“I have been a computer technician since around the mid 1980’s, primarily specializing in Apple tech. As you can surmise, I am now getting on in years, however, I still help people when the opportunity arises. Over the years I noticed that I had a preternatural sense of how to solve user-level and sometimes system-level problems. Often, my first guess after receiving modest or no information was accurate, and I nearly never encounter a problem I cannot solve.

We have all heard the stories of those who bring their malfunctioning cars to mechanics only to discover that »while at the mechanic’s shop the problem cannot be reproduced. There are a complex array of reasons for this phenomena, but some of them are almost certainly nonordinary: i.e. the proximity of a mechanic causes the equipment to function differently.

No rational person believes this. But they should…

Today, I got a call from a scientist I work with who has a great deal of trouble using computers. He can do QM math in his head, but cannot navigate a user interface. He called to assert that, after trying for a long time, he could not attach a document to an email. He knew I would help him as I often do. Strangely, once I was on the phone with him, the process went perfectly and he had no trouble. I found this fact interesting. My mere presence on the phone with him appeared to resolve a problem that he could not navigate.

Is this nonordinary? In this case, it certainly could be accidental, but I’ve had many similar situations where merely showing up … changed the equation, and the machine began to function as expected again.”

— an anonymous informant