Cross-correspondence is a method used in parapsychology to investigate potential psychic phenomena. It involves sending messages, usually written, through two or more persons, known as cross-correspondents, in an effort to receive a response that appears to be meaningful and cannot be explained by normal means. The concept has been studied since the early twentieth century, with some of the earliest and best-known experiments conducted by members of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR).
Cross-correspondence involves two or more people who are unaware of one another, and who are instructed to independently record any messages they receive from a third party. These messages may be in the form of dreams, visions, automatic writing, or any other type of communication. The messages are then compared with each other to determine if there are any similarities or patterns that may suggest a common source.
The concept of cross-correspondence has been studied extensively in parapsychology and has been used to investigate a variety of phenomena, including telepathy, precognition, and survival after death. Although the results of these experiments have been somewhat inconclusive, some researchers have suggested that they provide evidence for the existence of paranormal phenomena.
In recent years, cross-correspondence has been used in a variety of other fields, including psychology, anthropology, and artificial intelligence. In psychology, cross-correspondence has been used to investigate issues such as the relationship between dreams and reality, and the effects of mood and emotion on behavior. In anthropology, it has been used to study the communication patterns of different cultures. In artificial intelligence, cross-correspondence has been used to develop algorithms that can detect meaningful patterns in large datasets.
Although cross-correspondence has been used for many decades, its use is still limited and its role in parapsychology is still uncertain. However, as technology advances and data becomes more accessible, cross-correspondence may become more widely used and accepted in the scientific community.
References
Barrett, W. F. (1901). On cross-correspondences. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 11(2), 1-25.
Carrington, H. (1909). The cross-correspondences. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 22(2), 3-240.
Gauld, A. (1992). The founders of psychical research. Routledge.
Hastings, A. (2009). Anthropology and cross-correspondence. In A. Hastings & M. Boccuzzi (Eds.), Cross-correspondence research: A century of investigations (pp. 141-162). Parapsychology Press.
Kaufman, G. (1996). Cross-correspondence in artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence, 86(1-2), 121-145.