Ouija boards: Science tries to explain (video)

Ana Sandoiu (Medical News Today, 8/25/18); Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Ouija board users report that the planchette (on left) moves on its own. Scientists try to differ.

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Ouija boards: Science explains the spooky sensation

People are stupid. Science tells us so with math.

New research reveals all the psychological mechanisms that are responsible for creating the “paranormal” sensation that Ouija boards often induce.

Since its invention in the late 19th century, the Ouija board has become a hallmark of popular culture [and dabbling in unseen entities, evil, the supernatural, haunting poltergeists, the world of the dead, the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, and "unclean spirits" or malevolent unseen beings].

Ouija board sessions lead to troubles

(Speech Problem Chills w/ Merch, 4/5/18) 12 Scariest Ouija Board Videos YouTubers Caught on Tape

A decorated planchette conjures images of scared kids staying up late, Halloween horror movies, or TV shows old and new, such as Charmed and Stranger Things.

Ouija boards may have “haunted” most of our childhoods, but some people are Ouija enthusiasts well into their adulthood — and understandably so.

The appeal of a device that supposedly helps one communicate with the dead is undeniable. [A safer  and better way to contact the deceased, particularly lost loved ones, is the Ancient Greek Psychomantium.]

However, what if there were a simple scientific explanation for why Ouija boards work [that did not include the activity of deceptive unseen beings moving the planchette]?

The Ouija board's mysterious origins are revealed: war, spirits, death (The Guardian)

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Researchers led by Marc Andersen at Aarhus University in Denmark set out to demystify the Ouija board experience.

Using eye-tracking devices and data analysis, Prof. Andersen and colleagues examined the behavior of 40 experienced Ouija board users at a Ouija board conference.

The scientists’ findings were published in the journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences.

Using eye trackers to study “spooky” feelings

The participants were equipped with eye tracking devices so that the researchers could study their — largely unconscious — predictive eye movements.

That is, the researchers wanted to see if the participants first glanced at the letters they would later move the planchette to.

As the scientists explain, a person’s sense of agency, or the feeling that one has control over his or her actions, arises primarily from the brain’s ability to predict “the sensory consequences of an action, and then [compare] this prediction [with] the actual consequences.

“When prediction and consequence match, the result is the feeling that ‘I did that.’” More

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