At the
AGNT Leadership & Advisory Council meeting
October 4, 2007
Malibu, California

Overview

This study of human group coherence was conducted by www.CommonPassion.org and The Association for Global New Thought (www.AGNT.org). One day of AGNT’s annual leadership and advisory council meeting was dedicated to studying the effects of certain group activities on a random event generator (REG), as a partial indicator of group coherence. The activities for the 35 participants (ministers and spiritual directors) ranged from listening to sacred music or presentations on various subjects, to guided meditations, physical activity, laughter, games and watching emotionally stimulating documentaries. The REG was operating continuously throughout the day. Each segment was between 15 and 30 minutes, with 15 minute breaks approximately every 60 to 90 minutes.

The hypothesis was that certain activities would create greater group coherence than others, and thus show a significant correlation with the REG activity, explained in more detail below and in Appendix A. For instance, meditation might be more coherence-engendering than listening to a technical presentation.
Human group coherence is in itself interesting if a correlation is shown with physical or quantum processes. In other words, when humans come together in certain ways, at very subtle levels, it appears that physical matter – both animate and inanimate – is persistently influenced. This non-local communication between people, and interactions of the human mind and heart with physical systems, appears to be amplified when people in groups become more coherent, within themselves and between each other.

This human coherence effect on physical matter has been measured by Princeton’s Global Consciousness Project, a global network of computers established to study this effect. This rigorous scientific endeavor shows significant correlations and influences between collective mind and matter, with odds against this phenomena occurring by chance currently at 1,000,000 to 1.

This same effect was empirically validated in a series of social studies conducted in Washington DC. These studies showed a significant reduction in violent crimes when groups of people performed a specific type of mental focus called transcendental meditation. The performance of the same mental activity by each member of the group created a special form of social coherence, which resulted in a sympathetic response in non-involved members of the Washington DC community. In other words, as the group of meditators became more coherent and harmonious within and amongst themselves, this influenced others in the city to also behave in a more harmonious, socially coherent manner, resulting in noticeably fewer crimes. Apparently – and speculatively – social harmony increased as a result a small group of meditators became coherent amongst and between themselves.

This “peace technology” work has 50 replications and 19 published research studies. It has significantly furthered the knowledge required to quantify and apply positively-intentioned coherence toward social harmony, and has immense implications for humanity.

While it is difficult to draw definitive conclusion based on the one-day study – the subject of this report – some interesting observations and trends seemed apparent that can be applied in community and global applications of collective consciousness activities:

• When the activities drew participants to focus in heart and mind on the same thing, it seems that coherence increased, as evidenced by the REG deviating from its expected output..
• Physical activity combined with group heart-mind focus seems to show greater correlation with the REG’s deviation from expected outcomes.
• Relaxation and shared “easing” or increasing of focus also seemed to create correlated activity in the REG output, as can be viewed in the graphs below at the beginning of every break and the beginning of each segment.
• As the group’s interest waned, it seems that the group coherence also did.
• The activities that seemed to generate the greatest trends in deviation from expected outcomes in the REGs were related to: high emotional activity (joy, empathy, sadness), physical activity (laughter, frivolity), and intense, shared focus (meditation, learning, shared interest).

Download the whole paper: Field REG Study AGNT