Evidence for communal consciousness

[Underseer]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21724158

This is the most comical thing I've seen in a while. Almost posted this in the humor forum.

Abstract
Recently described social network phenomena show that emotionally connected people come to share certain traits, including obesity, happiness, and loneliness. These do not appear to be mediated by face-to-face contact. Other examples of groups with a common connection that act in unison are mass hysteria, menstrual synchrony, and the ability of a group to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar. The animal kingdom abounds with examples of groups functioning as a single whole: fish school, birds flock, hoofed animals herd, ant and bee colonies work as a single organism. Try as they might, neuroscientists have been unable to find an anatomical seat of consciousness within the brain. C.G. Jung's realization of a collective unconscious began with an observation of a patient whose thoughts matched previous writings that the patient had never seen. The "emotional telepathy" of social network phenomena suggests a collective/communal consciousness as well.

So there you have it. Obesity rates can vary by region, therefore telepathy.

I had a nutty new ager actually use this in an argument as "scientific evidence" for the supernatural.

I must be blind or stupid or something, but I can't tell from the link. Who originally published this? I want to see if they have any more amusing papers.

 

[Trausti]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21724158

This is the most comical thing I've seen in a while. Almost posted this in the humor forum.

Abstract
Recently described social network phenomena show that emotionally connected people come to share certain traits, including obesity, happiness, and loneliness. These do not appear to be mediated by face-to-face contact. Other examples of groups with a common connection that act in unison are mass hysteria, menstrual synchrony, and the ability of a group to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar. The animal kingdom abounds with examples of groups functioning as a single whole: fish school, birds flock, hoofed animals herd, ant and bee colonies work as a single organism. Try as they might, neuroscientists have been unable to find an anatomical seat of consciousness within the brain. C.G. Jung's realization of a collective unconscious began with an observation of a patient whose thoughts matched previous writings that the patient had never seen. The "emotional telepathy" of social network phenomena suggests a collective/communal consciousness as well.

So there you have it. Obesity rates can vary by region, therefore telepathy.

I had a nutty new ager actually use this in an argument as "scientific evidence" for the supernatural.

I must be blind or stupid or something, but I can't tell from the link. Who originally published this? I want to see if they have any more amusing papers.

It does evidence how ridiculous journal publishing has become. This is the journal: http://www.explorejournal.com/ I'd suggest that there ought to be some peer review - but peer review by clown car wouldn't make it any less silly.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Google for the Hundreth Monkey Effect. Woo woo!

 

[Keith&Co.]

Abstract
Recently described social network phenomena show that emotionally connected people come to share certain traits, including obesity, happiness, and loneliness.

Emotionally connected people come to display similar emotions...?
And people who spend time with friends they only know on the internet develop obesity issues...?


Um, yeah. I can create a picture that excites me by an appeal to my fetish, and I can upload that to the fetish board, and people who share that fetish will telepathically come to adopt my excitement, too.

Woot. And maybe woo and hoo.

 

[Underseer]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21724158

This is the most comical thing I've seen in a while. Almost posted this in the humor forum.



So there you have it. Obesity rates can vary by region, therefore telepathy.

I had a nutty new ager actually use this in an argument as "scientific evidence" for the supernatural.

I must be blind or stupid or something, but I can't tell from the link. Who originally published this? I want to see if they have any more amusing papers.

It does evidence how ridiculous journal publishing has become. This is the journal: http://www.explorejournal.com/ I'd suggest that there ought to be some peer review - but peer review by clown car wouldn't make it any less silly.

Thanks!

 

[Underseer]

OK, now I am reading some of the other "papers" at Explore Journal, and this crap is hilarious!

 

[untermensche]

As we know, humans display an individual psychology and a group psychology.

Nothing telepathic, but it is an interesting phenomena.