WEBVTT - Season 06 Episode 29 Extra: Through a Mind, Darkly

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Unexplained Extra with Me, Richard acclaimed Smith, where

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<v Speaker 1>for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories

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<v Speaker 1>and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make

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<v Speaker 1>it into the previous show. In our last episode, Mobius Stripped,

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<v Speaker 1>we learned about the curious work of Stephen A. Schwartz

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<v Speaker 1>and his fascination with the nature of human consciousness. Over

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<v Speaker 1>decades of work in various fields, Schwartz has become convinced

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<v Speaker 1>that all life is interconnected and that consciousness is not

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<v Speaker 1>a local thing that exists only within ourselves. Instead, according

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<v Speaker 1>to Schwartz, that sense of consciousness that we experience individually

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<v Speaker 1>is in fact part of a much larger universal plane

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<v Speaker 1>of consciousness that we can supposedly access. Schwartz has dedicated

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<v Speaker 1>much of his time to researching the possibilities of remote viewing,

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<v Speaker 1>a practice that has been described as the ability to

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<v Speaker 1>acquire information about spatially and temporally remote geographical targets otherwise

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<v Speaker 1>inaccessible by any known sensory means. It is Schwartz's belief

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<v Speaker 1>that it is the existence of a universal consciousness that

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<v Speaker 1>enables people to successfully perform remote viewing by essentially allowing

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<v Speaker 1>their minds to wander through it with the potential to

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<v Speaker 1>effectively see things happening anywhere at any time. At first,

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<v Speaker 1>Schwartz directed his attention to the past, asking participants in

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<v Speaker 1>a number of experiments such as the Alexandria Project as

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<v Speaker 1>featured in last week's episode, to see if they could

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<v Speaker 1>use remote viewing to look back in time. Then, in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen eight, satisfied that this was indeed possible, he had

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<v Speaker 1>an epiphany. If experienced remote viewers could look back in time,

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<v Speaker 1>could they also look into the future, And so he

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<v Speaker 1>decided to try and find out. Throughout the late nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixties and seventies, Stephen Schwartz occupied a number of roles

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<v Speaker 1>within the American geopolitical community. At some point in the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventies, the US Secretary of Defense at the time

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<v Speaker 1>and the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology invited

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<v Speaker 1>Schwartz to take part in a committee they were putting

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<v Speaker 1>together under the label Innovation, Technology and the Future. After

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<v Speaker 1>taking part, Schwartz became fascinated with future studies, or strategic foresight,

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<v Speaker 1>as it is also known, the study of potential social

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<v Speaker 1>and technological advancement. Futurists are concerned with predicting future trends,

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<v Speaker 1>and often work closely with governments and businesses analyzing relevant

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<v Speaker 1>data to try and make predictions about future local and

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<v Speaker 1>global landscapes. To try and stay ahead of the curve

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<v Speaker 1>with its unwieldy and highly unpredictable subject matter, considering all

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<v Speaker 1>the many variables and unforeseen consequences that might impact what

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<v Speaker 1>happens in the future, most futurists prefer their analysis to

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<v Speaker 1>be based on solid, tangible facts and quantifiably predictive data.

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<v Speaker 1>There certainly little appetite within the future studies community for

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<v Speaker 1>trying to apply something so numinous and scientifically nebulous as

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<v Speaker 1>so called remote viewing, to the equation, but Schwartz had

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<v Speaker 1>other ideas. In nineteen seventy nine, fresh from the apparent

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<v Speaker 1>successes of his various remote viewing experiments through the Mobius Project,

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<v Speaker 1>he began gathering participants for a new study, which would

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<v Speaker 1>become known as the twenty fifty Project. From nineteen seventy

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<v Speaker 1>nine to nineteen ninety one, over four thousand people would

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<v Speaker 1>take part in it from countries all over the world,

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<v Speaker 1>including Russia, Germany, France, Jamaica, Mexico, Canada, and the United States.

