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Human brains works by conducting electrical signals and since the brain and the reality to be affected lie in the same electromagnetic field, can a sufficiently amplified brain signal affect the reality?

Edit : 'The affected reality' may include the following basic scenarios whose combination could lead to complex scenarios -

  • moving an inanimate ferrous objects
  • manipulating electrical devices
  • controlling someone's body by manipulating their brain signals
  • controlling weather by tweaking the ionic discharge
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    $\begingroup$ Human brains work by conducting chemical signals. The feeble EM radiation they produce is a side effect. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Nov 21, 2017 at 7:57
  • $\begingroup$ Sufficiently amplified signal = sufficient to do stuff, so the answer is obviously yes. But that would be a horribly complicated way to do something (what exactly? One can only affect reality, that's the broadest thing I've ever read.) Please rework your question. $\endgroup$
    – Raditz_35
    Nov 21, 2017 at 7:59
  • $\begingroup$ sufficiently amplified brain signal If you apply sufficient amplification even the most minute signal it is limited only by how much energy you want to use amplifying it. $\endgroup$ Nov 21, 2017 at 10:18
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    $\begingroup$ controlling someone's body by manipulating their brain signals using your own brain signals.**Of course**. It is called speaking with them and convincing them to do something. $\endgroup$ Nov 21, 2017 at 12:10
  • $\begingroup$ Some precision to your question might be nice: Is this a reality check ? Is this in a world where magic exists ? Can humans be altered to do such a thing ? I don't realy get what kind of answer you're expecting. $\endgroup$
    – everyone
    Nov 21, 2017 at 15:28

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You have little chance to do what you ask:

  • moving an inanimate ferrous objects: no way direct interaction with field is many orders of magnitude too weak for that; You can, of course, use the tiny currents to order your hands to manipulate the objects (ferrous or not).
  • manipulating electrical devices: this can be done (and has been done) using specific sensors, mostly connected to peripheral nerves, but studies about direct connections to motion cortex have been done; note in this way you bypass cerebellum "refinement" of motion.
  • controlling someone's body by manipulating their brain signals: NO WAY; on top of other problems you have:
    • No way to transmit "control signals" from your brain.
    • No "receiver" in victims brain.
    • Even if you could implant in both transmitter and receiver some set of sensing/stimulating needless and associated communication equipment you still would have problem motion cortex mapping is roughly the same across individuals, so fine control would be problematic.
    • Even if you manage to fine tune your control equipment you would still have the problem of feedback; a simple task as walking requires a very tight control loop involving not only the brain but also spinal chord reflexes and cerebellum "refinement"; remote all those would be a daunting task and would probably impair ability to control your own body.
  • controlling weather by tweaking the ionic discharge: We cannot do this with any (foreseeable) equipment, however large and powerful, what makes you think you can miniaturize such a beast (given someone can devise one) to fit into a skull?
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  • $\begingroup$ Though the science is not undisputed, there is some evidence against your last point, and there is some serious interest in progress. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_modification still not in a few orders of magnitude of a skull, and way more energy than a living creature can spare. $\endgroup$
    – user25818
    Nov 21, 2017 at 16:57
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The subconscious mind already influences reality because your body (which is real) "obeys" to your mind.

We can also use the mind to control parts that do not belong naturally to your body, like prosthetic limbs using electrodes: Mind-controlled prosthetic allows movement of individual fingers

or using a brain-spine wireless connection.

Theoretically you could use these technologies to use any electronic device.

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The short, obvious answer is of course not! The world is constantly awash in EM radiation (don't stand in front of a satellite antenna, yo) and it doesn't warp reality. Zaps the occasional bird, sure, but that's about it.

Why? Because there's nothing ... listening to the EM.

Therefore, in order to have something cool happen based on amplified head EM, there needs to be a good reason for it to happen. F'rinstance...

