Dissonance, Complementarity, and Psi/Dissonance, Complementarite, et Psi/Dissonanz, Komplementaritat, und Psi/Disonancia, Complementariedad, y Psi

• Published in: The Journal of parapsychology Vol. 84; no. 2; pp. 276 - 286
• Main Author: Tierney, Ian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Parapsychology Press 22.09.2020
• Subjects: Analysis; Quantum theory
• ISSN: 0022-3387
• DOI: 10.30891/jopar.2020.02.08

Complementarity, involving contradictory or incompatible observations necessary for a full description, is essential to the concept of entanglement in quantum theory. Both terms have recently been used, analogously, in three somewhat similar theories relevant to the subject matter of parapsychological research, Generalized Quantum Theory, the Model of Pragmatic Information, and Dual-Aspect Monism. I propose that phenomenologically the cognitive/emotional experience of dissonance may be a consequence of consciously acknowledged complementarity. Dissonance may be a necessary component of psi, particularly psychokinesis. Reduction of dissonance may account for a number of the replication difficulties reported in the parapsychological literature. These are, total failure to replicate a significant result, partial confirmation with or without position effects, reciprocity of effect strength/reliability, and experimenter effect whereby significant results are reported by some experimenters but not by others. I describe a research design that could elucidate the role of dissonance in obtaining significant evidence for psi.