"What are ESP, PK and psi?"
'Extrasensory perception' (ESP) is a term coined by Dr. J. B. Rhine of Duke
University. It covers any instance of the apparent acquisition of
non-inferential knowledge of matters of fact without the use of the known
sense organs. ESP is usually said to have three varieties: 'telepathy,' in
which the knowledge is of events in another person's mind, 'clairvoyance,'
in which the knowledge is of physical objects or states of affairs; and
'precognition' (telepathic or clairvoyant), where the knowledge relates to
happenings still in the future. The word 'knowledge' is, however, not
entirely appropriate, for there may be telepathic or clairvoyant
'interaction,' in which a person's mental state or actions may be
influenced by an external state of affairs, though he does not 'know' or
'cognize' it.
Another American term is 'psychokinesis' (PK), the direct influence of
mental events on physical events external to the agent's body. 'Psi' (from
the Greek letter) is 'a general term to identify personal factors or
processes in nature which transcend accepted laws' [Gay74]. It is
sometimes used to cover both ESP and PK.
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