THE PENNY PROJECT

This experiment is designed to 'prove' (ha ha) the idea that what you believe shapes your reality. We might label the finding of a penny as an objective result since we make the assumption that one pence coins do have an existence independent of the human mind - i.e, that there is something 'out there' in the world which consists of copper and tin atoms mixed together (bronze) and molded into a coin shape with a design on each side. There is much to suggest that this assumption needn't be absolutely true, but for this experiment, it is taken as such.

However, it is the frequency of the finding of the pennies which is being tested here, by posing the question: can an 'objective result' be affected by the belief systems and hypotheses that one brings into the testing arena? Does one's 'set' (the sum of one's beliefs and experience) affect the outcome of an experiment, and thus, if one consciously changes the 'set', is the outcome affected?

I am being very careful throughout this experiment not to make any final decision on the answer to this question, in case this becomes a belief and thus affects the outcome of the whole experiment. If I believe that changing my mindset can affect 'objective' outcomes, then my experiment will almost certainly prove this to be so. If on the other hand I am sceptical, I can reasonably expect to find a penny on a regular basis regardless of what particular hypothesis I am holding in my mind at the time. Thus, while the experiment is still ongoing, the only definitive answer that does not affect the total outcome of the whole experiment is: "I do not know".

By the way, a one pence coin was chosen so as not to excite any particularly strong bio-survival or territorial desire for large amounts of money. In britain, one can do almost nothing with a single one pence coin except perform unusual psychological experiments such as this one. Certainly they do not have a striking monetary value and thus can't really be exchanged for anything valuable, such as a cup of tea, an antique chair, or the deeds to a small nation.

Here, then, are some of the hypotheses I have been using in each attempt to look for pennies:

The Selective Attention Hypothesis (1) which basically states that there are a large number of one pence coins which cover the streets of any given city, and since I am looking for these exact objects, I am bound by the laws of probability to run into at least one every now and then. Due to the very fact that I am focussed on finding pennies, every time I do happen by chance to run into one, it will be extremely noticeable to me, and I will be drawn to it. The seemingly extraordinary luck I had in finding a penny on the first day of experimentation can be put down to a statistical clumping in the results.

The Coincidence Hypothesis (2) is similar to the Selective Attention Hypothesis. Every time I find a penny it can be put down to mere coincidence. There are an almost infinite number of ways that a penny can be transported to the streets along which I walk, and as the street is fairly well populated, one can reasonably expect pennies to be dropped. No particularly extraordinary explanation is required when finding a penny, except that I happened to be walking along the street where a relatively freshly-dropped penny was visible. If I hadn't picked it up, someone else would have and may well have thanked their luck. Which brings me to...

The Luck Hypothesis (3) in which an unknown agent which is not myself - and numerous theories could abound as to what this agent might be - is looking down on me and deliberately providing me with positive results for my experiment. This may be due to several reasons: that I might collect enough pennies to be able to buy something that I want, and thus thank my lucky stars or be grateful; to reveal the nature of itself to me so that I may feel its guiding hand in my life; or perhaps even to misdirect me by producing large numbers of positive results so that I might be thrown off the 'true' scent of what is really going on (this might be termed The Misdirection Hypothesis (4)). These external agents may include: God, the angels, Lady Luck, a certain unknown psychic who lives nearby and who knows at a distance of my experiment, or the pennies themselves, who arrange to be there for me to find.

The Mind Over Matter Hypothesis (5)expresses the idea that every time I perform the experiment, or visualize performing the experiment, I am calling into creation by spontaneous generation or other less absolute means a penny into the field of the search (i.e. on the street where I look). The penny arrives on the street due to the very fact that I have chosen to look for it on that day. rather than an external agent placing the pennies there in the name of luck or misdirection, I myself am, by the strength of my own thoughts, placing them there to be found. My mind is thus playing the great interactive Game of the Universe.

The Psychic Hypothesis (6) in which I am psychic and unconsciously know when a penny will exist on the street in question. This leads me to select a hypothesis each day which I unconsciously realise will lead me to fit the results towards a certain direction. When there are no pennies on the street, I choose either a sceptical or unlikely theory, and when there are pennies to be found, the reverse is true. This theopry might be termed the inverse of The Mind Over Matter Hypothesis.

The Pennies Hot Spot Hypothesis (7) states that the street I have chosen to be the field of play ('by coincidence!') happens to experience an average number of dropped pennies which is far greater that normal. Therefore, regardless of which theory I adopt, I am bound to find lots of pennies because there are so many to find. Tha explains my extraordinary find on day one of the experiment. I can reasonably expect this to happen a lot.

The Pennies Desert Hypothesis (8) or the Inverse Pennies Hot Spot Hypothesis. My penny finding results will be abnormally low compared witht he average street because this street happens ('by coincidence!') to be a veritable desert for dropped pennies.

I will be trying out each hypothesis in turn, as well as numerous subsets of these. The experiement will continue working with a given individual hypothesis (as well as numeroues tries with no particular theory in mind) until either I find a penny or such a long time passes that I begin to suspect that the hypothesis is either 'incorrect' or leads to a lack of pennies.

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Additional Hypotheses I have found while doing this project so far have been:

The 'I Will definitely Find A Penny Today' Hypothesis (9) in which nothing is permitted to divert my attention and belief away from an overwhelming positivity towards finding a penny on the day in question. This might equally be termed intuition of the future (see Hypothesis 6).

The Penny Magnet Hypothesis (10) which puts forward the idea that, due to a process whose mechanism unknown to me, I am attractive to penny coins in the same way that for example, a magnet attracts iron, or the sun attracts planets, asteroids etc using gravity. In effect, I am a Penny Magnet.