Imagine a planetary organism a la Solaris. It's like one giant cell. So imagine that the planet-cell uses EM to control its organelles. Over time, some organelles may evolve into separate organisms (parasites, really) which can ignore the "incoming" messages, but still can send outgoing messages to manipulate the environment of "loyal" organelles. This probably isn't as metaphysical and psy-punk as you were thinking, but work with me here. ;D

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  • $\begingroup$ Of course the EM radiation changes reality quite a bit. For example the high-frequency EM radiation reaching us from the Sun is to a big part responsible for the fact that there is life on our planet. In case you wondered, that EM radiation I speak of is commonly referred to as "light". $\endgroup$
    – celtschk
    Nov 22, 2017 at 21:27
  • $\begingroup$ Well true, though of OP's criteria, visible-wavelength light only matches the "change the weather" one. ;D For what OP wants to do (move objects, control someone's body) you need some kind of receiver, just like choloroplasts are a receiver for visible light. $\endgroup$
    – akaioi
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:06
  • $\begingroup$ It can also move objects such as electrons (see: photoelectric effect). Oh, and it can affect someone's brain signals (not only by stimulating eye and warmth receptors, but also by sunstroke). And also affect electronics: cnet.com/news/… $\endgroup$
    – celtschk
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:10
  • $\begingroup$ @celtschk note eye and warmth receptors are receivers, evolved to respond to such. As I understand it OP wants to effect ferrous metals on the macro scale and control people's bodies. I'm claiming you can't do that in a practical sense just by amplifying EM radiation coming out of someone's head... $\endgroup$
    – akaioi
    Nov 23, 2017 at 0:10
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moving an inanimate ferrous objects

Sure, if the object was small enough and in the right position. I don't see why you can't move a superconducting coil the size of a bacteria with the extremely weak EM waves you can generate from your brain.

manipulating electrical devices

Sure, if the device was designed to be controlled by electrical signals of the mind.

controlling someone's body by manipulating their brain signals

Sure, if the body happens to be your own.

controlling weather by tweaking the ionic discharge

This one is tricky and probably not doable but if you were at the exact right place at the right time, your brain might be able to conduct lightning and kill you in the process.

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A sufficiently amplified EM wave would just warm up the material where it is directed.

If the scope of your amplified brain signal is to boil some water to brew some tea (or plasmify something if you really amplify a lot) you might achieve something, else I see no way of affecting the reality.

Or, wait, our brain signals already affect the reality when they are translated into actions by our muscles.

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  • $\begingroup$ If two computers which could interface can change each other's state because they know exactly what bits to change to to cause the desired effect, a brain could train itself to modify the electromagnetic field around the objects to cause desired changes like it trains itself to move the body parts precisely. or can't it? $\endgroup$
    – Shashank
    Nov 21, 2017 at 6:41
  • $\begingroup$ Movement doesn't involve any EM wave $\endgroup$
    – L.Dutch
    Nov 21, 2017 at 6:49
  • $\begingroup$ Can't one move or change shape of a ferrous object with EM waves? $\endgroup$
    – Shashank
    Nov 21, 2017 at 6:51
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According to (at least) one version of superstring theory, everything is energy and matter is just wrinkles in that energy which make it seem to be matter.

Everything from plants, light, metals, gasses, electricity, stars, human thought and perception, and literally everything is made of these energy wrinkles. If this were true and could be harnessed, the human mind could change whatever it wanted into whatever else it wanted.

Need food? Turn dirt directly into a steak. Need water? Pull water molecules directly from the air and into your mouth. Need money? Turn your #2 pencil into a diamond or gold to sell. Or just wrinkle the superstring theory energy into those items directly. Maybe you just want to be Neo and fly while stopping bullets, sure why not? At this point, there's literally nothing you couldn't do.

I don't have the resources ATM to find the video I watched about this (probably on YouTube, might have been a TED Talk), but I'll try to find it later tonight.

As impossible as the OP's question sounds, it has a basis in real science. Given enough technology, we could do this. This even gives credibility to the idea of humans evolving into pure energy beings, which is the basis of a wide range of existing science fiction books.

This even has a basis in ancient religion. Buddhism (alive and practiced today) believes that everything is connected through energy, and that given enough meditation, concentration, and training, we can harness this energy to do whatever we want. Sound familiar?

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You might be interested in Is the Universe Conscious? and “panpsychism” .

Some very prominent physicists are proposing a 'consciousness' field (think Higgs field) that pervades the universe, and can influence physical events. Our conscious mind is just an extension of this field, and connected with it somehow. If it is a 'property' of all matter and energy, then theoretically your answer is 'yes'. No need for your edit clarification.

It is unrelated to any existing fields or forces. Nothing to do with electrical impulses. No need for amplification. It is completely unrelated to String Theory-ish ideas. It is based in quantum ideas. An undiscovered universal quantum field, if you will. Think entanglement between everything. Think Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle wherein consciousness brings definition to reality, therefore universal consciousness brings definition to everything.

The physics textbook just keeps getting thicker.

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