The Harvest

by John David Krygelski

  Elohim said, “As I recall, they were all sold that day.”

  “Yes, we arranged for everyone who attended to buy one each for one, two, or three dollars. She got the money, and we kept the drawings. We still have them.”

  “So,” Elohim continued, “she demonstrated one budding skill and got raves, a showing, and money; however, she demonstrated another and received a ‘That’s nice’ from her parents.”

  “We didn’t know….”

  “I know that, Reese. This isn’t a condemnation. I’m simply making a point. To make it further…when Matthew was almost five, you noticed that his bedroom light was still on after bedtime. When you called down the hallway for him to turn it off, he replied….”

  “I remember that, too. He said he could turn it off with his mind, but it took some time and we needed to wait a few minutes. My reaction was to march into his room and order him to get out of bed and turn it off immediately.”

  “That wasn’t all you said.”

  Reliving the moment in his mind, Reese said, “Oh, crap. I also told him to quit lying.”

  “Not exactly positive feedback.”

  “No.”

  “Reese, don’t feel bad. You reacted within what have become the normal parameters of society. Literally thousands of times a day children tell their parents that they can see imaginary friends, that they can make a pencil spin on the table without touching it, as well as countless other examples of an incipient skill manifesting itself. Instead of the parents reacting as they do at the children’s first steps, first words, or first drawing, they react as you did. And if the children don’t get the message, the parents eventually sit them down and say that if they don’t stop this behavior, they’ll be taken to a doctor to be checked. If Mozart’s first interest in the piano was greeted with chastisement and punishment, Earth would not have his great works.”

  Penfield said, “If children were chastised and punished for their first steps, it might retard the development of the skill, but they would still eventually walk.”

  “They would. But only because their world was filled with others who walked. It would be an undeniable skill. The skills that I am discussing are, in their incipient stage, deniable by others. They are also notoriously difficult to prove, especially for a four-year-old. How could Reese’s son, Matthew, prove after the fact that he could turn off his room light with his mind?”

  Penfield, not ready to give up the point, asked, “Why couldn’t he replicate it in front of Reese or Claire?”

  “Basically, for the same reason that many people can sing quite well in the shower, but if they get in front of an audience, they sing horribly.”

  “Stage fright.”

  “In a sense. The tension of performing the feat for a skeptic is intimidating. Walt, do you have any problem with public speaking?”

  “Mostly, no.”

  “The event that causes you to add ‘mostly’ to your answer was a speech that you agreed to give on binary pulsars.”

  “Yes. Boy, that is spooky when you do that. Anyway, the existence of binary pulsars was considered to be impossible. When I presented my findings at CERN, the entire audience thought I’d lost my mind. They verged on the hostile. It’s an understatement to say that my presentation didn’t go well…about one minute into it, my mind just went blank.”

  “The same process would have happened in Matthew’s mind. The ability to influence the environment is a subtle one, and at the beginning stages of the skill, the person doing it isn’t even sure what he did to make it happen. In a situation where he would have been asked to prove it to his disbelieving parents, his mind would have also gone blank, and he would have failed.

  “So, to continue…not only does the absence of positive feedback cause the skills to wither, it also causes the child, as he or she grows, to stop trying. There are two relatively famous examples of this. The first is a circus elephant that as a small juvenile is tethered by tying a rope to a four-foot stake, pounded into the ground. The small elephant pulls repeatedly at the stake and cannot budge it. When the elephant is fully grown and easily capable of pulling out the stake, the circus continues to use the same rope and stake. It restrains the elephant because the elephant learned early on that he could not pull it out, so he never tries again. The second example involves beta fighting fish. They are beautiful fish, a lovely addition to an aquarium. Unfortunately, they are quite territorial when it comes to other betas. If you add a second to your tank, they will instantly fight to the death. However, if you put them in a tank with a piece of clear glass separating the two halves, they will repeatedly crash themselves into the invisible barrier until they learn that they cannot get through to the other side. They eventually give up. If the glass is surreptitiously removed, they will still not cross to the other side of the tank for the rest of their lives, because they have learned that it cannot be done.

  “The same thing happens with people. Not only is infancy and early childhood an excellent time to learn and develop skills, it is also an excellent time to learn what cannot be done. Once assimilated, it is nearly impossible to unlearn that lesson.

  “This has all been a very roundabout way of answering your original question, Walt. But the point is, all of you have learned that you cannot manipulate your environment with your minds. You cannot levitate this table. You cannot will this room to be one foot larger. You cannot freeze the water in this carafe by visualizing it. You cannot pull that four-foot-long stake out of the ground, and you cannot cross over to the other side of the tank because of that invisible barrier. When, in fact” – Elohim paused, and a broad smile spread across his face – “you can do much more than you imagine.

