René Warcollier
Encyclopedia
René Warcollier was a French chemical engineer and parapsychologist. He was a founder and president of the Institut Métapsychique, and edited and wrote theoretical and experimental reports for its journal.
In parapsychology, Warcollier first served as treasurer of the Institut Métapsychique (1929–1938), then editor of its journal, the Revue Métapsychique, (1938–1940), and then as its president (1951–1962). He died on May 23, 1962.
design in which one or more "agents" observed a target image while one or more "percipients" attempted to "blindly" reproduce it. Much of his work following from 1922 involved "batteries" of senders and receivers stationed across France; and he also used sender-receiver teams stationed between France and New York, and France and Great Britain. Research collaborators Charles Richet and Gardner Murphy
.
Supporters of Warcollier say that his experimental method was an advance in terms of evidence and informativeness on earlier studies using drawings of real objects as target stimuli. A major contemporary critic was the British parapsychologist Samuel Soal
. He argued that Warcollier's method was sub-optimal as the targets were not sufficiently selected at random, and correspondences between targets and responses were identified without formal and objective limitations.
Warcollier reported his experiments in numerous articles, principally within 56 articles in the Revue Métapsychique published between 1924 and 1962, including "La télépathie expérimentale" (1926) and "Étude de dessins télépathiques de M. Vigneron au cours de vingt ans d'expérimentation" (1951). Results and reflections upon them were also published in his several books, including La Télepathie (1921) and La Métapsychique (1940; 1946). Gardner Murphy arranged to have La Télepathie translated and published in the United States, with additional material from Warcollier's articles, and an address he gave to the Sorbonne in 1946, as Mind to mind (1938).
perception. He wrote that images were telepathically transmitted with spatial dissociation of their geometric properties that often stripped them of any functional organisation and that the geometrical properties were recombined through "primitive" rules of organisation such as physical likeness, and equally primitive transformations of features, such as inversion, reduction, fusion, and duplication. Citing Pierre Janet
's proposition that "every idea of an object contains the germ of an act appropriate to it" (Mind to mind, p. 22), Warcollier wrote that "primitive" movement was often added to or abstracted from an image, and a subject's ability to describe geometric properties of a target without being able to name it or describe its function was evidence of such "primitive" structuring of perception.
Consistent with the theories of other psychic researchers of the time, Warcollier conceived of his experiments as involving telepathy in which a telepathic signal was transmitted from one mind and received by another. He theorized that the common distortions between the transmitted and received signals were the result of error at the receiving rather than transmission end. He felt that telepathic signals had a "staccato character" due to the need to successively shift attention from the signal to present environmental stimuli, and led to "disassembling" the target in the process of deploying attention towards it. He advocated hypnosis and relaxation as a means to stabilize attention to "telepathic signals".
Warcollier argued against a recency or identity advantage in the contents activated for representation of "telepathic signals". He proposed that recent memories were more likely to be inhibited, and remote memories were more likely to be activated, hence the telepathic product would reflect the "dynamic patterns" that constituted the personality. Warcollier concluded that "telepathy is facilitated when the agent and the percipient scarcely know each other" (Mind to mind, p. 36). He felt that affinity appeared to be facilitative in spontaneous cases of apparent telepathy but could also be problematic, he proposed, as it amplified personal meanings in association to the targets.
Warcollier described his theory of telepathy as the "coupling of agent and percipient into a poly-psychic whole." His communication model of psi included the notion of transmission between senders and receivers. Many of Warcollier's specific propositions have been used by parapsychologists to interpret their own models of "psi". In particular, his interpretation of the role of altered states in "signal transmission" was represented in Charles Honorton
's noise-reduction model of psi facilitation, which, in turn, served as a rationale for Ganzfeld
methodology. According to parapsychologists and psychical researchers, key components of Warcollier's experimental observations have been confirmed by the Sinclairs
and the remote-viewing
experiments in the early 1970s conducted at the Stanford Research Institute by Puthoff and Targ.
Parapsychologists such as Rhea White say that although Warcollier's studies have been superseded by remote-viewing
and Ganzfeld
paradigms, his attention to the cognitive processes of reproducing targets, with details of introspection
ist data in his reports, stood him apart from much of the American research into extrasensory perception. which in turn, inspired the key participant procedures in the remote-viewing and Ganzfeld paradigms.
Biography
Warcollier was born on April 8, 1881 at Omonville-la-Rouge in Paris. He obtained a degree in chemical engineering in 1903 from the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie. He patented several processes related to the synthetic production of precious stones, and invented special screens for movie projection.In parapsychology, Warcollier first served as treasurer of the Institut Métapsychique (1929–1938), then editor of its journal, the Revue Métapsychique, (1938–1940), and then as its president (1951–1962). He died on May 23, 1962.
Studies
Warcollier's main parapsychology studies involved experiments using a telepathyTelepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
design in which one or more "agents" observed a target image while one or more "percipients" attempted to "blindly" reproduce it. Much of his work following from 1922 involved "batteries" of senders and receivers stationed across France; and he also used sender-receiver teams stationed between France and New York, and France and Great Britain. Research collaborators Charles Richet and Gardner Murphy
Gardner Murphy
Gardner Murphy was an American psychologist specialising in social and personality psychology, and parapsychology. His career highlights included serving as president of the American Psychological Association, and of the British Society for Psychical Research.Murphy was born on July 8, 1895 in...
.
