What's Up With All the Reality Benders? — A Demographic Overview of Global Ontokinetic Prevalence

Link to article: What's Up With All the Reality Benders? — A Demographic Overview of Global Ontokinetic Prevalence.

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[[[canon-hub|Canon Hub]]] >> [[[From 120's Archives Hub]]] / [[[No Return Hub]]] >> What's Up With All the Reality Benders? -- A Demographic Overview of Global Ontokinetic Prevalence
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[[size 0.85em]]Science » [# Ontokinetics][[/size]]

[[size 1.4em]]**What's Up With All the Reality Benders? -- A Demographic Overview of Global Ontokinetic Prevalence**[[/size]]

[[size 0.8em]]by John Foren, 2032
Published by the unVeiled magazine on behalf of Micheals-Reynders University[[/size]]

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[[image graph.png width="100%"]]

= [[size 0.8em]]//A visual representation of the approximate percentage of ontokinetically gifted individuals in the global population by decade. Note that the visible downdrop that occurred during the 1970-1980s was a result of the Global Occult Coalition's Ichabod Campaign genocide^^[((bibcite rivera))]^^ and is contextually irrelevant to the needs of this study.//[[/size]]

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[[size 1.4em]]**Background Context**[[/size]]

It is no secret -- even among the scientifically uninitiated -- that following the [[[hour-zero|2021 collapse of the Veil]]], the world hasn't been kind to demographic studies related to previously-paranormal fields.^^[((bibcite majer))]^^ From having to reinvent half of the classifications that defined its science to suddenly gaining a monumental number of new categories to look out for, we had seemed to collectively accept that data regarding the general population was a mess.

Even with the help of data shared by Vanguard, it has taken almost 11 years of constant work for demographic studies to truly make a comeback into scientific communities. It is for that reason that among all of that mess, academic circles and governments worldwide have seemed to miss a very important and recent trend among today's youth: the rapid spread of reality-bending abilities.

Whilst ontokinesis and its many derivatives have never been anything particularly unheard of -- with the art of manipulating the fabric of reality being a noted pillar of many ancient cultures worldwide^^[((bibcite low))]^^ -- they have always been a rarity, even among paranormal communities. Data obtained from the former SCP Foundation's Recordkeeping and Information Security Administration, as well as the Global Occult Coalition's High Command, suggests that during more than 150 years of their shared existence, the art of reality bending has been a trait exhibited by less than 0.003% of the global population.^^[((bibcite jones))]^^

With all of that in mind, as well as new data obtained by the United Nations's finally-reconstructed Population Division, a question must therefore be asked: why has the reality-bending population so suddenly increased following the collapse of the Veil? 

[[size 1.4em]]**Theory Wars**[[/size]]

When the Population Division first presented its report to the scientific community in 2031, the general consensus had been that of disbelief. Changes in the occurrence of reality bending have obviously never been something truly impossible, but global shifts to such an extent seemed borderline unbelievable. Even with the context of post-[[[scp-6500|Impasse]]] world changes in mind,^^[((bibcite sharp))]^^ seldom anyone wished to actually approach the aforementioned data with serious analysis, let alone priority research.

However, when a second report in 2032, as well as several independent sources -- including Silicon Nornir seances, [[[nobody-s-home|Angevinian]]] visions, and Vanguard censuses -- doubled down on those results, everyone realized this was no laughing matter. Within just a month, the most brilliant of ontokinetic minds from all around the world came together in an attempt to crack this mystery open.

It was from under the pens of those geniuses that the three leading theories that hoped to explain this trend emerged.

The first -- and by far most popular -- theory was proposed by Prof. Mark Kaufmann of the Vanguard Scientific Consortium. Analyzing data from several papers regarding post-Impasse anomalous activities, he proposed that the trend can be explained by a "spiritual reawakening" he believes the world is currently undergoing.^^[((bibcite kaufmann))]^^ In his own words, "nothing is lost in a closed system, therefore -- just like thaumaturgy -- reality bending seems to finally enter its renaissance on a global scale. It is simply the way of nature."

[[include component:image-block name=eyes.jpg|align=right|caption=Purple eyes, a symptom of a fully-realized Class III or above reality bender.|width=250px]]

While the theory does sound like the best answer on paper, as many have already pointed out, in reality it holds little merit. Kaufmann seems to ignore that the thaumaturgy renaissance he mentions did not simply come out of nowhere. Instead, it was the result of global leylines and EVE patterns re-awakening in activity after several decades' worth of suppression by the Veil of Normalcy.^^[((bibcite dufort))]^^ Meanwhile, no such phenomenon could ever occur with reality-bending. While thaumaturgy operates by manipulating its energies, ontokinesis is direct, and has no such power to manipulate, therefore none to re-awaken.

