Nonlocal intuition in repeat entrepreneurs: a replication and co-subject effects using electrophysiological measures

This paper reports the results of a study of repeat entrepreneurs in Tehran, Iran, in which nonlocal intuition was investigated in a replication experiment using electrophysiological measures of heart rate variability (HRV). Nonlocal intuition is the perception of information about a distant or future event by the body’s psychophysiological systems, which is not based on reason or memories of prior experience. This study follows up on the Bradley, Gillin, McCraty, and Atkinson study which found what appears to be the first evidence of nonlocal intuition in entrepreneurs (Bradley et al., 2010). We used Radin’s experimental protocol, involving computer administration of a random sequence of calm and emotional pictures as the stimulus, and conducted two experiments on mutually exclusive samples: the first, on a group of single participants (N = 15) to assess the validity of the Bradley et al. study’s findings; and the second, on a group of co-participant pairs (N = 30) to investigate the question of the “amplification” of intuition effects by social fields. Each experiment was conducted over 45 trials while heart rate rhythm activity was recorded continuously. Preliminary results, using Random Permutation Analysis—a statistically conservative procedure, are promising: significant pre-stimulus results—that is, for the period before the computer had randomly selected the picture stimulus—were found for both experiments. Moreover, while significant separation between the emotional and calm HRV curves was observed in the single participant experiment, an even larger separation was apparent for the experiment on co-participant pairs; the difference between the two groups was also significant. Overall, the results of single participant experiment confirm the Bradley et al. study’s finding: that electrophysiological measures can detect intuitive foreknowledge in repeat entrepreneurs. This result is notable because it constitutes cross-cultural corroboration in a non- Western context—namely, Iran. In addition, the results for co-participant pairs offer new evidence on the amplification of the nonlocal intuition signal by social fields.