What do you think are the basic principles of psychokinesis?

well since it's fiction you can pick and choose whichever "facts" your research has produced. But just thinking about it quickly and having read other bokks with believable powers, I would suggest:

0) beware of contradiction

1) Decide if everyone will have this power or just a few

2) Is it an ability that requires training?

3) Make it fit (as well as possible) into common laws of physics

for example, (A) People can't move objects that are heavier than they are, (B) The strength one has grows less over a distance (inverse square law) . (C)They can move small things quickly but big things start off very slowly etc

4) Will there be a negative effect to using this power? I think things should balance. for a great power there should be some sort of sacrifice, maybe.

5) Describe the source of this power, or tell a brief story that explains it to the reader. If it is going to be a main part of the story.

6) Is it like magic where dishes do themselves or is it more like work without using your hands? What will people do with their hands?

7) If I keep with my previous statement people shouldn't be able to lift themselves, but that sounds like a great benefit of PK: being able to fly. but that might be too much power to give typically struggling characters in a story.

8) If it supposed to be so ordinary, then maybe you shouldn't go in depth in it at all. this will prevent you from being inconsistent. If you don't specify the rules, then you can't break any.

most of these are crap, but I hope you get an idea of what to consider when inventing powers like this.

Well in psychokinesis studies, there are some general mental obstacles that the study overcomes. These include:

1) Belief - They fully believe they have the power and the ability to utilize it.

2) Connection - They establish a connection to the object. This is not a physical connection, but more of a conceptual connection.

3) Right - They have the right to use the ability on the object.

If one of these is not established or faulters, it may simply not be possible. On the flip side of things, outside disbelief in the ability, the connection, or the right to use the ability can decrease the likelihood of it occurring successfully. These are some of the basic principles of m.o.m. (mind over matter).

This can open up a number of conflicts in a fictional setting. A character needing to move an object that he has no right to, would have to find ways to overcome this obstacle. Antagonists disrrupting other's abilities by using these principles to their advantage and so forth.

Make psychokinesis projecting weightless force made extensions of a person's body, perhaps realigning the vibrations present in the air to strike a point at the same time with the mind's influence causing the object to move.

How much it can move depends on the will and the present amount of dispersed movement around it with no clear objective. A breeze can be made stronger with psychokinesis, you can't grab a person and strangle with psychokinesis. lf there is alot of spare vibrations around a person, a kinetic can gather all of it and strike a strong blow to another person.

Psychokinesis is detered by a person's lifeforce, it is less simple to use on a living object than an inanimate trinket. Some people who have control over their skill can lift and hold objects by constantly applying strikes, experts can distribute their psychokinesis in an area that it forms a structure they can use like a solid object.

lt's all a skill of ranged repulsion, from steering random movement into a single direction. A complicated skill, like a school subject and the variations it can perform make it as if witchcraft.

Complex structures made, in air water or which that is present. Like machines built out of air, can even be made to project light or cause illusions. Increase temperature by aligning molecules to crash into each other, circles and alchemical formulas are drawn to show the direction of alignment [like ritual patterns] and guide the kinetic.

Everyone can use it and it's magnitude is governed by conciousness, how aware the people are of their surroundings and the resources they can realign.

60 Minutes on Sunday had a story about a super atom collider that was built partly under Switzerland and partly under France. There are scientists from all over the world working there. They are planning to send atomic particles at high speeds in opposite directions until they collide and watch the results.

One of the questions asked in the 60 minutes interview was whether the this would lead to the teleportation of human beings.

Beam me up Scotty!

If you want to make it sound credible, you are probably better off asking this question in the science section. Those are the people who are hardest to convince, and this may help you to avoid sounding "hokey". True believers rarely sound convincing, let alone logical.