J u n e 1984 P S I RESEARCH
J u n e 1984 P S I RESEARCH
BEHOTE VIEWING FOR EVERYBODY*
TARG. R u s s e l l , a n d HARARY, K e i t h . --
The Mind-
Race: understanding - and Using ~ s ~ c h A i cb i l i t i e s .
New York: V i l l a r d Books, 1984; 294 pp.
I n 1980 I was a b l e t o t a k e a y e a r ' s l e a v e of a b s e n c e
from my teaching d u t i e s a t t h e University of C a l i f o r n i a and
spend t h e t i m e as a c o n s u l t a n t on parapsychological research
a t t h e S t a n f o r d R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e i n Menlo P a r k , C a l i f .
( I t h a s s i n c e changed i t s name t o SRI I n t e r n a t i o n a l ,
s o m e t h i n g w h i c h i s s t i l l c o n f u s i n g t o many people.)
P h y s i c i s t s Harold Puthoff and R u s s e l l Targ, working with
Ingo Swann, t h e well-known artist and psychic, had developed
a very s u c c e s s f u l s t y l e of psychic f u n c t i o n i n g t h a t they
termed '?emote viewing." Targ and Puthoff's 1977 book, Mind
Reach: S c i e n t i s t s --Look at. Psychic A b i l i t y , was widely read
a n d made r e m o t e v i e w i n g a h o u s e h o l d word among p e o p l e
following parapsychological research.
I have known T a r g and P u t h o f f f o r s e v e r a l y e a r s a n d
informally consulted w i t h them about remote viewing many
times, but my year of f u l l t i m e involvement i n a l l a s p e c t s
of remote viewing experiments made t h i s method of psychic
f u n c t i o n i n g even more impressive t o me.
Remote viewing experiments are straightforward. Before
t h e experiment, a n experimenter ( c a l l e d t h e "target pool
picker") does a l o t of d r i v i n g around u n t i l they have picked
a l a r g e number (say 60) of i n t e r e s t i n g places t o v i s i t t h a t
are w i t h i n a 20-minute d r i v e of t h e l a b o r a t o r y .
"interesting" t a r g e t s i t e should be v i s u a l l y o r a e s t h e t i c a l -
l y i n t e r e s t i n g , and t h e v a r i o u s t a r g e t s i t e s t h a t a r e picked
should be d i s t i n c t from one another: If you g e t them mixed
up when you can a c t u a l l y look a t them, why should psychic
f u n c t i o n i n g be any b e t t e r ?
* This review has been adapted, w i t h permission, from a n
a r t i c l e e n t i t l e d " P s y c h i c Functioning: C a l i f o r n i a Casual
S t y l e , " which a p p e a r e d i n t h e May 1984 i s s u e of -- The Open
Mind Information about --- The Open Mind i s a v a i l a b l e from
P.O. BOX 371, E l C e r r i t o , & 94530.
I Ed. - above?").
Now w e have a t a r g e t pool, t o which we add a "viewer,"
a n " e x p e r i m e n t e r , " a n d a "beacon person." To c a r r y o u t a
r e m o t e v i e w i n g s e s s i o n , t h e t h r e e p e o p l e w i l l meet e a c h
o t h e r and g e t acquaint.ed. Then t h e beacon person w i l l l e a v e
t h e o t h e r two and go t o t h e t a r g e t pool picker, who, using a
random number g e n e r a t o r , w i l l g i v e t h e beacon p e r s o n a
s e a l e d envelope. A f t e r leaving t h e laboratory, t h e beacon
person opens t h i s envelope, which tells them which t a r g e t
s i t e he/she i s t o be a t i n half a n hour. The bwcon person i
r e g u l a t e s h i s / h e r d r i v i n g t o ger t h e r e p r e c i s e l y on t i m e . 1
Meanwhile t h e v i e w e r a n d a s e c o n d e x p e r i m e n t e r
(sometimes r e f e r r e d t o i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e w i t h t h e
d e s c r i p t i v e but. awkwrlrd term "Lnbound experimenter") lrave
been r e l a x i n g i n a casual, ordinary way, perhaps d i s c u s s i n g
t h e weather o r p o l i t i c s , perhaps glancing a t a magazine,
perhaps t a k i p g f i v e minutes t o l i e down A t t h e t i m e t h e
beacon person Is supposed t o a r r i v e a t t h e t a r g e t s i t e t h e
experimenter t u r n s on a t a p e recorder and a s k s t h e viewer t o
d e s c r i b e whatever impressions he/she can o b t a i n about t h e
appearance of t h e t a r g e t s i t e where t h e beacon person is.
