The phenomenon when people read other people's thoughts or see, for example, the future and distant events, is usually explained by the presence of a "sixth sense" - a kind of supernatural gift that is usually endowed only with a select few. Recently, Pierce Howe and his colleagues at the University of Melbourne proved that this ability is associated with the peculiarities of our brain.
Find differences
It all began when one of Pierce Howe's students began to claim that she had the notorious "sixth sense". “She told me that she knew what she had never seen,” recalls Pierce Howe. "For example, she guessed that her friend was injured in an accident, although he did not tell her about it."
However, the professor was rather skeptical about the statements of his student. However, this incident sparked his interest in the problem, and in tandem with graduate student Margaret Webb, he decided to figure out why some people tend to ascribe to themselves "paranormal" abilities.
As an experiment, Margaret Webb took pictures of her friends. Two photographs were taken, between which there were slight differences associated with changes in appearance. Let's say in one of the pictures a person was wearing glasses, and in the other - without glasses.
The researchers then showed each photo to student volunteers for one and a half seconds, pausing for a second between showing two photos of the same person. Then the subjects were asked to answer whether the two photographs differ and how exactly. The trick was that the participants were offered a list of possible answers in advance.
It turned out that the volunteers almost always paid attention to the difference between the pictures. However, the description of specific differences was difficult for many, even if at first glance they were quite noticeable - suppose, in the second photo, a hat disappeared from a person …
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Pierce Howe concluded that the brain reacts to changes in visual characteristics, but does not have time to realize what exactly has changed in the "picture."
In the second phase of the study, the students were shown pairs of images that contained many red and green circles. At the same time, in the second image, the color of some circles was reversed. And again it turned out that the subjects noticed changes, but could not really explain what they were … If the total number of circles, painted in one color, remained unchanged in the second picture, the volunteers did not notice the difference at all.
Out of consciousness
According to Pierce Howe, visual images are registered in our brain automatically, "past" consciousness. So, perhaps, the "psychic" student saw cuts or bandages on her friend's body and from this she concluded that an accident had happened to him …
“Sometimes people think they feel something that cannot be seen with their eyes,” writes Pierce Howe in his article published in PLOS ONE magazine. "However, this is not magic or the sixth sense - such skills can be explained by the peculiarities of processing visual information in our brain."
Do you have a sixth sense?
At the same time, there are things that cannot be explained by "brain play" alone. After all, we do not always use vision when receiving information. Here are some of these things.
Telepathy
Usually, we can easily read the thoughts of those we know well: relatives or close friends, if they are near us. But if a person is at a distance and we catch his thought, this is no longer just intuition. It is all the more surprising if you manage to read the thoughts of a stranger, who, say, rides next to you on the bus …
Prophetic dreams
Many people think that they see "dreams in hand", but more often than not they simply pull dream scenarios by the ears to the events that have already occurred. But the specific facts, which then come true in reality, are able to see only very, very few …
Visions
These are not dreams, but images that come in reality or in an altered state of consciousness. A person sees them as if with the "third eye", that is, usually not with the eyes, but with the "inner" vision, visions are born right in the brain … Although it seems to some that they really see something.
You undoubtedly have clairvoyance if the information from the visions is confirmed, that is, you see exactly what happened, is happening or will happen, and at the same time you cannot know how everything was, is or will be in reality …
Vote
Sometimes you hear a voice that tells you about various facts and events. Some people claim that they hear voices in reality, others - that the words sound in their minds … How to distinguish "real" voices (and visions too) from the symptoms of schizophrenia? Again - the information must be confirmed! If this has happened repeatedly, you are not a schizophrenic - you simply have a developed "sixth sense"!