The Telepathy Tapes – S2E11: "Mindsight: Seeing Without Eyes"

Host: Ky Dickens
Date: December 29, 2025

Episode Overview

In this compelling episode, Ky Dickens investigates the phenomenon known as "mindsight"—the purported ability to perceive visual information without the use of physical eyes. During the episode, Ky visits multiple international programs, witnesses demonstrations, explores scientific opinions, and even undergoes mindsight training with both children and adults, including her own children. The episode balances skepticism with direct experiences, personal stories, and emergent scientific inquiry, ultimately asking whether our sensory reality is only a partial view of what consciousness can access.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Mindsight (00:00–04:34)

• Recap: Season One showed non-speaking individuals with autism displaying telepathic abilities.
• Current Episode Premise: This season expands to other extraordinary human experiences. Mindsight is introduced as reading, seeing, or playing games while blindfolded.
• Ky’s own skepticism is addressed: “If I've learned one thing from making the Telepathy Tapes, it's that just because something's been called debunked doesn't necessarily mean that it has been.” (04:12)

2. The ICU Academy (04:34–12:25)

• Expert Guest: Nicola Farmer, founder of ICU Academy in Essex, England, teaches children to see with their "outer consciousness."
• Program Details:
  • 10–12 sessions, each an hour, focusing on ego reprogramming and positive reinforcement, bypassing the logical left brain.
  • Children as young as 6 perform feats such as reading books, identifying objects, and playing sports while blindfolded.
• In-Person Demonstrations:
  • Ky and a “skeptical” crew, including her father, witness children identifying colors, reading, playing tag, and matching cards while blindfolded.
  • Blindfolds are independently validated as legitimate by crew and Ky’s father: “You can't get light through it…this is a remarkably effective blindfold” (08:41).

Notable Quotes:

• “They see actually sometimes better than they can with their eyes. If they have to wear glasses, they don't need them with a blindfold.”
  —Nicola Farmer (07:44)
• “For most of my life, I've been skeptical of things like seeing with a blindfold on. What I saw today…it's just an amazing thing…it's real.”
  —Ky’s Father (12:25)

3. Training Methods & Skepticism (13:29–17:41)

• The teaching avoids questions that activate the left brain; instead, children are encouraged to "show," "tell," or "point."
• Skepticism is discussed: According to Nicola, skeptical energy can disrupt performance, with anecdotes of children's vision disappearing in the presence of a skeptical parent (15:28).
  • “The energy is so fine and in such a high frequency that they're working in. Anybody who comes close, who brings that energy down, the children can lose their vision.”
    —Nicola Farmer (16:16)
• Teachers describe “conscious seeing” as accessing vision through different areas around the body, sometimes resulting in 360-degree perception.

4. Mindsight Around the World: India & Advanced Abilities (19:03–21:12, 25:59–34:05)

India’s Intuition Process:

• Guest: Mala Sundaresan from the Art of Living Foundation in Bangalore.
• Intuition Process uses meditation and breathing exercises to activate mindsight. Children as old as 18 are trained.
• Demonstrations include:
  • Blindfolded children reading, identifying cards, copying drawings, and even discerning which person drew a specific picture.
  • When asked how it feels, participant Nysa says: “The image pops up into my brain.” (29:06)
  • Nysa is unaffected by skepticism but finds abilities diminish with age as logical thinking takes over.
    • “As age went on, it got harder…school system kind of made me trust my logic more than my senses.” (30:16)

Advanced Abilities:

• Devani and Nidhi, two sisters, report developing clairvoyance (e.g., remote viewing, finding missing people, “seeing” events).
  • “We can kind of see like a video of them walking out of their house…” —Nidhi (33:20)
• Their family friend Ashutosh credits their intuition with saving his life during a heart attack.
  • “It was a really, really clear knowing. It's just I knew from the inside, like he said…you should be at the hospital right now.” —Devani (35:56)

5. Mindsight and Blindness: John’s Journey (36:13–42:35)

• Guest: John Herzog, legally blind since birth, acquires “vision” through mindsight training.
• Reports perceiving light, objects, and even colors as physical sensations (e.g., red “tingles” his palms).
  • “To experience the higher part of myself translating this...into a method that I could perceive...I was just so emotional about it.” —John Herzog (41:02)
• Challenges prior scientific assumptions that vision cannot be learned after a certain age.

6. Scientific Inquiry and Testing (44:02–53:11)

Dr. Anne Deselaer, Neuropsychologist (44:16–46:13)

• Initially tried to debunk mindsight as “just cheating” but was unable to.
• Rigorous controls: Using eye patches, hoods, and even working with blind subjects who cannot “peek.”

Dr. Jeff Tarrant, Neuroscientist (47:42–51:31)

• Ran quantitative EEG brain scans on mindsight practitioners.
  • “The biggest changes were really in the theta and alpha frequencies, especially in the occipital lobe, responsible for vision.” (49:42)
  • Suggests visual information may be entering the brain through unknown pathways.