The viewer can a l s o s k e t c h his images i f he wishes.
The beacon person a t t h e t a r g e t s i t e does what people
n a t u r a l l y do a t such a s i t e . X i lt's a playground, she w i l l
play. I f it's a MacDonalds, s h e w i l l buy and eat a
hamburger; i f it's a church, she w i l l pray f o r t h e success
of t h e experiment. The beacon person does t h i s f o r a f i x e d
viewing period, u s u a l l y 15 o r 20 minutes.
An
Back at t.he l a b o r a t o r y t h e viewer has closed his eyes
and is d e s c r i b i n g any impressions he gets. Most. impressions
a r e v i s u a l : "a r e d , c u r v i n g s h a p e , s e e m s v e r y l a r g e . . ."
: would be a n example. Some might be a u d i t o r y ("a p l a c e wirh
: a l o t of echoes") o r i n o t h e r sensory modalities, such a s
- t a c t i l e ("rough t e x t u r e s " ) , o r e m o t i o n a l r e a c t i o n s
("fearful, h u r r i e d here"). The experimenter may occasional-
, l y question t h e viewer t o c l a r i f y ilnpressions ("Is t h e r e d
t h i n g r e l a t e d t o t h e machine--like device you described a
. m i n u t e ago?" "What would t h i s p l a c e l o o k l i k e f r o m
 J u n e 1984 P S I KESEAKCH
A t t h e end of t h e v i e w i n g p e r i o d t h e beacon person
leaves the t a r g e t s i t e and drives back t o the laboratory.
All t h r e e people then drive back out t o the t a r g e t s i t e s o
t h e v i e w e r can g e t f a s t feedback on how a c c u r a t e h i s
impressions were, and g e t some ideas on how t o improve his
remote viewing next time.
The viewer's, experimenter's, and beacon person's
impressions of the accuracy of the remote viewing can be
q u i t e s u b j e c t i v e , of c o u r s e , but t h e s e i m p r e s s i o n s have
nothing t o do with t h e formal evaluation of a remote viewing
experiment. Although o b j e c t i v e e v a l u a t i o n - o f a s i n g l e
remote viewing is very d i f f i c u l t , i t is straightforward f o r
a s e r i e s of remote viewings. An independent, outside judge
i s brought i n f o r t h i s . The judge i s handed a s e t of
traveling i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r g e t t i n g t o a s e r i e s of t a r g e t
s i t e s t h a t have been used i n an experiment (typically 6 ) ,
along with t r a n s c r i p t s of the viewer's impressions and M s
drawings of t h e s e r i e s of t a r g e t s i t e s . S i n c e t h e s e a r e
a r r a n g e d i n random o r d e r , t h e judge's t a s k i s t o t r y t o
match a description with the t a r g e t s i t e i t was intended t o
be for.
The judge's m a t c h i n g i s t h e t e s t of p s y c h i c
functioning. I£ a viewer has no psycklc functioning but
gives l o t s of g e n e r a l i t i e s ("I g e t an impression of blueness
way above and g r e a t s o l i d i t y down below"), a judge w i l l find
tkls a perfect description of any and a l l t a r g e t s i t e s . If
the viewer's psychic a b i l i t i e s a r e functioning well, though,
he may s a y ( I q u o t e from a c t u a l r e c o r d s ) , ". . . a large
c i r c u l a r building with a white dome.
one s i t e and ".. . -
.." when describing
cement depression as i f a dry fountain
- cement p o s t i n t h e middle o r i n s i d e . .
.I1 These were
t a k e n from a l o n g d i s t a n c e s e r i e s . A judge would have
l i t t l e t r o u b l e i n matching t h e f i r s t d e s c r i p t i o n t o t h e
1
b u i s i a n a Superdome (the a c t u a l t a r g e t ) and the second one
3 t o a dry cement pool i n Wasklngton Square, New York City.
1 S t a t i s t i c a l techniques decide i f t h e r e is enough of a match
t o r e j e c t coincidence. Four correct matches i n a s e r i e s of
s i x viewings, f o r example, would occur by chance less than 1
i n 20 times, and s o is s t a t i s t i c a l l y significant. Often the
d e s c r i p t i o n s a r e s o good t h a t t h e f o r m a l s t a t i s t i c a l
J u n e 1984 PSI KESEARCH
evaluation seems l i k e gilding on the l i l y , a s when a mclrina
t a r g e t is described r i g h t from the s t a r t as:
"What I'm looking at. i s a l i t t l e boat j e t t y or a l i t t l e
boat dock along the bay. .. Yeah, I see the l i t t l e boats,
some motor launches, some 1.it.tle s a i l i n g ships. . ."
