What does science say about Ouija?

One of the most popular games of spiritualism? does it have any scientific backing?

The Ouija is one of the great icons of Spiritualism.. The idea that we can communicate with disembodied and supernatural beings has seduced many people since this wooden board with letters and answer options was created in the 19th century.

The idea is simple: a board on which are written all the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0 to 9 and basic options such as "yes", "no", "hello" and "goodbye". To use the Ouija, participants place their fingers on a plate or glass that they place on the board, ask questions and watch as the object slides over the letters and numbers offering answers as if it took on a life of its own.

But the Ouija does not work

As expected, Ouija sessions cannot be explained by attributing the movement of the chip or the glass to forces from beyond the grave. Not only does it not make sense to believe it, but it can be demonstrated by a simple experiment that Professor Larry Barrieau periodically conducts with his students.

In these sessions, the professor first asks his students to say to what extent they believe in spiritism. Then, he chooses the people who are most convinced that Ouija works and asks them to choose a board that they believe works for contacting spirits. Once the students have chosen, the Ouija session begins, and they are promised that if the movement of the board points to the correct answers to the questions they will be asked, the whole class will get a grade of excellent. But with one small change: students have to hold a poster board under their chin, so they can't see the letters or numbers on the board.

In all the experiments Larry has conducted, the answers never make sense, basically because the students can't see anything on the board.In all the experiments Larry has conducted, the answers never make sense, basically because the students can't see anything happening on the board. However, the wooden token does move without the students having any sense of control over it. Why is this?

The ideomotor effect

Of course, there are people who believe that its operation is based on a real ability to contact the afterlife, but if we discard this possibility and focus on the scientific explanation that explains the existence of people who believe in the effectiveness of the Ouija after having experimented with it, what is left? Next we will see the psychological phenomenon that allows us to understand why the Ouija seems to be connected with spirits. Its name is ideomotor effect.

This is a concept that serves to describe the phenomenon whereby certain suggestible people move parts of their body involuntarily, making these movements have a logical connection with beliefs, desires or ideas that are expressed unconsciously. Therefore, the idea of mental processes that are beyond the reach of our consciousness plays a very important role in understanding how this type of suggestion can appear.

An experimental example

The theory of the ideomotor effect has been observed in several experiments conducted in a laboratory setting.

In one of these experiments, a number of volunteers were selected and asked to answer a series of questions through a computer, selecting the options "yes" or "no". They were then asked to do something similar, but using a Ouija board instead of a computer program. On this occasion, in addition, a companion would put his or her finger on the wooden board at the same time as them, but they had to answer blindfolded. But this research contained a surprise: as soon as the eyes had been blindfolded, the person accompanying the volunteer in the Ouija session would leave the table, leaving only one finger resting on the wooden board, which, however, moved.

The results showed that the participants were very surprised to learn that no one had accompanied them in the Ouija session, as they often believed that they had not been accompanied by anyone else.They often believed that the other person was in cahoots with the investigators and was responsible for moving the piece. In addition, 65% of the questions whose answers were not known for sure were correct. Somehow, the fact that they unconsciously believed more in one answer than the other and did not rule out the possibility of spirits manifesting through the Ouija board to give an answer for them made them unwittingly give an answer themselves.

Concluding

In science, all things being equal, the simplest hypothesis always wins.. And, in the case of the Ouija, the ideomotor effect is a much more useful idea than the existence of spirits manifesting themselves through a board game.

Moreover, the possibility of experimenting with the ideomotor effect is a good way to better study the workings of the human unconscious, a very promising field of research in the field of psychology.