It's in the Cards
Tuesday May 6, 2008 8:27 AM
Circle. Square. Star. Circle...
You've seen them flashed on episodes of the X-Files and on the covers of Time Life Books. They're a deck of simple shapes, black against white, five images total. Some people know them as Rhine cards, after Dr. JB Rhine, the founder of the Rhine Institute and a pioneer in modern parapsychology. However, Dr. Rhine himself originally named them after his assistant, Karl Zener.
Zener cards are designed to test psychic abilities. Telepathy, clairvoyance, and even presentience can be measured with this deck — or at least, statistical anomalies in an individual's mean accuracy can strongly suggest that something more than random chance is going on.
For years, Rhine and Zener experimented with these cards, amassing statistics to prove that humans have a kind of sixth sense. Although many scientists still refuse to recognize the significance of parapsychological research, Rhine and Zener nevertheless proved that something real was going on with their subjects who were able to accurately identify the images on these cards, sight unseen.
The cards are designed with simple, iconic images so there can be less likelihood of an image getting confused with something else during the process of transmission. The idea is for the individual who holds the deck and is looking at each card in succession to try "sending" these images to a receiver. The receiver may be in the next room or miles away. Theoretically, with such powers as telepathy, proximity really doesn't matter. The key instead lies in the psychic connection between two minds.
Similar experiments can be run with a simple deck of cards, but playing cards have a great number of variables to consider when analyzing results. There is color, suit, and even the images that appear on face cards like the Kings and Queens. A sender may just pull a face card and start thinking about a living person. If the receiver records something too metaphorical, then it becomes much harder to judge the real accuracy of their "hit."
The Maimonides Dream Institute ran into problems like this when running experiments involving works of art transmitted through dream telepathy. Several dreamers received images related to the artwork, but these were so interpretive that the data essentially had to be thrown out. The simplicity of the Zener cards makes it much easier to identify a "hit" when one occurs.
Since their research, the Zener cards have become something of a legend. There are sites online that detail their proper use in experiments, and there are even a few sites where you can participate in a simple Zener card experiment yourself. These sites, of course, are completely computer generated, nullifying the chance that your answers might be gleaned through telepathy, but presentience might be measured through the use of such simple, computer-generated tests.
