What Does "Speculative Nonfiction" Mean?

Remote viewing is a phenomenon of nonphysical perception. Some people refer to this as a form of "psi," and scientists study psi to learn more about consciousness. Psi is "nonphysical" because it does not rely on the human body's five physical senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell. For experimental work, remote-viewing perceptions are normally collected using highly structured procedures under laboratory (blind or double-blind) conditions with full scientific controls and a verifiable target (e.g., a known location or event). The remote-viewing data are then compared (often using statistics) with actual descriptions of the target to evaluate the accuracy of the data. Until this verification process is completed, all remote-viewing data are considered speculative. In laboratory settings, remote viewers are normally asked to perceive targets about which everything is known so that the verification process can begin immediately.

In the case of esoteric targets involving extraterrestrial life, it is usually not possible to obtain immediate verification, since physical data for such targets are not easily obtainable. Until that verification is completed — no matter how long it takes — the data are considered speculative. It is not possible for people to say that they "remote viewed" something and then declare that their descriptions are factually accurate. The reality is that the mind is highly complex in its perceptual capabilities, and most untrained people see fantasies when they think they are "remote viewing." This is why some people make the effort to learn and practice structured remote-viewing procedures. To do anything like this well takes training, practice, and constant evaluation. Nonetheless, even when dealing with well-trained remote viewers who use recognized structured data-collection procedures, data verification is always required. There are no exceptions.

The best way to make remote-viewing data more credible is to demand verification using data collected by traditional (physical) means. It does not weaken remote-viewing data to say that they are speculative until verified. In fact, it makes the case for obtaining verification all the more important and worthwhile. If verification is done without deception, all sorts of interesting things can be found out. This helps us apply science to learn more about consciousness.