When the infamous fictional character, Carrie White, left her high school prom hall ablaze and brought terror upon her town, she relied on her powers of telekinesis, the ability to manipulate physical objects using the power of the mind alone.
But while Carrie is just a fictional film based upon a fictional book, belief in telekinesis isn't fictional at all.
For centuries, humans have claimed they really do have the power to control the motion of objects using only their minds.
Levitation, opening doors at will and spoon bending are all intriguing examples.
It happens in the Matrix when Neo freezes bullets mid-air, and it's a skill that Yoda has honed to a T.
But is telekinesis real, or just as fictional as Carrie, Yoda, and Neo combined?
To investigate, we need to evaluate telekinetic claims through a scientific lens using the scientific method.
Telekinesis is part of the discipline called parapsychology, in which researchers study psychic phenomena.
Parapsychologists regard what they do as a science, but other scientists disagree.
Let's start with a few basic observations.
