It is obvious to psi researchers that some individuals, functioning largely according to their moods and psychic needs, are able to draw upon their latent ESP abilities. As a better means of communication evolved - one that could be readily intelligible to the sensory organs -the original archaic methods were pushed into the background of the human subconscious where they may still persist, waiting to manifest themselves under certain conditions. Many parapsychologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and psychoanalysts, including Sigmund Freud (1856 –1939), have theorized that telepathy may have been the original archaic method by which individuals understood one another. Perhaps many people utilize extrasensory perception to a considerable degree as children, but as they mature, tend to inhibit these subconscious faculties or allow them to atrophy. It is only when a paranormal event of shocking or dramatic impact startles the emotions that one relates it to others and, perhaps, even records it.Īccording to parapsychological laboratory work with such phenomena, nearly everyone has some degree of ESP. These incidents are so common that they receive little more than half-joking comment. Nearly everyone has at one time or another received what seemed to have been a glimpse into the world of ESP: Dreaming of a friend from whom one has not heard in months, then receiving a letter from that person in the next morning's mail hearing a telephone ring and being so certain of the identity of the caller that one calls him or her by name the instant one lifts up the receiver. If such parascientific phenomena as the projection of the astral self, the ability to glimpse the future, and the facility to convey telepathic impressions are established, the boundaries of humankind's universe become limitless. It has long been a contention of serious parapsychologists that each of these types of phenomena is but a single aspect of the life and the universe of which humans are a part. Distance and time seem unable to affect this phenomenon.Įven from these brief definitions, it becomes apparent that many attributes of parapsychological, or psi, phenomena overlap. Telepathy is the transference of thought from one mind to another. The direct action of mind on matter is the parapsychologists' current nominee as the energy involved in poltergeist cases -those bizarre occurrences when bottles and crockery float through the air, fires break out on living room tables, or disembodied voices cackle threats and obscenities. Psychokinesis (telekinesis) is the movement of objects, seemingly caused by some force unknown to physical science. Precognition (premonition) is the obtaining of information about the future that could not have been gained through normal means. Out-of-body experience (also called astral projection) is the apparent projection of the mind from the body, often with the seeming ability to travel great distances in a matter of seconds. In recent years, clairvoyance has sometimes been called remote viewing. Here are brief definitions of the areas of ESP that are studied by parapsychologists:Ĭlairvoyance is the awareness, without physical aids or normal sensory means, of what is going on elsewhere. A parapsychologist is a scientist who is seriously interested in the paranormal (or anomalous phenomena), which includes telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, psychokinesis, hauntings, reincarnation, and out-of-body or near-death experiences. A parapsychologist is generally a member of the Parapsychological Association, which was founded in 1957 and elected an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1969. Besides, the researchers insist that the material in their field will eventually merge with present-day physics, so the adjective "paranormal" may be considered a misnomer.Ĭontrary to common usage, a parapsychologist is not a psychic, a mentalist, an astrologer, or one who gives psychic readings. Some parapsychologists prefer to say "paranormal cognition," but this term is subject to the same sort of criticism if the receiver is not instantly certain of the validity of the information. It takes a corroborating incident to convince anyone that he or she has perceived anything via extrasensory means. Some researchers, however, take issue with the term "extrasensory perception." They protest that the phenomena may not be "perception" at all, as the receiver of this information does not know if the knowledge is right or wrong when he or she first perceives it. Extrasensory Perception: The " Sixth Sense"Įxtrasensory perception -ESP -is defined by parapsychologists as the acquisition by a human or animal mind of information it could not have received by normal, sensory means.
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