It is very i n t r i g u i n g t o note t h a t precognitive remote
viewing seems t o work about a s well a s present-time rem0t.e
viewing. The instruct.ions arc: t.o describe the place the
beacon person w i l l be tomorrow, t o r a geographical target.
' site. If remote viewing of an object i s desired, the d e w e r
is asked t o describe the object t h a t w i l l be put. i n his hand
a t some f u t u r e time. I n both c a s e s , t h e t a r g e t s i t e o r
i object has not yet been selected.
I
: P e r s o n a l e x p e r i e n c e can be more convincing t h a n
a b s t r a c t s t a t i s t i c s . I r e c a l l a s m a l l meeting of para-
p s y c h o l o g i s t s a t my home i n t h e l a t e 1970s. Targ and
; h t h o f f not only talked about t h e i r remote viewing studies,
t h e y c a r r i e d o u t an experiment. on t h e spot. E l i z a b e t h
Kauscher had already selected a target pool. She l e f t t.he
house: we knew she would randomly choose a place from her
( t o us) unknown t a r g e t pool and be there i n 15 minut.es. I
: did not t r y t o formally remote view the t a r g e t , but just
l i s t e n e d t o t.he person designated a s t.he viewer trying t o
describe it. I was followlag my own imagery wMch I hoped
might be about it. Suddenly a strong image popped i n t o my
mind, unexpected t o me and unrelated t o what t.he viewer was
d e s c r i b i n g . I saw a b r i g h t l y l i t . i n t e r i o r , a s i f I were
lodcing i n an open garage door, and there were many round
devices i n a row t o the r i g h t , making noise, some s o r t of
machines. Then the image disappeared. I thought i t might
be an auto repair garage or something l i k e that.
'
When we v i s i t e d the t a r g e t s i t e l a t e r that. evening, I
. found myself standing on the s t r e e t looking through a large,
p l a t e g l a s s window i n t o t h e b r i g h t l y l i t i n t e r i o r of a
laundromat! When I stood at. just t h e r i g h t spot, the round,
noisy washing machines f i U e d my view just a s they had i n
the image. I was impressed with remote viewing!
 J u n e 1984 P S I KESEARCH
Remote v i e w i n g e x p e r i m e n t s have been c o n s i s t e n t l y
s u c c e s s f u l a t SRI I n t e r n a t i o n a l , a n d a t s e v e r a l o t h e r
l a b o r a t o r i e s , but not u n i v e r s a l l y successful. What is t h e
secret of s u c c e s s f u l remote viewing?
I n t h e i r very important book, --- The Mind Race: - Under-
standing - and Using Psychic A b i l i t i e s , Kussell Targ and Keith
Harary share t h e i r understandings of w h a t makes t h e success
i n t h i s area. Harary adds a g r e a t d e a l t o Targ's experi-
mental perspective, as he is not only a n accomplished remote
viewer himself but, as a counselor, has e x t e n s i v e experience
i n t h e misconceptions people have about psychic functioning.
Our c u l t u r e has many negative s t e r e o t y p e s about psychic
f u n c t i o n i n g . T a r g a n d H a r a r y p o i n t o u t t h a t movies, f o r
example, have p i c t u r e d "psychics" as b e a u t i f u l witches (as
in - B e l l ,- -a n d Candle), as o u t s i d e r s ( C a r r i e o r
Book
S c a n n e r s ) , as p e o p l e w i t h d a n g e r o u s s e c r e t s , as a l i e n s
orbid id den P l a n e t ) , as p r i m i t i v e (The --- L a s t Wave), arid as
people involved i n trails of death (The Eyes of Laura Mars)
------ - -,
and t h e s u p e r n a t u r a l - (Poltergeist). They see this as not
j u s t passively misleading but as a c t i v e l y i n h i b i t i n n- t h e use
of p s i and c o n t r i b u t i n g t o n e u r o t i c a n d p a t h o l o g i c a l i d e a s
about it.
