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The blind protocol and its place in consciousness research [ edited for brevity].

Schwartz SA; sachwartz@earthlink.net

PUB MED     PMID: 16781550

This paper describes the development of the blind protocol, and its place in this history of consciousness research.

It was first devised by Croesus, King of the Lydians (BCE 560-547) and reported by Herodotus (approximately BCE 484 - approximately 424), and was created to protect against fraud in assessing an Anomalous Perception (AP) event; a Remote Viewing (RV) experiment little different from those conducted today.

Its next use in the 17th century was to study a peasant farmer, Jacques Aymar, who solved crimes with Anomalous Perception, using dowsing. Not only was a blind protocol employed, but the rudiments of controls were introduced to assess Aymar.

The next documented use of a blind protocol in consciousness research occurred in 1784 …. King Louis the XVIth created a commission to evaluate Franz Anton Mesmer's claims concerning healing through "animal magnetism," administered while people were in a trance, and asked Benjamin Franklin to be the commission's head. .. Franklin … created the blind protocol to answer the king's question as to whether "animal magnetism" was real, and he not only introduced demographic variables and controls, but literally blindfolded people, which is why today we call it the blind protocol.

…. Ultimately,  …. research in areas such as therapeutic intent/healing and remote viewing suggest that all consciousness from single-celled organisms to human beings may be interlinked through a nonlocal aspect of awareness they all share.