Telekinesis, which comes from Greek words meaning "far away" and "movement," is also known as psychokinesis. It is a claimed ability that allows a person to move or control objects using only their mind, without physically touching them. Tests to prove telekinesis have been criticized because they often lacked proper controls and could not be repeated reliably. There is no solid proof that telekinesis is real, and the topic is generally considered pseudoscience.

Reception

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There is a strong agreement among scientists that research on telekinesis has not shown the phenomenon in a reliable way.

In 1988, a group of scientists asked by the United States National Research Council studied paranormal claims. They found that, even after 130 years of research, there was no scientific reason to believe in extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, or "mind over matter" exercises. They said that looking at the best available evidence did not support the idea that these phenomena exist.

In 1984, the National Academy of Sciences, at the request of the US Army Research Institute, created a scientific group to look at the best evidence for telekinesis. One goal was to see if telekinesis could be used in the military, such as to stop enemy weapons from working. The group met with military staff who believed in telekinesis and visited the PEAR laboratory and two other labs that had claimed to find results in micro-telekinesis experiments. The group criticized macro-telekinesis experiments for being open to tricks by people who perform magic, and said that most micro-telekinesis experiments "do not follow good scientific practice." Their conclusion, published in a 1987 report, was that there was no scientific proof that telekinesis exists.

Carl Sagan included telekinesis in a list of "pseudoscience and superstition" that people should not believe in without strong scientific evidence. Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman also supported this view.

Felix Planer, an electrical engineering professor, wrote that if telekinesis were real, it would be easy to show by having people move a scale on a sensitive balance, raise the temperature of water to a very precise level, or affect a part of an electrical circuit like a resistor. Planer said these experiments are very sensitive and easy to monitor, but parapsychologists do not use them because they believe telekinesis does not exist. He wrote that parapsychologists rely on studies that only use statistics that cannot be repeated, and that these results come from poor methods, mistakes in recording, and incorrect math.

Planer said that if telekinesis were real, then all scientific research would be unreliable, because experiments would not give accurate results. He concluded that the idea of telekinesis is not logical and has no scientific basis.

Telekinesis has also been discussed in other areas outside of parapsychology. C. E. M. Hansel wrote that if telekinesis were real, its effects would be seen in everyday life, but they are not.

Science writers Martin Gardner and Terence Hines, and the philosopher Theodore Schick wrote that if telekinesis were possible, it would affect the income of casinos, but their earnings match what chance predicts.

Psychologist Nicholas Humphrey said that many experiments in psychology, biology, or physics assume that the intentions of the subject or experimenter do not affect the equipment. He said these experiments are like tests of telekinesis, but telekinesis has not been shown to work.

The idea of telekinesis goes against several well-known laws of physics, such as the inverse-square law, the second law of thermodynamics, and the conservation of momentum. Because of this, scientists have asked for very strong evidence for telekinesis, as Marcello Truzzi said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." The principle of Occam's razor in science says that it is better to explain telekinesis through ordinary causes, like tricks or poor experiments, than to change the laws of physics.

Philosopher and physicist Mario Bunge wrote that telekinesis breaks the rule that the mind cannot directly affect matter. He said that if it could, scientists could not trust their measurements. He also said that telekinesis breaks the laws of energy and momentum conservation. He said that the idea that quantum mechanics allows the mind to influence randomizers is not serious, because quantum mechanics already follows the laws of energy and momentum and deals only with physical things.

Physicist John Taylor, who has looked into parapsychological claims, wrote that an unknown fifth force causing telekinesis would have to carry a lot of energy. This energy would have to overcome the forces that hold atoms together, because the atoms would need to respond more to the fifth force than to electric forces. Such a force should be present all the time, not just during alleged paranormal events. Taylor said there is no scientific evidence for such a force in physics, and that the idea of a fifth force should be rejected. He concluded that there is no physical way for telekinesis to work and that it goes against known science.

In 1979, Evan Harris Walker and Richard Mattuck wrote a paper suggesting a quantum explanation for telekinesis. Physicist Victor J. Stenger said that their explanation made assumptions not supported by any scientific evidence. He said their paper looked scientific with equations and calculations, but it used one unknown number to explain one measured number, which is like numerology, not real science.

Physicist Sean M. Carroll wrote that spoons, like all matter, are made of atoms. Moving a spoon with the mind would mean changing those atoms through the four known forces: the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, electromagnetism, and gravity. Telekinesis would have to be one of these forces or a new force weaker than gravity, or it would have already been found in experiments. This means there is no known force that could explain telekinesis.

Physicist Robert L. Park found it strange that a phenomenon only appears at the limits of detection using questionable statistics. He said this is one of Irving Langmuir's signs of "pathological science." Park said that if the mind could influence matter, it would be easy to measure by using telekinesis to move a microbalance, which would not need questionable statistics. He said the microbalance does not move, and that parapsychologists use statistics because they allow for uncertainty and mistakes.