Every c u l t u r e has i t s myths t h a t shape t h e day-to--day
f u n c t i o n i n g of o u r minds. Our c u l t u r e h a s changed s o
r a p i d l y , however, t h a t many o f t h e s e myths a r e now
obstacles, Targ and Harary b e l i e v e t h a t psychic functioning
i s n o t o n l y u s e f u l i n e v e r y d a y l i f e , b u t i n t h e way i t
demands w e s t r e t c h our b e l i e f s about our p o s s i b i l i t i e s :
"We believe t h a t t h e u l t i m a t e importance of psychic
f u n c t i o n i n g is i t s a b i l i t y t o h e l p u s develop a deeper
understanding of who we are, and what our r e l a t i o n s h i p i s t o
.one another and t o t h e rest of nature. . , i t a l l o w s us t o
transcend our l i n e a r view of t i m e and space and the l i m i t e d
p e r s p e c t i v e of o u r f i v e f a m i l i a r s e n s e s . It g i v e s u s a
c o n t e x t i n w h i c h t o u n d e r s t a n d o u r e x i s t e n c e , and a n
o p p o r t u n i t y t o e x p e r i e n c e d i r e c t c o n t a c t w i t h o u r own
timeless nature; t o know t h a t we are more than j u s t t h e
goods we consume, or t h e b u t t o n we p u s h i n o u r e v e r y d a y
lives. "
1 w i l l b e t h e m o s t v a l u a b l e a s p e c t s of t h e book f o r most
J u n e 1984 P S I KESEAKCH
Every c u l t u r e h a s i t s myths a b o u t whar. s u c c e s s f u l
people look like. I n medieval times they wore swords and
armor, i n more magically o r i e n t e d times t.hey wore amulets
and a c t e d mysteriously. I n modern C a l i f o r n i a , s u c c e s s f u l
p e o p l e o f t e n have a n i m a g e of b e i n g t o l e r a n t , r e l a x e d ,
c a s u a l people who are s o competent they don't have t.o put on
any outward d i s p l a y of competence o r s o p h i s t i c a t i o n . The
man beside you i n o l d blue jeans and c a s u a l s h i r t may be t.he
owner of a m u l t i - m i l l i o n d o l l a r e l e c t r o n i c s company.
Relaxed but competent performance i s what counts, not looks.
The i n s i g h t s Targ and Harary give us about s u c c e s s f u l
remote viewing f i t s t h i s image. They go t o pains not t.o g e t
t h e viewer "up t i g h t " over s u c c e s s f u l performance, and do
things i n a low key way. Several chapters a r e devoted t o
developing t h e reader's psychic a b i l i t i e s . They begin w i t h
sensory and psychological awareness e x e r c i s e s , designed t-o
sharpen your powers of observation generally. They i n v i t e
you t o n o t i c e t h e normally unnoticed, l i k e ''How does t h e
i n s l d e of your mouth t a s t e a t t h i s moment? How do the pages
of t h i s book smell when you h o l d them t o y o u r n o s e and
inhale?" They work up t o having f r i e n d s s e t up more formal
remote viewing experiments f o r you, not t o - test your psychic
a b i l i t y , b u t t o f u r t h e r t r a i n i t , t o t r a i n you Co
d i s t i n g u i s h psychic s i g n a l from imaginative noise. There
a r e r i c h examples of a l l s t a g e s of t.he process, and plenty
of comnon sense throughout che book.
An important s e c r e t of s u c c e s s f u l psychic funct.ioning
t h a t i s d i s c u s s e d at. g r e a t l e n g t h i s s o m e t h i n g T a r g and
P u t h o f f h a v e c a l l e d " a n a l y t i c a l o v e r l a y " i n o t.her
publications. They warn t.he r e a d e r about rhe dangers of
premature a n a l y s i s , putt.ing a verbal l a b e l on a n impression
too soon. When you do t h i s , a l l your memory images gat.hered
i n a l i f e t i m e a n d a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h a t memory become
a c t i v a t e d , s o memory a s s o c i a t i o n s t o the l a b e l rhen o v e r r i d e
f u r t h e r psychic impressions.
I b e l i e v e t h e i n s t r u c t i o n s on d e v e l o p i n g p s y c l l i c
a b i l i t i e s , coupled w i t h t h e demyst.ification of t h e process,
June 1984 P S I RESEARCH
J u n e 1984 PS I RESKARCK

readers. There are many other valuable sections, though,

t h a t I w i l l b r i e f l y mention. These i n c l u d e Harary's For t h e r e s e a r c h minded, t.he book has dn up-to-date
discussion of methods of psychic fraud, t h e discussions of I
bibliography of published experiments on remote viewing t-hat
p r e c o g n i t i o n , and examples of p r a c t i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n of was compiled by George Hansen, Marllyn Schlitz, and myself.
