demonstrably and repeatedly lor a significant number of people. These devices are maddening because they work well and reliably foi some j v o ; le and not lot other s. O n some days, they won't work at all even lor adepts. 2. They can be built and operated successfully using only written instructions without any personal contact with rhe inventor or advocate. 5. They produce repearahle results with a large enough percentage ol subjects dial die iactoroi random chance cannot possibly Lie expected to aliect die results or play a part.

I S3

Mind Machines VOL Can Build 4- N o accepted theory explains why each ot them works. I n -net, there are no hypotheses concerning why or how some or diem work nt ali. This doesn't keep them from working. 5. They ore ignored by the professional community of scientific investigators. Most scientists claim diese devices are hoaxes but have never spent any time investigating them with the same level of rigor diey apply to their own lield o f interest. 6. Because die causes for die operation of these machines are unknown, they are and should become legitimate targets of investigation by those who are interested in expanding die horizons of human knowledge and our understanding of the I 'diverse. 7. In the cases where these machines have utility, what they do can be done at least as well by other devices whose operation we more or less understand. For example. many geological tools are available to help us locate underground water. Ye* dowsing rods have been Used lor centuries and aie indeed depended Upon throughout die world roday. A razor blade may be re-sharpened by a whetstone and leather strop. A mass spectrograph will nor only identity the elements presenr m a metallurgical sample but provide quantitative data as well. However, utility isn't at question here. T h e bodiersome question is, " W h y do the damned things work in the first place?"

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Postscript My basic diesis in this book has been that we don't know why diey do or don't do, what they do or don't do, but diat diey do indeed do it. Therefore, we should make a serious attempt to find out w hy. And if that isn't the basic purpose oi legitimate scientific inquiry, then what is? Please note carefully diat I do not advocate any particular religiousdoctrinc orcultot worship in connection with anyofrhese machines. Some religious cults and "mental expansion sciences' may have adopted one of them tor their purposes. Some readers may identify one or more ol the strange machines herein as lx*ing the favorite tools or toys of such groups. So what? Fins doesn't mean that ii should not be investigated, particularly if it works. Divorced liom cult context, the critical question remains: Does it workoi doesn't ii? And, if it does, why? I'm not selling the modern technological equivalent o f snake oil. F m merely trying to get these strange machines out in the open where inquiring minds can learn o f them. Pairh has absolutely nodiing whatsoever to do widi die operation ol ar lyol die devices in this book. I do not maintain thar you have to believe in anything except that these machines can be investigated by scientific protocols and explained in a lashion diat is not inconsistent with the rest of die Universe.

Mind Machines You Can Buiid Since anyone can build and test them according to the instructions herein, n o o n e h a s any excuse so claim at the outset that these devices are hoaxes or that they depend upon suggestibility or gullibility. It* they work because of suggestibility, they should therefore have some Utility in psychology because the suggestibility is transferred not by personal contact but remotely through written symbols on paper: this book. And if diis is indeed diecaseand ifsuggestibilityis the reasonthedevices work, we'd better find out why tl iey work by such remotecontrol suggestibility! I have nodiing to gain by writing this book except a percentage ol the book's sales price called a book royalty. Book royalties rarely make authors rich. If diey did. there would be far more wealdiy authors. If making a million dollars had been my aim. I would have approached the subject quite differently in a highly sensationalistic stvlc and manner. .As it was. I tried ro present the information in as straightforward a manner as 1 could. O n the odiei hand, I do have something to lose by writing this book. In more than forty years of writing. I've built a reputation dial has some semblance of truthfulness, sobriety, and carenil research. I've never espoused far-out causes except ones diat 1 knew perfectly well were within the capabilities of science and technology like going to die Moon and industrializing space. I do not wish to destroy that hard-earned and carefully preserved