Belief

Between 1979 and 1981, a survey about beliefs in religious and unusual topics was conducted by phone and mail-in questionnaires. It asked 1,721 Americans if they believed in telekinesis, the idea that the mind can move objects. Of these people, 28% of men and 31% of women said they "agree" or "strongly agree" with the statement, "It is possible to influence the world through the mind alone."

Parapsychologists, scientists who study unusual phenomena, divide telekinesis into two types: "macro-telekinesis," which refers to large movements visible to the eye; and "micro-telekinesis," which refers to tiny movements that can only be seen through statistical analysis. Some examples of telekinesis include apports, levitation, materialization, psychic healing, pyrokinesis, retrocausality, and thoughtography.

In 2016, Caroline Watt said that most academic parapsychologists do not believe there is strong evidence supporting macro-telekinesis.

People have claimed to have telekinetic abilities for many years. Angelique Cottin, known as the "Electric Girl" of France around 1846, was said to move objects with her mind. Her family claimed she produced electric energy that moved furniture and scissors. Frank Podmore noted that many observations suggested possible fraud, such as the girl’s clothing touching objects or witnesses seeing her move in two directions at once.

Spiritualist mediums, people who claim to communicate with spirits, also claimed telekinetic powers. Eusapia Palladino, an Italian medium, was said to move objects during séances. However, she was caught using her foot to levitate a table by magician Joseph Rinn and using tricks by psychologist Hugo Münsterberg. Other mediums, like Anna Rasmussen and Maria Silbert, were also exposed as frauds.

Polish medium Stanisława Tomczyk, active in the early 20th century, claimed to levitate objects using an entity she called "Little Stasia." A 1909 photo of her showing a pair of scissors "floating" between her hands is often used as an example of telekinesis. Scientists suspected she used a thread or hair, which was later confirmed during tests.

Many "godmen" in India claimed to move large objects with their minds, but as more controls were added to prevent trickery, fewer such events were reported.

Annemarie Schaberl, a 19-year-old secretary, was said to have telekinetic powers during the Rosenheim Poltergeist case in the 1960s. Investigators suspected the events were tricks.

Swami Rama, a yogi who controlled his heart, was studied in 1970. Some observers claimed he moved a knitting needle from five feet away, but one doctor doubted the results, suggesting air movement might have caused it.

Russian psychic Nina Kulagina gained attention after a book about Soviet psychics was published. She appeared in films and was mentioned in a U.S. intelligence report. Magicians and skeptics argued her feats could be done with sleight of hand, threads, or mirrors.

James Hydrick, an American psychic, claimed to turn book pages and spin pencils with his mind. Magicians later showed he used air currents. He admitted to a journalist that his acts were tricks to test how gullible people were.

In the late 1970s, British psychic Matthew Manning was studied in the U.S. and U.K. Magicians suspected he used tricks to perform his feats.

In 1971, American psychic Felicia Parise was said to move a pill bottle by telekinesis. Parapsychologist Charles Honorton supported her claims, but writer Martin Gardner suggested she used an invisible thread.

Russian psychic Boris Ermolaev was shown moving objects in a documentary. When filmed, a thread between his knees was visible, revealing the trick.

Russian psychic Alla Vinogradova claimed to move objects on transparent plastic. Parapsychologist Stanley Krippner suggested electrostatic charges, created by rubbing her hair, might explain her feats. Physicist John Taylor later said electrostatics likely explained her demonstrations.

Psychics also claimed to bend metal. Uri Geller was famous for bending spoons, but he was caught using sleight of hand. Science writer Terence Hines said all his tricks could be done with conjuring methods.

French psychic Jean-Pierre Girard claimed to bend metal bars by telekinesis. He was tested in the 1970s but failed to produce paranormal effects in controlled experiments. Magicians and scientists observed his attempts and found no evidence of real telekinesis. Girard later admitted he sometimes used tricks.

In popular culture

Telekinesis is often shown as a special ability in comic books, movies, television, video games, books, and other types of entertainment. Examples of characters with this ability include the Teleks from the 1952 novella Telek by Jack Vance; characters from James H. Schmitz's The Witches of Karres; Jean Grey from the X-Men comics; Tony and Tia from the 1975 Walt Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain and its sequels; Carrie White from Stephen King's novel Carrie and its three film versions; Ellen Burstyn in the 1980 film Resurrection; the Jedi and Sith from the Star Wars series; Psychic-type Pokémon from the Pokémon games and shows; the Scanners from the 1981 movie Scanners; George Malley from John Travolta's 1996 film Phenomenon; Matilda Wormwood from Roald Dahl's 1988 book Matilda and its 1996 and 2022 film versions; three high school students from the 2012 movie Chronicle; Prue Halliwell from the TV series Charmed; Eleven, Vecna, and lab children from the Netflix show Stranger Things; Silver the Hedgehog from the Sonic the Hedgehog games; Ness from the Mother games; and Shin Seok-heon from the 2018 film Psychokinesis.