, O v e r a l l , t h i s i s one of t h e b e s t books on para-
place ! ) .
psychic a b i l i t i e s i n everyday l i f e ( l i k e finding a parking
I
psychology i n a long rime.
Charles T. Tart
Although only b r i e f l y mentioned i n t h i s book, Targ and kpartment of Psychology
Harary a l s o describe a procedure c a l l e d "associative remote U n i v e r s i t . ~of California
viewing."" T h i s i s a way of u s i n g p r e c o g n i t i v e r e m o t e Davis, California 95616
viewing t o g e t very s p e c i f i c answers t o p r a c t i c a l questions. I
Trying t o get simple verbal answers t o questions (Yes or No) I * * *
o r n u m e r i c a l a n s w e r s (5? 19?) by p s y c h i c means has n o t
worked w e l l i n t h e i r or other parapsychologists' experience. WONDERS, NYSTEKIES AND P S I I N C H I N A
It has worked with s t a t i s t i c a l significance, but not well
I DONG, P a u l , --
The Four Major M y s t e r i e s of
enough f o r p r a c t i c a l use. It's a s i f t h e l i f e t i m e of memory
a s s o c i a t i o n s t o numbers and words l i k e y e s o r no a r e s o 1 -Mainland
-- --China. Englewood C l i f f s , NJ : ~rent.icF
overwhelming t h a t p s y c h i c f u n c t i o n i n g is drowned out by I Hall, 1984; 213 pp.
a n a l y t i c a l overlay. When you are asked t o describe a t a r g e t I
s i t e o r o b j e c t , though, t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s a r e s o over- 1
Before the f i r s t issue of Psi Research was published,
whelming t h a t your mind gives up any attempt t o b e analytic, I Dr. H a l Puthoff, returning from a t r i p t o the PKC, offered
and thls lets t h e psychic s i g n a l through us several i n t r i g u i n g a r t i c l e s on p s i i n China. Looking a t
Targ and Harary have applied a s s o c i a t i v e remote viewing t h e diagrams and s c a n n i n g pages f i l l e d w i t h u n f a m i l i a r
t o predicting the outcome of s i l v e r commodity futures, ask- Chinese characrers, I became very exciced: I wanted r o have
i n g whether s i l v e r would rise or f a l l , and whether the s i z e these a r t i c l e s t r a n s l a t e d and p u b l i s h e d i n P s i Research;
of the rise or f a l l would be l a r g e enough t o j u s t i f y invest- I A f t e r months of arduous e f f o r t s on t h e p a r t of t h e
ing a f t e r broker's commissiorls were s u b t r a c t e d A s e r i e s at' t r a n s l a t o r s and myself (including my attempt t o go through
nine successful calls l e d t o a s u b s t a n t i a l p r o f i t before an intensive Chinese course, using the Lozanov method of
some displacement problems set i n , s o w e may be closer t o accelerated learning), some of these art.icles appeared i n
p r a c t i c a l application of ESP than we usually think. English i n P s i Research. One can imagine how t h r i l l e d I was
when almost three years l a t e r I received t-he book, -- The Four
There is a l s o a valuable epilogue on psychic research Major M y s t e r i e s of Mainland China, which has j u s t been
i n t h e Soviet Union by Larissa Vilenskaya, a former Soviet released i n t h i s country. The very f i r s t paragraphs of the
p a r a p s y c h o l o g i s t now l i v i n g i n t h e United S t a t e s . She book made i t impossible f o r me t o put the book a s i d e unr.il I
v e r i f i e s from personal experience t h a t t h e r e i s a finished it:
considerable amount of parapsychological research going on
I
i n t h e S o v i e t Union, but t h e t h r u s t of it is t o develop "If you were now standing i n t h e People's Republic of
"extMQd mxins for mental influence at a distance." China - -
say, i n Peking,* Shanghai, ox Canton you would s e e

* See t h e interview with Keith Harary i n this i s s u e of P s i - * The s p e l l i n g of Chinese mules and places (e.g., Peking) i s
Research. -
Ed given a s w r i t t e n i n the o r i g i n a l , which d i f f e r s from that
commonly used at present (r.g., Bdjing). - Ed.