How Evolution Could Advance PSI

There is an important general theme of science fiction that is often what makes it distinct from fantasy: that fantasy deals with what clearly cannot be and science fiction deals with what could be, but isn’t. This creates a special challenge for the science fiction writer that regular fantasy authors don’t need to be concerned about. As science fiction writers we are always asking ourselves the question “How could this be?” and a satisfactory answer to that question must somehow make it into our stories, or we lose plausibility as science fiction writers and remain in the realm of the fantastic.

In the Darksea stories, one of the most fantastical elements is surely that of psionic ability. While psionics is a common enough element of science fiction stories, its existence is generally taken for granted as a general sic-fi trope, just like laser weapons, advanced spacecraft, and easy faster than light travel. Some stories do a better job of describing how these elements could exist, and others don’t. Many end up with wild inconsistencies in the technology, how it functions, and whether or not it is plausible enough to be truly science fiction rather than just high-tech fantasy with guns and in space.

While I am surely not immune to some inconsistencies and contrivances in my made-up world, I have taken efforts to explore the real science side of the elements I chose to put into the book and describe them in order to make them sufficiently supported by science.

This is also true of the psionic element, and that is the purpose of this post today.

A very good and heavily cited book Science and Psychic Phenomena by Chris Cater explores the real side of what we today call psychic phenomenon. While the actual observed and tested events in the real world are significantly less spectacular than what the likes of Joshua or Mirra can do in my book, I was pleased to find a strong scientific basis for what most would regard as the most “magical” or “mystical” element of my stories. As it turns out, it is neither magical nor mystical, and while we certainly don’t understand it very well, we are even now beginning to explore it as something that deserves both scientific attention and support.

A few elements of Chris’s book stood out to me as something to explore more deeply. The first is strong evidence from researchers that neurological activity has a real and measurable effect on what we would call psychic phenomena. This is important because it means that real brain chemistry, real biology has a link to what many would consider a weird metaphysical phenomenon. The book describes an experiment in which subjects that were given neurological suppressants were measurably less accurate and capable than those given neurological stimulants, like caffeine. We know that caffeine is a common substance that is shown to increase neurological activity, and if this affects psychic ability in a measurable way it means that our brain activity is truly the driving force behind psychic phenomena. This is important because it at least partially excludes more mystical and less scientific forces, such as spirits, God, the demonic, etc. Psychic/psionic ability isn’t something that is just magically coming out of the ether, it is something that comes at least in part from our own biology, our own brains.

From a sci-fi perspective, this strongly reinforced for me the themes I had, at the time, already integrated into my work. In Darksea, psionics is not a mystical or magical force. It has a basis in biology, genetics, and while the knowledge of the creation of psions is extremely advanced, requiring Ascension knowledge, it was based on principles of real science.

Back in the real world, there is a strong case to be made for the idea that more advanced and powerful psychic ability is the future through either artificial means or natural evolution. Modern humans have existed for only a tiny snapshot of time in the grand scheme. The stone age was only about 6,000 years ago. Compare that to the tens or hundreds of millions of years we attribute to macro evolution (think the evolution of single-celled to multicell organisms, or even aquatic to land-based species). Even close examples of humans, such as Neanderthals, lived only 40,000 years ago. Modern humans haven’t evolved simply because we haven’t had time to do so. The entirety of civilized history is only about .0092 percent of the time since the dinosaurs existed. In evolutionary terms we have existed for barely the blink of an eye, so we shouldn’t expect much from our biology, but if there is evidence for psychic phenomena in humans now, and if that ability is biologically based, then there is every reason that it may grow and expand with time in a microevolutionary sense. Think of microevolution as small evolutionary changes that don’t radically change a species but simply adapt or expand its existing traits. We already have the existing traits, so it won’t take millions of years to develop them into a more heightened and refined form. Maybe it would take thousands of years, or maybe the use of technology can accelerate that timeline.

Whatever the case, a strong foundation presently exists for the possibility that future humans will have much stronger psychic ability, and just like in Darksea, those abilities may grow to a level where they have a real and obvious impact on daily life. And maybe we won’t even need any Amathae to come and help us along.