Scientists rule out existence of 'sixth sense'
The
study found that people could reliably sense when a change had
occurred, even when they could not see exactly what had changed.
MELBOURNE: Sixth sense
dismissed! The common belief that a sixth sense - also known as
extrasensory perception - exists, may be false, a new study has claimed.
The study found that people could reliably sense when a change had occurred, even when they could not see exactly what had changed.
For example, a person might notice a general change in someone's appearance but not be able to identify that the person had had a haircut.
Lead researcher Dr Piers Howe from the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences said the research is the first to show in a scientific study that people can reliably sense changes that they cannot visually identify.
"There is a common belief that observers can experience changes directly with their mind, without needing to rely on the traditional physical senses such as vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch to identify it. This alleged ability is sometimes referred to as a sixth sense or ESP.
"We were able to show that while observers could reliably sense changes that they could not visually identify, this ability was not due to extrasensory perception or a sixth sense," he said.
In the study, observers were presented with pairs of colour photographs, both of the same female. In some cases, her appearance would be different in the two photographs. For example, the individual might have a different hairstyle.
Each photograph was presented for 1.5 seconds with a 1 second break between them. After the last photograph, the observer was asked whether a change had occurred and, if so, identify the change from a list of nine possible changes.
Results showed study participants could generally detect when a change had occurred even when they could not identify exactly what had changed.
For example, they might notice that the two photographs had different amounts of red or green but not be able to use this information to determine that the person had changed the colour of their hat.
This resulted in the observer "feeling" or "sensing" that a change had occurred without being able to visually identify the change.
Thus, the result that observers can reliably feel or sense when a change has occurred without being able to visually identify the change could be explained without invoking an extrasensory mechanism, researchers said.
The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.
The study found that people could reliably sense when a change had occurred, even when they could not see exactly what had changed.
For example, a person might notice a general change in someone's appearance but not be able to identify that the person had had a haircut.
Lead researcher Dr Piers Howe from the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences said the research is the first to show in a scientific study that people can reliably sense changes that they cannot visually identify.
"There is a common belief that observers can experience changes directly with their mind, without needing to rely on the traditional physical senses such as vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch to identify it. This alleged ability is sometimes referred to as a sixth sense or ESP.
"We were able to show that while observers could reliably sense changes that they could not visually identify, this ability was not due to extrasensory perception or a sixth sense," he said.
In the study, observers were presented with pairs of colour photographs, both of the same female. In some cases, her appearance would be different in the two photographs. For example, the individual might have a different hairstyle.
Each photograph was presented for 1.5 seconds with a 1 second break between them. After the last photograph, the observer was asked whether a change had occurred and, if so, identify the change from a list of nine possible changes.
Results showed study participants could generally detect when a change had occurred even when they could not identify exactly what had changed.
For example, they might notice that the two photographs had different amounts of red or green but not be able to use this information to determine that the person had changed the colour of their hat.
This resulted in the observer "feeling" or "sensing" that a change had occurred without being able to visually identify the change.
Thus, the result that observers can reliably feel or sense when a change has occurred without being able to visually identify the change could be explained without invoking an extrasensory mechanism, researchers said.
The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.
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comment:- wrong results due to wrong methods and wrong ideas of what is a sixth sense
What is sixth sense?
Sixth sense, or subtle perception ability, is our ability to perceive the subtle-dimension or the unseen worlds;
It also includes our ability to understand the subtle cause and
effect relationship behind many events, which is beyond the
understanding of the intellect.
Extrasensory perception (ESP),
clairvoyance, premonition, intuition are synonymous with sixth sense or
subtle perception ability
we perceive it through the five subtle-senses, the subtle-mind and the subtle-intellect - more popularly known as our sixth sense.
When the
sixth sense is developed or activated, it helps us to experience the
subtle-world or subtle-dimension.
How does one develop the sixth sense?
The subtle-world is all around us, however, we cannot perceive this world. Even though we cannot perceive the subtle-world, it impacts our lives to a great extent.In order to tune into this world we need our sixth sense
Sixth se
nse (ESP) and gender
Females, in general, have a stronger sixth sense than men. An
extrasensory perception (ESP) ability comes more naturally to women and
women are more likely to be intuitive than men. One of the main reasons
for this is that men are more intellectually oriented and tend more
towards the rational side.When the content of the knowledge is totally alien to the receiver’s field of knowledge.
Sixth sense, premonitions and time and space
Sometimes people have premonitions about things to happen, or a gut feeling about events that have happened in the past. This is possible in two ways:-
Through subtle-bodies:
The premonition (information) has been put into their sub-conscious mind by subtle-bodies. In most cases, the subtle-bodies or entities are ghosts
These subtle-bodies in some cases have the ability to see across time.
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Accessing the Universal Mind and Intellect:
There are seven layers to the Universal Mind and Intellect. Depending on one's grade of sixth sense, a person may be able to tap into a lower or higher layer of the Universal Mind and Intellect.
clairvoyance (information received from a distant place) and
precognition (information received from a distant time),
the information is received from subtle-bodies and not through one’s ability to access the Universal Mind and Intellect.
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