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<v Speaker 1>The participants were also drawn from all manner of backgrounds,

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<v Speaker 1>from scientists and engineers to stay at home individuals, government bureaucrats,

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<v Speaker 1>and medical doctors. All were given the same simple instruction

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<v Speaker 1>to enter a meditative state and imagine themselves on the

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<v Speaker 1>same exact day they were undertaking the exercise, but the

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<v Speaker 1>year twenty fifty, and then tell Schwartz what they saw there. Incredibly,

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<v Speaker 1>despite the various professional, cultural, and geographical differences of the participants,

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<v Speaker 1>according to Schwartz, many of their answers were strikingly similar.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether you believe in the legitimacy of Schwartz's methods or not,

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<v Speaker 1>or dispute what it was exactly that led the participants

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<v Speaker 1>to say what they said, there's no denying the results

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<v Speaker 1>certainly make for some startling reading. With the test subject

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<v Speaker 1>placed in a comfortable setting, Stephen would wait for them

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<v Speaker 1>to enter a meditative state and then invite them to

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<v Speaker 1>try and send their mind into the future. Twelve percent

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<v Speaker 1>of those who participated immediately claimed they were unable to

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<v Speaker 1>do so since they no longer existed in the year

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<v Speaker 1>twenty fifty. Those that did would invariably get to a

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<v Speaker 1>point when they claimed to have arrived in the assigned

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<v Speaker 1>temporal location, at which point Stephen would begin his interviews.

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<v Speaker 1>His method was to make sure never to offer a

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<v Speaker 1>leading question that could influence the answer, So rather than

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<v Speaker 1>ask what does your house look like, for example, he

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<v Speaker 1>would instead say something like, stand in front at the

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<v Speaker 1>place where you sleep and tell me what it looks like,

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<v Speaker 1>since it was always the first thing on his mind.

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<v Speaker 1>Stephen would begin by asking the participants if there'd been

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<v Speaker 1>a nuclear war, or if there was any evidence that

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<v Speaker 1>such a thing had taken place. Time after time he

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<v Speaker 1>was staggered by their response. No, they would say, but

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<v Speaker 1>that's not all. The Soviet Union has disappeared. It's hard

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<v Speaker 1>to comprehend to day just how strange that sounded back

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen seventy nine when Schwartz began conducting the study,

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<v Speaker 1>and at first he couldn't get his head around what

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<v Speaker 1>that meant exactly. When he asked how and in what way,

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<v Speaker 1>the participants responded that it simply no longer existed. Rather

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<v Speaker 1>than making the world a safer place, however, as Schwartz

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<v Speaker 1>had hoped, according to the subjects, the disintegration of the

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<v Speaker 1>Soviet Union had led to a far less stable world.

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<v Speaker 1>Prone to increased incidences of terrorism. Schwartz then asked his

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<v Speaker 1>participants to detail the other major concerns of the day

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<v Speaker 1>with regards to global safety. All unanimously stated that the

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<v Speaker 1>main threats were outbreaks of disease and infection, which would

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<v Speaker 1>lead to numerous epidemics that plagued the globe for many years.

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<v Speaker 1>The first of these would be a blood disease, which

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<v Speaker 1>they described as something that had crossed over from primates

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<v Speaker 1>to humans at the time nineteen seventy nine nineteen eighty

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<v Speaker 1>When the participants first started reporting this, Stephen apparently consulted

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<v Speaker 1>a friend of his, who worked as the deputy director

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<v Speaker 1>of cardiovascular research at the US's National Institute of Health,

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<v Speaker 1>to ask if he knew of any such thing currently

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<v Speaker 1>in circulation in the global population. He knew of nothing

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<v Speaker 1>like it. It was sometime later in the June nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighty one edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

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<v Speaker 1>published by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

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<v Speaker 1>that five young men in Los Angeles, California, were reportedly

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<v Speaker 1>being treated with strange cases of pneumocystis pneumonia. Two would

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<v Speaker 1>die soon after. All were around thirty years old with

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<v Speaker 1>no previous health complications. The five men are thought to

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<v Speaker 1>be the first reported individuals in America to have been

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<v Speaker 1>infected with HIV, and the apparent revelations kept on coming.

