These experiments are a continuation of studies begun 20 years ago. They were inspired by a philosophical journey undertaken 30 years ago. Many novel conjectures emerged during this journey, some of which seemed suitable as hypotheses that could be subjected to experimental tests. One of them was that thoughts exert physical forces. Torsion pendulums are exquisitely sensitive to physical forces, serving both to detect and quantify them. A pendulum consisting of a steel mesh hemisphere suspended by a short nylon fiber was used to detect and measure forces surrounding the crania of subjects. Subject effects on the pendulum were observed using a camera that documented the motions of the pendulum, which could be subjected to analysis and interpretation. Hundreds of experiments were performed on dozens of subjects, none having known unusual characteristics; so were normal subjects. These subjects affected the pendulum in characteristic ways. Among them were pendulum oscillations that departed significantly from the natural center of oscillation of the pendulum. Another was many new frequencies of oscillation in addition to the natural frequency of the pendulum. Unexpectedly, these effects persisted, in diminished form, for as long as 15-30 min after departing from the pendulum.

More recently, subjects of a more exotic nature were recruited. One had practiced a specific form of meditation for 40 years. Results showed differences from normal subjects, especially in that the pendulum responded differently when the subject meditated compared to when not meditating. The displacements from the natural center of oscillation, the number and strength of oscillation frequencies, and the persistence of effects after departure were all different between the meditation experiment and the non-meditation experiment.

A more exotic subject was one who had participated in many studies of psychokinesis. A dozen experiments over 3 days were conducted with this subject. As with the meditation subject, deviations from normal subjects were substantial; some being even greater than the meditation subject. These differences were more in quantity than in kind. It was then that the usual method of analyzing the data was changed in favor of another, which was to slowly and carefully go through the data just a few seconds at a time. What was found was astonishing, and seemingly unexplainable by known scientific principles.

Explanations were sought among the conjectures encountered in the philosophical journey. One was that translocation resembles a chemical reaction. F = ma was reformulated to include terms for inertia and momentum. The conjecture that translocation could be catalyzed was explored, so that translocation could proceed in the absence of inertia and momentum.

These conjectures led to the idea that the forces exerted by thoughts can catalyze translocations among brain components to initiate a cascade of events that result in muscle contractions and consequent body movements. This implies that we employ psychokinesis to initiate and carry out the movements that enable us to survive within our environment. This capability was achieved by the processes of biological evolution and natural selection, which can exploit any principle of nature; including those that we have no knowledge of nor understanding.