Postscript reputation now. In fact, the possibility that I might do so as a resultofthis bookhas been of concern :o me throughout its preparation. This is why I reported only on strange machines dvat 1 have personal experience in building a n d / o r operating. My formal academic science education continually reminds me that 1 should report publicly those pnenomena diat 1 have carefully observed and thereafter bare myself to peer review and criticism. H i e problem is that while diere are many scientists in the world, there are few who have any experience in strange machines and are therefore qualified Lo express opinions about them. So I'm laying mysell wide open to criticism from experts who aren't but who think they are. O u r limited knowledge of ourselves and our 1 'niverse has grown over the past five centuries, hi die eighteenth century, electricity and magnetism were mystical phenomena. In the past, tilings we accept today were greeted with jeers and outright derision. In 1807, T h o m a s Jefferson who was then President of the American Philosophical Society (the equivalent of today's American Association lor the Advancement of Science) reacted to a report o( a discovery o f a meteorite by two Connecticut astronomers with die statement, '"l could more easily believe that two Yankee professors would lie than stones fall from heaven.'

In the nineteenth cen-

tuiy, much of what is now twentiedi-centiuy science was

Mind Machines You Can Buiid laughed nr. T h e reknowned physicist and tbnner President of tiie British Royal Society. Lord Kelvin, stated in 1 9 0 0 , "X-rays are n hoax." W e can probably expect no less from our reknowned twentieth century savants when it comes to phenomena that may well represent rwentv-nrst century science. O n the basis of a long study of the history of science and technology, however. I am convinced that somewhere among these strange machines lies the foundation oi die science and technology of die twenty-iirst century. Fa r too many people are still operating under the obsolete philosophy ot materialism that was developed during the nineteenth century and dominated far too much in the twenticdi. O n e ofthe beliefs o f materialism is diat we know everything there is ro know about the Universe. But scientific inquiry itself proves this assertion wrong every day. Science is not a static body ot knowledge. Itgrows. Hereis adirecrion in which ir can grow without requiring millions ol dollars of support in terms o f grants. It can grow under die aegis o f amateurs. In fact, it musL This will, however, intimate some or die professional scientists who may fear diat. in spite of their skepticism, there just might ta so 111 edging here after all.

Postscript R C A engineer Harry Swartzburg stated, " T h e validity o f a science is its ability to predict." Well, maybe diese protosciences we're talking about aren't diat far along yet. Bur they're getting diere. 1 can now write a book describing some strange, unexplained machines so you and diousands of others can build them and see for yourself. That's a start. In fact, it's die first step in any potentially new field oi science. Scientific fields o f endeavor begin with such unexplained phenomena as those we've discussed in connection with strange machines. From the basic laws ol motion (dynamics) to die most modern theories of nuclear structure and cosmology, each advance began with die actions of an individual whose curiosity was piqued by a strange and perhaps even accidental or fortuitous phenomenon. They also had the belief that a reason for the phenomenon existed and could Lie learned. Therefore, the reason(s) why these e < liscovercd. In the piocess oi doing diis, new and unsuspected fields of science and knowledge will lie uncovered. Maybe this will be done by a reader of this book. 1 lowever, if I've piqued yourcuriosity and caused you to investigate some of the amazing machines reported herein, dien I've done what 1 set out to do. Bur, please, a few words ot warning to diose who will enthusiastically undertake experiments with these machines and others that they may come upon:

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Mind Mochines You Car Build D o n ' t write to ask me details ot how to build or operate the strange machines o: this book. I've told you everyd-iing I knew when I starred working with them and therefore everything you need to know to get started. Go backand rend the text carefully again. "It at first you don't succeed, try reading the instructions.' And don't demand tilings of me. I'm just an amateur like you. W e all are. I don't get paid for investigating strange machines. Nor am I in rhe business of selling die ni and diereby keepingcustomers happy. These machines are simple uid sate enough that you can and should try diem your way and do a lew experiments on your own. D o n t complain to me tl something doesn't work because, after ill, even widi the most complex of diese machines, you're our only a few dollars and a tew hours' time. What did you cxpect? I told you ar die start that maybe it wouldn't work but dial diere was a good probability it would because it worked for me. Tne only promise held forth by this book was dial perhaps il would be found entertaining. At worst, it could be infuriating. B u t ! hopeycu've learned a I itde something about science, scientific investigation, and die cond .icr of scientific experiments along die way. And maybe something about how abysmally ignorant we are about die Universe.

