Telepathy half the world away

[zenmaster]

No one has been able to consistently demonstrate a significant ESP effect when asked to do so under controlled conditions. This is out of billions of people.

This is what I don't understand. Considering how many people there are in the world and how frequently these phenomena occur, why have they failed time and time again under controlled conditions?

Because they lack an understanding of it which allows intentional control. Simple.

Is it because they are very difficult to reliably measure with the equipment we have now?

Has nothing to do with equipment?

Do these things simply occur to erratically to be proven?

Yes. If you can't reliably demonstrate a particular effect, then how do you explain it let alone prove it. Explanation of mechanism is lacking. So most tests focus on providing some compelling statistical evidence above a chance occurrence. However, the tests are usually constructed in a manner which does not rule out selection bias and therefore carry little to no weight in science. So you either need a reliable, repeatable test under controlled conditions or some kind of theoretical understanding supporting some hypothesis which can be tested. Does not exist and it's not a failure of the scientific method, or close-mindedness, or some other bullshit that new-agers tend to come up with, it's a failure of the experimenter's ability to show compelling evidence for the phenomena. It's difficult to adequately demonstrate something of which understanding is severely lacking in a manner which sheds any light on it.