  “As you and your colleagues have probed farther into the mysterious world of quantum physics, you have all convinced yourselves that all bets are off. There are no preconceived notions of what is and isn’t possible. The four-foot stake has been removed…the pane of glass is gone. Have you noticed how nearly every new theory about subatomic particles is proved true?”

  Penfield thought for a moment, before answering, “As a matter of fact, that particular field has had a pretty good run of luck.”

  “Walt, I hate to burst your bubble, but the reason that happens is a result of the experimenter’s influence. First, comes the theory. Second, comes the method of proof. The physicist decides what particle must exist and what its properties must be. He or she then decides what subtle method of detection will yield the result that proves the theory. The process of conceptualizing the particle itself causes it to come into existence. The process of conceptualizing the experiment to find the properties of that particle bestows those properties. It is the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy, and it is made easier by the tiny scale. Not only does science have no preconceived notions that preclude the existence of the particle, but the subatomic particle also is substantially easier for the untrained and undeveloped mind to create than, say, to create this chair with your mind.”

  “They obviously don’t all succeed.”

  “Of course not. And the main reason for that is disagreement. If you are working alone in a laboratory…and by alone I include all of the assistants, students, and postdoctoral people who follow you around and hang on your every word…there is no opposing thought.”

  Walt smiled at this.

  “If you conceive of a new subatomic particle, it will spring into existence. If you and your team all conceive of and believe in the particle, that will aid the process. If you are working with a colleague who vehemently disagrees with the existence of the particle, you will probably not find it. Occasionally, it will happen that you will prove it exists; then, at a later time, he will prove it does not. Your work and his work will both be sound. When you looked, it was there. When he looked, it wasn’t.”

  “So, it’s all like Tinker Bell!” Reese commented.

  Penfield and Elohim both laughed. After a moment, Elohim said, “In a very real sense, that is exactly how it all works.”r />
  Shaking his head, Penfield said, “This takes the ‘uncertainty principle’ to a new level.”

  “It reminds me,” Reese added, “of the old story of the Emperor dreaming he was a butterfly and trying to figure out a way to prove that he was an Emperor dreaming he was a butterfly, not a butterfly dreaming he was an Emperor dreaming he was a butterfly.”

  “So, the reason that we’ve been unsuccessful marrying quantum physics to the standard model is that quantum physics changes with every goofball idea that we can conceive?”

  “Yes,” Elohim responded, “and the reason the macro world is much harder to affect is that many people participate in the construct, reinforcing its existence. How many hundreds, possibly even thousands of people have been involved in the creation, transport, and use of this table? It is real to all of them. It is a part of their belief systems. If you decided to make it disappear or change its properties, the power of your mind would need to be stronger than the cumulative strength of all of theirs.”

  “Kind of a mental inertia?” Penfield suggested.

  “Yes. It actually is physics on a level that you haven’t yet reached. The force of their cumulative belief is a quantifiable value, and the force needed to change it is also quantifiable. There is a monumental web of interlocking and overlapping beliefs that reinforce the current construct. And that system does not even require that a single person has ever seen an object. First of all, to a much lesser degree, animals contribute to the structure, as do insects albeit at a nearly insignificant magnitude. Secondly, contact is not needed for the human being to apply beliefs. If you have assimilated the properties of trees based upon years of study, your mind will extend that belief to trees that you haven’t yet seen. That belief reinforces the structure of trees yet unseen by you.”

  “How far does this extend?” asked Reese. “I mean, if everyone on Earth decided that the moon didn’t exist, would it disappear?”

  “It extends to Heaven. The beliefs of those who reside with me are part of the construct. Because of their age, as well as a level of purity of thought they can achieve, their beliefs are stronger than the cumulative value of every living person on Earth.” Elohim paused, then added, “And there is also the energy value of my mind.”

  “Which, I suppose,” Penfield remarked, “is quite formidable.”

  “I suppose that it is.”

  “Again,” said Penfield, “this is all very fascinating in the hypothetical. Is there any way we can see this at work?”

  Elohim, smiling, responded, “Walter, I thought you weren’t interested in any magic tricks.”

  “I’m not…I guess I am. It’s just that I don’t get the feeling we’re going to get anywhere just talking.”

  “Very well.”

  Elohim had been talking to Walt, while resting both of his hands on the solid oak table. Speaking very softly, he said, “Are you watching?” As he spoke, his hands sunk into the tabletop, as they would into water. Penfield stared in disbelief as both of Elohim’s hands, as well as a portion of his wrists, disappeared into the wood. Like a baker reaching into a deep bowl of dough, Elohim raised his elbows slightly and dipped his forearms into the conference table. Pausing to glance at Penfield, he then moved them toward his own body until they emerged from the edge of the table.