Postscript Don't write me enthusiastically about a machine somebody else has invented that performs miracles unless you yourself have built it, tested it. and confirmed die results without personal contact widi the inventor. Don't write to me about the wonderful machine diat you've invented, that you've tried on thousands of people, and that you've personally taught hundreds ol people to operate. Sony, but ir doesn't count. Close, but no cigar! The world is full of miracle machines diat won't and don't work at all out ol die hands ol die inventor. (And I've seen hundreds of these, too.) But i: you've invented a strange machine, written ir up, published the description and the experimental results, had |x?oplc build and operate it from that written description without personal contact with you, and gotten reports that it woiks, I II gladly read your letter. T h e same holds true if you've built :i strange machine from someone else's written instructions and had it work. Totally nwif/.vr.uV'Mf tt'^/icdtioti is a key element. Don't complain to me ihar there's no place ro publish your work. Look harder, liven die prestigious New York Academy ol Sciences has published some pretty strange, off-beat, and oU-die-wall papers. Not all scientific organizations are as stuffy and priest-like as yoi i may have gad lered from what I've written here. A lot ol good and honest scientists are around. There are also

191

Mind Machines You Ccn Buiic' many places ro publish your work. Maybe thar fact that it s continually rejected is no reflection upon die subject matter but on die way you've written it up. I'm a skeptic or I wouldn't have gotten involved widi strange machines more than a third of a centi i ry ago. And you'd better be a skeptic, too. lest the rude hand of reality rise up and smite thee right in the middle of thy cherished beliefs. But don't just read about dieseandodier strange machines and then dismiss them skeptically. Build them and try them. Test them. Then and only then do you have the nghr to an opinion on any given one of them, but not about the ones you haven't built and rested. Don't worry about die experts. They'll tell you only what can't be done. It's up to you to go ahead and do it it it really is possible. You'll never know unless you try. Remember that the history of science and technology is littered with the solemn pontifical pronouncements of experts. " The dieory of germs is a ridiculous fiction,' said I ierrc Pochet, professor of physiology in Toulouse, France, y

when he learned ofthe germ theory of disease developed by Louis Pasteur, who was a crystallographer, nota doctor. Others even refused to look ar his data. " T h e abdomen, the chest, and die brain will be forever shut from die inn usion of rhe wise and humane surgeon," said Sir John line Erichsen in 1 8 3 7 : he was later to become Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queer. Victoria.

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Postscript T h e most f a m o u s e x p e r t statement" of all came from Charles H. Cuell, Commissioner of the U . S . Office o f Patents, who urged President William McKtnley to abolish die Patent Office in 1 8 9 9 with the assertion, "Everything diat can be invented has been invented." I wonder what the experts are going to say about die strange machines o f diis book?

Frankly. 1 don't

expect anything different than what they've said in the past. N o matter what they say, many phenomena remain unexplained. Innovation comes from individuals who see a consistency in these phenomena diat have been missed or dismissed by others. This son ol innovation ought to be encouraged, even at the risk of seem* ing to encourage charlatans. T h e great leaps lorward in our understanding of the Universe and ourselves liave come from just such activities in the past. O n c e the leaps have been made, the cautious scientists must then carefully fill in the added decimal places. You're hereby challenged lo make flic great scientific breakthrough of the twenty first century. Maybe it starts with something from this book, and 1 will be mightily pleased if it does. But I don't disabuse myself; probably it won't. But even if you don't make the great scientific breakdirough, you'll have some lim!

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194

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bird, Christopher, The Dis rning Hand, New Age Press, Black Mountain K G , 1979. Campbell, John W . , Jr., private correspondence, June 22, 1956. Campbell, J o h n W . , Jr., "Psionic Machine, Type O n e , " Asconlining Science J'.Vrfon, Volume I.V11, Number 4, June 1956. Campbell, John W . , Jr., "Unprovable Speculation," Aitoimd/riii Science /'ictiott, Volume LVII1, Numbei 6 , February 1957. Campbell, John W . , Jr.. "Addendum O n The Symbolic Psionic Machine," Asftmtufmg Science Fiction, Volume U X , Number 4. June 1957. Cert, Christopher, and Navasky, Victor, The Expem Speak, Pantheon Books, New York, 1984.

