Christine Simmonds Moore | A Pilot Self-Study Exploring the Influence of Fractals on Clairvoyance

A Pilot Self-Study Exploring the Influence of Fractals on Clairvoyance
Christine Simmonds-Moore
University of West Georgia, Carrollton, Georgia, United States of America
Fractals are mathematical patterns that exhibit recurring, self-similar repetitions at various scales of magnitude and time scales. Fractals are a signature of living and natural (rather than artificial) systems that range from coastlines, mountains, and rivers to plants (e.g., ferns) and animals (e.g., seashells) and structures within the human body, including the nervous system. Fractal signatures have also been observed in human (and animal) behaviors and experiences, including altered states of consciousness.
People tend to have a natural affinity for fractal imagery, which has a range of positive psychological effects on participants. Fractals have previously been applied to transpersonal experiences and to parapsychological experiences. In their article, Marks-Tarlow and Shapiro suggest that a fractal epistemology allows for access to a larger (non-local) reality within subjective space, which they refer to as transubjective (reality is extended beyond usual subjective boundaries) due to accessing information patterns that bridge and repeat across objective, subjective, and intersubjective domains. The association between fractals and psi has not yet been empirically explored. It is possible that those who experience thicker “fractal” minds and bodies may be more likely to access “fractal” states of consciousness and participate in a connected system that is more likely to encourage anomalous information transfer. Engagement with fractal imagery such as the Mandelbrot zoom may help the person to experience a relaxed state of consciousness and encourage the transcendence of temporal and spatial boundaries. In turn, these may encourage the emergence of psi. The current exploratory study explores how exposure to fractal imagery compared to watching a blank screen in terms of performance on a web-based clairvoyance task. It was hypothesized that the SOR would be calculated for both conditions, predicting a deviation from chance in both fractal and control conditions but with a stronger effect for fractals. This was done as there is good argument for the idea that psi works better as a signal in the noise, rather than an all or nothing event. In addition, a comparison was planned between scores for fractal and control conditions (using a cross tabulation and chi square).
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Christine Simmonds-Moore is a UK native with a PhD from the University of Northampton that explored “Schizotypy as an anomaly-prone personality”. She is a Professor of Psychology at the University of West Georgia, where she teaches classes on parapsychology, transpersonal psychology, and other topics pertinent to consciousness studies. She has research interests in parapsychology, exceptional experiences, psychological boundaries, paranormal beliefs and disbeliefs, mental health correlates of exceptional experiences, synesthesia, altered states of consciousness, healing, and placebo effects. She is the recipient of several Bial grants to study exceptional experiences and the author of several articles and texts on exceptional experiences.
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[@dsbmitchell]

Right on, Christine! Given your interest in fractals, I’m glad that you engaged in self-study as you did as a pilot in this area of research. Looking forward to more work utilizing or giving deference to the fractal epistemology.