  Walter Penfield was speechless, still staring at the tabletop where Elohim’s hands had penetrated. Reese broke the silence. “How did You do that?”

  “When you touch this table, it feels hard. Yet, that is an illusion. The atoms that make up the table and both my hands are almost completely empty space, well over ninety-nine percent. When you touch the table, it feels hard because of an energy field, like two repelling magnets. What causes any material to exhibit its properties, including hardness or impermeability, is electromagnetic energy, the same energy that not only manifests your physical properties but also is harnessed by your mind. It is, among other things, the flow and exchange of electromagnetism that manifests consciousness. Energy can never be eliminated. However, it can be redirected, manipulated, and converted. You do it all the time. It’s how all of your internal electronics work. When I change the energy of the atoms that make up my hands and arms to be in phase with the atoms that make up the table, the individual particles which comprise my arms pass through the vast empty spaces between the particles of the table.”

  Reese asked Penfield, “Make sense?”

  “Yes. Yes, of course. There is so much space between the individual pieces of an atom that if you eliminated all of the space and compressed it to a solid, the entire Earth would be smaller than the sharp tip of a pin. What makes up matter is an interlocking matrix of positive and negative charges, stable and unstable relationships between not only atoms but the electrons that orbit the nucleus of each atom. The more stable and balanced the forces, the more stable and solid the material.”

  “Like lead?”

  “Yeah. A lump of lead is made up of a stable matrix of lead atoms.”

  “So, ‘solidness’ is really like a force field?” asked Reese.

  “Basically, yes.”

  “Force fields can be turned on and off, right?”

  “It was inconceivable to me, prior to this moment, but, yes, it is theoretically possible.”

  “I don’t think it’s just theoretical anymore.”

  Turning to Elohim, Penfield asked, “You mentioned putting your energy ‘in phase’ with the table?”

  “Yes. I am not turning the energy on and off. It’s possible to do so, but quite unnecessary. Simply synchronizing the phase is sufficient. Would you like to see it yourself?”

  “I just did.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant.” With that, Elohim glanced down at Penfield’s elbow, which was resting on the table, his forearm and hand upright. Penfield also looked down to see his elbow beginning to sink into the wood. Startled, he jerked it up, lifting it above the tabletop.

  “I didn’t feel anything!”

  “There aren’t any nerve endings down to that scale. Of course you wouldn’t.”

  Penfield, feeling foolish suspending his elbow above the table, started to lower it, then paused, looking at Elohim who nodded. He gingerly brought it to rest upon the once-again-solid surface.

  “So, you can do that remotely?”

  “I didn’t do it.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “No, you did.”

  “How did I do it?”

  “As I explained before, the mind has many skills that are untapped and undeveloped. I stimulated your mind’s ability, and you did the rest.”

  “Okay, assuming for a minute that I suddenly had the skill, I didn’t want to make my arm go through the table.”

  “Actually, you did. When I glanced at your elbow after making my comment, you began to look at your elbow instantly. During that moment, what did you think?”

  Shaking his head, Penfield said, “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be weird if my elbow went through the wood.’ That’s all it takes? It seems a little dangerous.”

  Laughing, Elohim said, “It would definitely dissuade you from errant thoughts. But, yes, it is that simple.”

  “And now the skill is gone?” Penfield asked with a bit of relief in his voice.

  “Actually, no. Once switched on, it will diminish with disuse, like any other function. Barring that, you now have a new skill.”

  “I’m not sure I’m all that crazy about this. I feel like a new member of the X-Men.”

  “Walter, you didn’t want a magic trick, but you did want something convincing. This is something that you can leave this room with and study to your heart’s content, while being assured that I didn’t pull off some sleight-of-hand trick. All I ask is that you heighten your level of mental discipline. The correct chain of thoughts, while in a multistory building such as this, could cause you to slip through all of the floors. In fact, you wouldn’t stop at the ground.”

  Penfield shuddered at the image in his mind. Reese
and Elohim could tell by his face that having the image concerned him. Elohim reassured him, “Just visualizing it in the abstract won’t make it happen.”

  “What does?”

  Quickly, Elohim snatched up a sugar cube from the service tray and tossed it to Penfield. Walt immediately caught it. “Did you consciously think about catching that sugar cube? Did your conscious mind go through all of the elaborate physical steps needed to perform that simple act?”

  “No.”

  “It’s hard to describe, but that is how your newfound skill works. It will become automatic. If you are standing on the edge of a tall building’s roof, do you not visualize falling?”

  “Yes. I think everyone does.”