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<v Speaker 1>When Schwartz asked his participants again back no later than

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen ninety one, but most from nineteen seventy nine and

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<v Speaker 1>the early eighties, how people traveled, the response was again surprising. Overwhelmingly,

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<v Speaker 1>the subjects responded that people didn't travel much at all

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<v Speaker 1>since technology had read did it mostly unnecessary? How so

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<v Speaker 1>Stephen had asked, well, they would reply, there was a

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<v Speaker 1>sort of apparatus you could use to project yourself into

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<v Speaker 1>other spaces, like a kind of virtual reality. You could

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<v Speaker 1>have meetings there or communicate with loved ones. Computers too,

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<v Speaker 1>or at least the peculiar devices they saw that resembled

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<v Speaker 1>computers in their functionality were no longer huge, unwieldy things,

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<v Speaker 1>but small and pocket sized that you could easily carry

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<v Speaker 1>around with you on a daily basis. Concern about the

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<v Speaker 1>climate was a frequent topic of conversation. By twenty fifty,

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<v Speaker 1>many said we no longer burned carbon. As a result,

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<v Speaker 1>all air travel had been significantly reduced cars were not

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<v Speaker 1>so much cars, but devices constructed from a combination of

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<v Speaker 1>a chassis and another device that was some kind of

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<v Speaker 1>box that powered it like a battery. The same device

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<v Speaker 1>was used to power houses and larger buildings too. A

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<v Speaker 1>much changed climate had also apparently left many coastal towns

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<v Speaker 1>under water, and in places where the temperature had become

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<v Speaker 1>too hot to exist in the ways were used to

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<v Speaker 1>large domes had been built to regulate the climate inside,

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<v Speaker 1>much in the manner say as Dubai's More of the

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<v Speaker 1>World project, which was first proposed in twenty sixteen. Many

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<v Speaker 1>also described a world in which pharmacological medicine had almost disappeared,

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<v Speaker 1>since most genetic predispositions such as cystic fibrosis or muscular

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<v Speaker 1>dystrophy had been engineered out before birth. As for governments,

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<v Speaker 1>they still exist, but the processes of power were much

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<v Speaker 1>changed and much more devolved. In the US specifically, although

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<v Speaker 1>a federal government was said to exist, most power was

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<v Speaker 1>exercised by the states or larger bioregions that had vested

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<v Speaker 1>ecological reasons to keep their policies aligned. All in all,

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<v Speaker 1>they said the global population was much smaller, and cities

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<v Speaker 1>had become relatively smaller too, with people choosing instead to

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<v Speaker 1>live in communities or communes with others who shared their

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<v Speaker 1>values and interests. This in turn had led to a

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<v Speaker 1>hardening and tribal attitudes, since people tended to travel less

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<v Speaker 1>and mix with other people outside of their chosen spheres

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<v Speaker 1>of interest. Despite the increased polarization and entrenched views, many

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<v Speaker 1>participants nonetheless reported that twenty fifty world in which gender

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<v Speaker 1>imbalances had been largely eradicated, but one in which that

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<v Speaker 1>had also been a complete shift in the way that

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<v Speaker 1>gender was defined. This comprises only a fraction of what

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<v Speaker 1>Stephen Schwartz gleaned from his research. You can find out

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<v Speaker 1>more by searching the twenty fifty Project online. Thank you

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<v Speaker 1>to Diane Hope for suggesting this week's story Unexplained. The

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<v Speaker 1>book and audiobook, featuring stories that have never before been

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<v Speaker 1>featured on the show, is now available to buy worldwide.

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<v Speaker 1>You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes, and Noble Waterstones, among

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<v Speaker 1>other bookstores. All elements have Unexplained, including the show's music,

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<v Speaker 1>are produced by me Richard McClain Smith. Please subscribe and

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<v Speaker 1>regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you

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<v Speaker 1>have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

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<v Speaker 1>Forward slash Unexplained Podcast