Zener Card Diary March 17, 2020
This is the first entry in this diary/journal that documents my experience with Zener cards, and testing extrasensory perception (ESP) on myself. I have never done any sort testing like this ever. Come to think of it, I have never done any sort of scientific testing at all. The last time I did a scientific test was in high school chemistry. In university, all my studies were in the arts and humanities. So, this is new to me.
This diary will document my experience with the cards and what I learned having done this type of experimentation. There is a lot to read about, so this will act as a makeshift book report.
Yesterday on March 16, 2020 I decided to bootstrap together a Zener card deck. By doing so I guess you can’t call them Zener cards anymore. What I did was take my French Tarot deck and take the first five cards of the trumps and each suit to give me five cards of each.
The Zener Card
First you may want to know what Zener cards are. Zener cards would imply that the symbols are that of the square, circle, cross, star, and three wavy lines. The bootstrapped deck is using the playing card suits and trump cards instead of these symbols.
In the end aren’t we just guessing one out of five possible symbols? So what do I call the deck now? I don’t know. I’ll stick with the bootstrap Zener deck for now. At least “Zener” implies the function of the deck.
Challenges
Yes, much research needs to be done. I still don’t understand the challenges the come along with these tests. I know from reading the Zener Cards Wikipedia article that there are sensory leaks. This is when the person being tested can infer the content of the card through other means. The other means can include using the tester’s facial reactions, and scuffs and nicks on the card that may reveal its identity. These leaks can screw the results.
Once I started testing myself I realized the possibility of testing in different ways. Do I reveal if my answer is correct during the test? Should I wait until after? What are the effects of testing myself? Can I even test myself reliably?
The problem I saw immediately is that when I write down my answer I can see what I have answered. Therefore, I can infer my next answer. I can also choose to ignore my pasts answers and go with my gut. In some of the tests I did that, and I got the correct answer.
The test can also be performed where I draw a card, make my guess, reveal the answer, and then reshuffle the cards back into the deck. Which is the best way to do this? I am not sure yet.
What I know so far is that if I reveal the answer during the test I get more correct answers (hits) during the test. If I reveal the answers after, I get lower hits.
Tests
I did 7 tests in total on March 16, 2020. I did two types one where I wrote down my guesses and checked the answers afterward. The other test I wrote down my answer and checked the result on each guess.
In the 3 tests where I was checking my answers mid-test, I scored higher hits. Of the 3 tests I scored 6, 8, and then 6 hits.
In the 4 tests where I checked my answers afterward, I scored 2, 3, 3, and then 6 hits. The 6 score was after I had been performing the test for a little while.
I would consider this preliminary testing, and more thorough testing is required to know more. Having 7 tests is nowhere near enough data to conclude anything.
More Questions
Now I have to ask more questions. Is 25 cards satisfactory? What about 50, 75, or 100? Yes, this is very complex indeed.
Another thing to consider is that I started doing these tests on a live stream. I have not yet done these tests outside of streaming it live through Instagram and Youtube. Would that affect the results? Knowing you are being watched? Would having people watch change the results? I never thought to consider this.
I also need to consider a better method for collecting data so I can transfer it easily into text for this diary. Yes, much more work. I look forward to learning more about this soon.
Read the next entry here:
Zener Card Diary Entry 2
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