Dr. Xinyi Du, an independent scientist formerly associated with the SCP Foundation's [[[secure-facility-dossier-site-43|Site-43]]], believes something different. Building off of Kaufmann's theories, he proposed that the trend was the result of a shift in the general conception of what constitutes a "paranormal" trait.^^[((bibcite du))]^^ "It is not uncommon for global human belief and perception to directly affect reality," he says. "With such massive changes to the Earth's consciousness following the collapse of the Veil, many have accepted thaumaturgy, ontokinesis, and other formerly-paranormal traits as nothing but baseline characteristics. It is therefore not a far reach to say that with the change in the intellectual zeitgeist, the world has simply reacted to the new beliefs of its citizens."
 
While that theory has scientifically received a far warmer response than that of Kaufmann, even Du points out a potentially fatal flaw in its reasoning: the science of the noosphere and human belief is far too underdeveloped to confirm or deny his hypothesis. "As much as it pains me to say it, there simply exists no way to scientifically approach my theory," he concludes. "Not until we can say for certain how exactly the global consciousness affects what we perceive as normal, that is. And I'm afraid that won't happen for some time."

The final -- and, in the opinion of this researcher, most interesting -- theory regarding this topic came from the minds of Dr. Micheals and [[[scp-5616|Dr. Reynders]]], PhD^^16^^ from the Micheals-Reynders University itself. In the eyes of both of the Directors, the trend was the result of subtle, unconscious fetal modifications by the bodies of reality-bending parents.^^[((bibcite micheals))]^^

While a connection between ontokinesis and traits that are passed on genetically is yet to be proved, Micheals and Reynders say it is not unlikely. They believe that, through subconscious maternal instincts, the reality-bending mother is capable of affecting her baby by passing parts of her own abilities onto her offspring. The two scientists say that they have long believed that, from an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense that ontokinetic parents would wish their kids to possess the same abilities as them, in order to ensure their survival. And, as they say, with the skills they indeed possessed, the actual subconscious execution of those changes was nothing but banal.

[[size 1.4em]]**What Does Any of It Actually Mean?**[[/size]]

Despite more than half a year of careful research, all of the proposed theories remain just that -- theories. Due to the uncertain nature of most of the data used to compile them, as well as the lack of scientific studies conducted in several key fields of interest, it is impossible to approach any of these theories definitively. Despite that, it doesn't take a Professor of Ontokinetics to see that in reality, all of them are barely anything more than speculation.

It is undeniable that the minds behind those theories are nothing if not brilliant, but even they themselves admit their proposed solutions aren't anything more than guessing. A lot of them treat reality benders like stagnant points of data, instead of the living and breathing human beings that they are. The hypothesis also seem to ignore the fact that their subjects are capable of change, and actually have emotions and empathy that affect their human behavior.

Still, the collective knowledge accumulated as a result of this global scientific exercise cannot be ignored -- with such great yields of analysis and data, the answer simply must lay somewhere between them. It is therefore exactly for this reason that I shall conclude this briefing with a theory of my own.

While Kaufmann's renaissance might be a barely-functioning theory, I do believe part of it is true: the world is reawakening. With more changes done to the global consciousness and the current zeitgeist than ever before in the history of the world,^^[((bibcite kaehl))]^^ something is eventually bound to stick. Especially to living beings. It doesn't necessarily need to be anything physical, anything tangible -- after all, there are no miracle reality-bending particles we could simply measure.

Perhaps, then, the change was something much different, something much more subtle. We like to talk about the direct ontokinetic influence of human belief on the world, but what if the change was much less complicated? What if, through our shared belief, we haven't directly resulted in the literal creation of reality-bending skills in people? What if, through our advances in tolerance, views on the "paranormal," and finally seeing reality-benders as humans instead of monsters, we have merely allowed those that have always been this way to truly see, for the first time in their lives?

What if, after all these years without a Veil, we've finally just let ourselves find our inner wonder?

[[bibliography title="Sources"]]
: rivera : Rivera, J., Gwyneth, O. (2025). The Horrors of Ichabod. //Internal Vanguard Publishing//, 18-43.
: majer : Majer, J. (2030). A Whole Mess of Data. //The Parascience Journal//, 72-109.
: low : Low, J. (2012). The Cultural Practices of the Ancient Nälkä. //Internal SCP Foundation Publishing//, 45-48.
: jones : Jones, M. (2020). Report on Global Ontokinetic Activity. //Internal SCP Foundation Publishing//, 2-7.
: sharp : Sharp, A. (2025). A Look Back On What We've Accomplished. //unVeiled//, 5-8.
: kaufmann : Kaufmann, M. (2031). An Ontokinetic Reinnessance. //Internal Vanguard Publishing//, 12-18.
: dufort : Dufort, X. (2023). Magic in the 21st Century. //Journal of Unified Thaumatology//, 27-34.
: du : Du, X. (2031). The Ontokinetic Zeitgeist. //The Parascience Journal//, 10-15.
: micheals : Micheals, J., Reynders, I. (2031). An Evolutionary Approach to Ontokinetics. //Internal Micheals-Reynders University Publishing//, 10-15.
: kaehl : Kaehl, M. (2031). (Not) Breaking Your Stride. //The Wandsmen Gazette//, 17-19.
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