The Global Consciousness Project

Two chairs

Since 1998 a psychologist has run random number generators worldwide, arguing their output shifts during major shared events. One chair trusts the pattern; the other says it depends on which window you pick.

The question

In 1998, psychologist Roger Nelson launched a network of random-number generators worldwide, arguing their combined output drifts from chance during events like the September 11 attacks — as if shared attention leaves a trace. Researchers who reanalyzed that data found the result depended on which time window was chosen. Signal, or pattern found after the fact?

Round 1

The chair that trusts the patternRoger Nelson has run this network since 1998, and across hundreds of events the combined data shows a small but statistically significant shift from chance.

The chair that trusts the windowTwo researchers who reanalyzed the September 11 data found the effect depended entirely on the exact time window chosen — shift it slightly, and it vanishes.

Round 2

The chair that trusts the patternThe September 11 case is the project's own headline result — a real, published deviation in the network's output during and after the attacks.

The chair that trusts the windowWith no fixed rule for which events or windows count, researchers can keep testing until something looks significant. That's not the same as finding one.

Round 3

The chair that trusts the patternSmall and consistent, repeated across hundreds of separate events, is a harder pattern to wave away than a single lucky day.

The chair that trusts the windowHundreds of small, similar tests will produce some 'significant' hits by chance alone. That's not a pattern — that's what chance looks like at scale.

Where are you sitting?

The chair that trusts the pattern The chair that trusts the window Neither — I’m still listening

Held open

Since 1998 the network's output has drifted slightly from chance around big events, including September 11. Whether that drift is a real signal or an artifact of choosing the window after the fact remains unresolved and openly disputed.

The randomness moved. Whether that means anything is still argued.

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