Supporters of Warcollier say that his experimental method was an advance in terms of evidence and informativeness on earlier studies using drawings of real objects as target stimuli. A major contemporary critic was the British parapsychologist Samuel Soal
Samuel Soal
Samuel George Soal — known as S.G. Soal — was a British mathematician and psychical researcher.Samuel Soal is mostly, today, remembered as the most prominent researcher in academic parapsychology to have been charged with fraudulent production of data...
. He argued that Warcollier's method was sub-optimal as the targets were not sufficiently selected at random, and correspondences between targets and responses were identified without formal and objective limitations.
Warcollier reported his experiments in numerous articles, principally within 56 articles in the Revue Métapsychique published between 1924 and 1962, including "La télépathie expérimentale" (1926) and "Étude de dessins télépathiques de M. Vigneron au cours de vingt ans d'expérimentation" (1951). Results and reflections upon them were also published in his several books, including La Télepathie (1921) and La Métapsychique (1940; 1946). Gardner Murphy arranged to have La Télepathie translated and published in the United States, with additional material from Warcollier's articles, and an address he gave to the Sorbonne in 1946, as Mind to mind (1938).
Theories
Warcollier interpreted "distortions" in what he felt were telepathically-transmitted messages and used these to propose several "laws" of psiologicalPsi (parapsychology)
Psi is a term from parapsychology derived from the Greek, ψ psi, 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet; from the Greek ψυχή psyche, "mind, soul".-Etymology:...
perception. He wrote that images were telepathically transmitted with spatial dissociation of their geometric properties that often stripped them of any functional organisation and that the geometrical properties were recombined through "primitive" rules of organisation such as physical likeness, and equally primitive transformations of features, such as inversion, reduction, fusion, and duplication. Citing Pierre Janet
Pierre Janet
Pierre Marie Félix Janet was a pioneering French psychologist, philosopher and psychotherapist in the field of dissociation and traumatic memory....
's proposition that "every idea of an object contains the germ of an act appropriate to it" (Mind to mind, p. 22), Warcollier wrote that "primitive" movement was often added to or abstracted from an image, and a subject's ability to describe geometric properties of a target without being able to name it or describe its function was evidence of such "primitive" structuring of perception.
Consistent with the theories of other psychic researchers of the time, Warcollier conceived of his experiments as involving telepathy in which a telepathic signal was transmitted from one mind and received by another. He theorized that the common distortions between the transmitted and received signals were the result of error at the receiving rather than transmission end. He felt that telepathic signals had a "staccato character" due to the need to successively shift attention from the signal to present environmental stimuli, and led to "disassembling" the target in the process of deploying attention towards it. He advocated hypnosis and relaxation as a means to stabilize attention to "telepathic signals".
Warcollier argued against a recency or identity advantage in the contents activated for representation of "telepathic signals". He proposed that recent memories were more likely to be inhibited, and remote memories were more likely to be activated, hence the telepathic product would reflect the "dynamic patterns" that constituted the personality. Warcollier concluded that "telepathy is facilitated when the agent and the percipient scarcely know each other" (Mind to mind, p. 36). He felt that affinity appeared to be facilitative in spontaneous cases of apparent telepathy but could also be problematic, he proposed, as it amplified personal meanings in association to the targets.
Warcollier described his theory of telepathy as the "coupling of agent and percipient into a poly-psychic whole." His communication model of psi included the notion of transmission between senders and receivers. Many of Warcollier's specific propositions have been used by parapsychologists to interpret their own models of "psi". In particular, his interpretation of the role of altered states in "signal transmission" was represented in Charles Honorton
Charles Honorton
Charles Henry Honorton was an American parapsychologist.Honorton was born in Deer River, Minnesota on February 5, 1946....
's noise-reduction model of psi facilitation, which, in turn, served as a rationale for Ganzfeld
Ganzfeld
Ganzfeld is a term used to describe a particular phenomenon of visual perception. It is used most commonly in relationship to:* Ganzfeld effect, the psychological result of staring at an actual Ganzfeld...
methodology. According to parapsychologists and psychical researchers, key components of Warcollier's experimental observations have been confirmed by the Sinclairs
Mental Radio
Mental Radio: Does it work, and how? was written by the American author Upton Sinclair. This book documents Sinclair's test of psychic abilities of Mary Craig Kimbrough, his second wife, while she was in a state of profound depression with a heightened interest in the occult. She attempted to...
and the remote-viewing
Remote viewing
Remote viewing is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means, in particular, extra-sensory perception or "sensing with mind"...
experiments in the early 1970s conducted at the Stanford Research Institute by Puthoff and Targ.
Parapsychologists such as Rhea White say that although Warcollier's studies have been superseded by remote-viewing
Remote viewing
Remote viewing is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means, in particular, extra-sensory perception or "sensing with mind"...
and Ganzfeld
Ganzfeld
Ganzfeld is a term used to describe a particular phenomenon of visual perception. It is used most commonly in relationship to:* Ganzfeld effect, the psychological result of staring at an actual Ganzfeld...
paradigms, his attention to the cognitive processes of reproducing targets, with details of introspection
Introspection
Introspection is the self-observation and reporting of conscious inner thoughts, desires and sensations. It is a conscious and purposive process relying on thinking, reasoning, and examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and, in more spiritual cases, one's soul...
ist data in his reports, stood him apart from much of the American research into extrasensory perception. which in turn, inspired the key participant procedures in the remote-viewing and Ganzfeld paradigms.
Further reading
- Pleasants, H. (Ed.). (1964). Biographical dictionary of parapsychology. New York, NY, US: Helix.
- Swann, I. (2001). Preface. In R. Warcollier, Mind to mind (pp. ix-xv). Charlottesville, VA, US: Hampton Roads.