195

MIND MACHINES YOU CAN BUILD Flanagan, G . Patrick, Pyramid Power, D e Vorss

Co..

1C46 Princeton Drive. Marina del RevCA 9 0 2 9 1 , 1 9 7 3 . Flanagan. G . Patrick Pyramid Pou-er II, Innergy- Publications, P.O. Box 18224, Tucson AZ 8 5 7 3 1 , 1981. Stine, G . Harry, Vie Hopeful Future, Macniillan Publishing Company. New York, 1983. —, L^mimd Scientific Catalog, Edmund Scientific, 101 E. G l o u c e s t e r Pike. Banington NJ 0 8 0 0 7 , 1984—. Hie Radio Amnion-\ Handhoolc. American Radio Relay League, Newington C T 0 6 1 1 1 . 1 9 8 4 -

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

( i . I larry Stinc gradilalcd from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado (his home town) widi a B.A. in physics in 1952. Before deciding on a«legrec in physics (because ofcom tselling from Robert A. Heinlein who coached him in writing), he was wiiliin a semester of gaining his bachelor's degree in psychology at die University of Colorado.

He spent die early 19.50's at

White Sands missile range in New Mexico working widi high altitude rockets and rocket motor resting. He founded rhe international hobby/sport of model rocketry in 1957. During die 196C's he was the manager o f an industrial research laboratory in New England where lie worked on many "tar our' projects such as neurophonics, Coanda

197

Effect., electrohyd rati lies, bioelec tronics, and dynamic systems. In 1 9 6 8 , he was awarded a silver medr.i as one of 50 U . S . space pioneers bv the Association of the U . S . Army. He is die audior o f more than 5 0 hooks, numerous scientific and technical papers, and hundreds o f magazine articles since 1951. 1 Ie is a Fellow of the Explorers Club and the British Interplanetary Society, and a member o f the NewYork Academy o f Sciences. An insmiment-rated private pilot who's been thing since 194 3. he owns his own airplane, a Pij vr Cherokee, which he's tlown across the United States and back many times. He lives in Phoenix. Arizona, 'in die midst oi high technology'' widi his wife, two Golden Retrievers and a cat. He's lisle.: in Who's Wno In Ameriea as well as the current editions ot Who's Who In The W'es: and Who's Who In Aerospace

198

Jane*

Experimental Mind Machine Supplies ENERGY

WHEEL*

by Gerald L o e . M o v e the

Energy Wheel with your mind. As pictured on page 6 8 . complete with instructions. Aluminum rotor is far easier t o turn than paper roter S 7 . 9 5 plus $-1 5 0 shipping

HIERONYMOUS TILE 2 " X 2" Tile as described on page 152 $ 3 . 0 0 includes shipping

SYMBOL EXPERIMENTERS RACK Contains Left-Hand Spiral, Right-Hand Spiral, Special Strengthening or Weakening Test Card (not shown in b o o k ) all printed on 5 5" x 8 . 5 " Vellum Bristol card stock S 3 . 0 0 includes shipping

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Tile

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YOU CAN MOVE THINGS WITH YOUR MIND

ENERGY WHEEL® (PSYCHIC

(

MOTOR) — DESIGNED BY GERALD LOE

AS FEATURE0 IN THE NEW BOOK 'MIND MACHINES YOU CAN BIHLD"

• Extremely Sensitive A Repeatable Psychoaynlhesis Experiment — Spin* from Body (LIFE) Energy • For Fun and Bloenergy Research • Study Strength and Control of Your Energy Field • Control Direction of Spin by Concentration • Some Spin it ot a Distance • Some Spin H under Glass Practice with the Energy Wheel* May Incroaae Your Healing Abilities • Fits Into Pocket or Purse • Operating Instructions Included

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)

TAMING THE WILD PENDULUM by Drs. T a p and J u d i t h Powell

How to Tap Your Superior Inner-Conscious Powers Using tlic Pendulum The Powolls explicitly oxplain how tn use ona of the world's oldest decision-making tools. Tho pendulum will swing for your personal answers arid truths. The Powolls take n practical approach l