Telepathy
Origins of the concept
Origins of the concept
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According to historians such as [Roger Luckhurst](/wiki/Roger_Luckhurst "Roger Luckhurst") and [Janet Oppenheim](/wiki/Janet_Oppenheim "Janet Oppenheim") the origin of the concept of telepathy in [Western civilization](/wiki/Western_culture "Western culture") can be traced to the late 19th century and the formation of the [Society for Psychical Research](/wiki/Society_for_Psychical_Research "Society for Psychical Research").[Oppenheim, Janet](/wiki/Janet_Oppenheim "Janet Oppenheim"). (1985\). *The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850–1914*. Cambridge University Press. pp. 135–249\. [Luckhurst, Roger](/wiki/Roger_Luckhurst "Roger Luckhurst"). (2002\). *The Invention of Telepathy, 1870–1901*. Oxford University Press. pp. 9–51\.  As the physical sciences made significant advances, scientific concepts were applied to mental phenomena (e.g., [animal magnetism](/wiki/Animal_magnetism "Animal magnetism")), with the hope that this would help to understand [paranormal](/wiki/Paranormal "Paranormal") phenomena. The modern concept of telepathy emerged in this context.

Psychical researcher [Eric Dingwall](/wiki/Eric_Dingwall "Eric Dingwall") criticized SPR founding members [Frederic W. H. Myers](/wiki/Frederic_William_Henry_Myers "Frederic William Henry Myers") and [William F. Barrett](/wiki/William_F._Barrett "William F. Barrett") for trying to "prove" telepathy rather than objectively analyze whether or not it existed.[Dingwall, Eric](/wiki/Eric_Dingwall "Eric Dingwall"). (1985\). *The Need for Responsibility in Parapsychology: My Sixty Years in Psychical Research*. In *A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology*. Prometheus Books. pp. 161–174\.  "Let me give an example, such as thought\-transference, which is as good as any. When the British SPR was founded, the public was led to believe that at least a scientific survey was to be made, and I have no doubt that even some of those closely associated with the early days thought so too. But Myers, among others, had no such intention and cherished no such illusion. He knew that the primary aim of the Society was not objective experimentation but the establishment of telepathy. (...) What was wanted was proof that mind could communicate with mind apart from the normal avenues, for if mental sharing was a fact when the persons concerned were incarnate it could plausibly be suggested that the same mechanism might operate when death had occurred. Thus the supernatural might be proved by science, and psychical research might become, in the words of Sir William Barrett, a handmaid to religion."


What was the primary aim of the Society for Psychical Research?