Extra-Sensory Perception: Part I. General Introduction: Chapter 2. Historical Background

This is an academic monograph from 1934 by J.B. Rhine, a founding figure of parapsychology, presenting the scientific case for extra-sensory perception (ESP) through a survey of evidence ranging from spontaneous phenomena to controlled laboratory experiments. Rhine organizes ESP evidence into a taxonomy covering telepathy (mind-to-mind), clairvoyance (perception of physical objects), and variations across distance and time, arguing that the full range of potentially perceivable phenomena remains undefined because its underlying principles are still unknown. The text traces the methodological progression of ESP research from large-scale surveys of spontaneous psychic incidents — compiled by the Society for Psychical Research, showing estimated frequencies of 1-in-4 to 1-in-10 among the general population — through observational studies of professional sensitives (dowsers, psychometrists), up to more controlled laboratory experiments. A central critical argument Rhine makes is that early experimental work, though rigorously designed to exclude sensory cues and chance, was fatally limited by conflating telepathy with clairvoyance and never actually ruling out the latter — a methodological flaw Rhine frames as a broader cautionary example of hypothesis-blindness in scientific inquiry. The work is distinctive for its insistence that answering whether ESP exists can potentially be settled by careful observation, but that determining its nature requires true experimental manipulation and the deliberate variation of conditions to isolate underlying factors. Rhine writes with the stance of a scientist attempting to legitimize a contested field, defending the quality of prior investigators while pressing for more rigorous experimental design.

Extra-Sensory Perception: Part I. General Introduction: Chapter 2. Historical Background

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