Possible Explanations Discussed:

• Skin may contain light-sensitive molecules.
• “When the stimulus [vision] is taken away, the brain may search to fill that input through other senses.”
  —Referencing Dr. Ben Kilmendy, Yale (52:25)

7. Mindsight in China and Global Scale (53:57–60:11)

Guest: Dr. Simon Duan, Cambridge-trained material scientist

• “Tens of thousands of schools” in China teach extraocular vision; it began with reports of “ear sight” in 1979.
• Methods evolve: From color card identification (by touch, smell, or sound) to perceiving full text and even “scanning” entire books mentally.
• U.S. intelligence was interested enough to collect and analyze reports; some Chinese methods avoid blindfolds, using hidden cards for stricter control.

Guest: Teacher Dani Li

• Details on rigorous anti-cheating protocols.
• Suggests that training ESP is foundational to many other abilities.

8. Mindsight Training at Home: Ky’s Own Children (60:11–69:54)

• Dr. Anne Deselaer conducts a session with Ky’s 6- and 11-year-old children.
  • Meditative and playful approach; both quickly identify colored papers, then progress to reading UNО cards, numbers, and words through blindfolds.
  • Experience of “windows” of perception opening gradually, sometimes off to the side or at the back of the head.

Notable Quotes:

• “The most important thing is to remember that you can do this. And if you can do something that you thought was impossible, what else can you do?”
  —Anne Deselaer (64:51)
• “Look at this girl...So the important part now is to feel in your body when you're in flow like that.” (67:22)

9. Adult Learners & The Power of Play (70:44–74:09)

• Case Study: John May, age 85, tries mindsight and correctly distinguishes teabag colors (yellow, blue) under blindfold with odds against chance of 32,768:1.
  • “It was absolutely amazing…if people can wrap their head around that…there's almost no training to do this…it's just put yourself in the play state, be open minded, lose your ego, and sense what you can't see.” —John & Stephen May (73:35)
• Suggests this is accessible at any age given an open mind and a playful attitude.

10. Emerging Theories and Implications (74:36–78:07)

• Many subjects report secondary effects: Sharpened intuition, ESP, telepathy, effortless memory, improved emotional and social skills.
  • "If neurotypicals like ourselves, just average people, can experience firsthand that there's more than meets the eye…it just may create an awareness that there's more than the individual. We are all connected." —Anne Deselaer (77:15)
• Global contrasts: While China invests heavily in these capacities, the West risks falling behind by dismissing them outright.
• The episode asks whether mindsight is a rare “superpower” or a latent human capacity awaiting discovery and development.

Unforgettable Moments & Memorable Quotes with Timestamps

• “You can't get light through it…and I've tried it. I can't see up or down or sideways.” —Ky’s Dad, blindfold validation (08:41)
• “They see sometimes better than they can with their eyes. …They have 20/20 vision [with blindfolds].” —Nicola Farmer (07:44)
• “It's just an amazing thing. I tried various tests myself…they do it. …It's amazing and it's real.” —Ky’s Father (12:25)
• Nysa (India): “As age went on, it got harder. The school system kind of made me trust my logic more than my senses.” (30:16)
• John Herzog (Blind participant): “When new colors were introduced, like green, blue, red, each one of those had a persistent feeling about it...” (40:20)
• Dr. Anne Deselaer: “I've really been trying to prove that they are cheating, and I can't yet.” (44:48)
• Dr. Jeff Tarrant: “The biggest changes were…in the theta and alpha frequencies…the occipital lobe lit up…the part of the brain responsible for sight.” (49:42–50:05)
• Ky (on observing her own children): “Watching my kids do this made me really excited about the possibilities for all of us.” (69:10)
• John May, age 85: “I saw them somehow in my brain.” (73:29)

Notable Timestamps for Key Segments

• ICU Academy and demonstration: 04:34–12:25
• Scientific explanations & skepticism: 44:02–53:11
• China’s “mind vision” training: 53:57–60:11
• Ky’s own family’s mindsight training: 60:11–69:54
• Elderly adult learning mindsight: 70:44–74:09

Tone

The tone is inquisitive, open, and playful but rooted in a respectful skepticism. Ky continually checks her own biases and invites expert opinions, first-hand observations, and participant voices, emphasizing lived experiences without dismissing alternative explanations or unresolved scientific questions.

Conclusion

“Mindsight: Seeing Without Eyes” presents a wide-ranging investigation into the possibility that human perception—and consciousness—may extend beyond conventional senses. Through international case studies, robust skepticism, personal trial, and neuroscience, the episode contends that this capacity may not be fringe or supernatural, but an innate, trainable human skill available to young and old alike. The implications for personal growth, intuition, education, and scientific understanding are profound, sparking a call for open-minded exploration of the full spectrum of consciousness.