What are peoples thoughts regarding the elusive Sixth Sense ? what do people think it is? where does it come from ? do you listen to it ? examples? Interested in what peoples individual thoughts are about it and do you always follow it ? or question it??
Sixth Sense - What is it ?
- Thread starter TeeDee
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I’m not able to tell you what your sixth sense is but I do believe that some people are much more in tune with their surroundings, aware of what is going on around them or empathetic to the feelings of others meaning that they’re more perceptive. Beyond that there are just the three wise words “I don’t know”
I have a bit of a theory on the subject. I think we do have a ‘sixth sense’ but we have evolved away from it. Most animals are very aware of potential danger; dogs can show strange behaviour long before the cause of it is apparent. When we were closer to our animal ancestors, we probably had similar ‘foresight’. The ‘sixth sense’ may just be a more attuned level of our other senses of course.
I use as an example, our peripheral vision. Mankind has benefitted from having binocular vision that allows us to judge distance. But this is at the expense of having all around vision that would enable us to see danger approaching (like a hare does). But, in compensation we have a (potentially) very keen sense of motion in our peripheral vision – which is one explanation of why we can see flickering on display screens that we can’t see when looking directly at them. However, we no longer rely on peripheral motion detection to survive (unless you’re a motorcyclist!), and we’ve lost the natural use of that ‘sense’. Next time you go into the woods, stand still and concentrate on the motion in your peripheral vision – you should notice a heightened level of wildlife detection. It’s an exercise carried out by hunters and trackers to deliberately increase their sense of the environment.
In answer to TeeDee’s question, I don’t think I necessarily act directly on a ‘sixth sense’; I think it makes me more aware to look for anomalies and patterns that I do act on. Maybe it all comes back to the ‘seeing not looking’ and ‘hearing not listening’ concepts.
On the other hand, maybe it's a load of old b******s
I use as an example, our peripheral vision. Mankind has benefitted from having binocular vision that allows us to judge distance. But this is at the expense of having all around vision that would enable us to see danger approaching (like a hare does). But, in compensation we have a (potentially) very keen sense of motion in our peripheral vision – which is one explanation of why we can see flickering on display screens that we can’t see when looking directly at them. However, we no longer rely on peripheral motion detection to survive (unless you’re a motorcyclist!), and we’ve lost the natural use of that ‘sense’. Next time you go into the woods, stand still and concentrate on the motion in your peripheral vision – you should notice a heightened level of wildlife detection. It’s an exercise carried out by hunters and trackers to deliberately increase their sense of the environment.
In answer to TeeDee’s question, I don’t think I necessarily act directly on a ‘sixth sense’; I think it makes me more aware to look for anomalies and patterns that I do act on. Maybe it all comes back to the ‘seeing not looking’ and ‘hearing not listening’ concepts.
On the other hand, maybe it's a load of old b******s
I shall try and avoid going all neurological and technical, but it has long been known that there are way more than five senses. We can act unconsciously on the input to our senses, for instance we duck before we are aware of what is coming our way. Sight is not one sense at all but many which include movement detection, outline detection, contrast detection and colour, which together make up the composite of our visual world. So yeah we do all have senses beyond the obvious ones. "Sixth sense" then is just a popular metaphor for other kinds of awareness.
We have extrasensory perceptions that we were simply trained out of. Everyday life, especially materialistic life and concerns, erect a protective wall against this kind of thing. Like, you may have heard stories that cats and dogs are very aware of "spooky stuff" happening in the house that you're not tuned into. Kids also have this ability and tend to experience stuff where their parent will later have to tell them it wasn't real. Does that mean everything you experience is real? I'm not sure. But I've had a number of experiences that fall into this spectrum.
There's also just plain old intuition, which is amazing in its own way as a safe-keeper and a bullshit-detector.
There's also just plain old intuition, which is amazing in its own way as a safe-keeper and a bullshit-detector.
Being a motorcyclist since the early 70's, I have developed a sixth sense with traffic. I can tell even before I consciously see or hear a vehicle that its there. I have many deep narrow, windy lanes around me, and I always seem to "know" if a vehicle is coming towards me.
I use this sense in nature too. I notice so much more than a companion as we are walking and chatting. I'm not consciously looking or listening, but I hear and see stuff they don't, down to a tiny shoot on a bankside, or a bird in a tree or the sky.
I can sometimes connect with a completely unknown dog, and know things about it that only the owner would know, which amazes them, and is quite amusing sometimes.
In fact it happened today, with a nervous 8 month puppy, which within seconds was all over me. We had complete communication, and the lady couldn't believe it, as normaly it was very nervous of strangers. Its not every dog, but sometimes I just know what a dog is feeling or thinking.
I think there are many "other senses" its just that we are so busy or engrossed in TV or whatever that we do not connect with them in the automatic way that other creatures do. It needs practice untill it becomes automatic to connect and tune in with what's going on around you at all times, despite distractions of traffic, or other people.
It's so natural for me, and almost impossible to explain to others how it happens.
So many walk around eyes glued and ears plugged into a phone, it's no wonder people are loosing the ability to see and hear or feel anything.
I use this sense in nature too. I notice so much more than a companion as we are walking and chatting. I'm not consciously looking or listening, but I hear and see stuff they don't, down to a tiny shoot on a bankside, or a bird in a tree or the sky.
I can sometimes connect with a completely unknown dog, and know things about it that only the owner would know, which amazes them, and is quite amusing sometimes.
In fact it happened today, with a nervous 8 month puppy, which within seconds was all over me. We had complete communication, and the lady couldn't believe it, as normaly it was very nervous of strangers. Its not every dog, but sometimes I just know what a dog is feeling or thinking.
I think there are many "other senses" its just that we are so busy or engrossed in TV or whatever that we do not connect with them in the automatic way that other creatures do. It needs practice untill it becomes automatic to connect and tune in with what's going on around you at all times, despite distractions of traffic, or other people.
It's so natural for me, and almost impossible to explain to others how it happens.
So many walk around eyes glued and ears plugged into a phone, it's no wonder people are loosing the ability to see and hear or feel anything.
Yeah, as someone else said above - there's way more than just six senses.
What about that feeling that you have when walking around in the dark, yet know you are about to bump into something?
Or how when you close your eyes you will know where your hands and feet are in relation to the rest of your body?
These are all senses.
That traditional 'sixth sense' - whatever we call it - has been experienced by just about everyone.
I fully agree with whoever it was above who said that we put it down to 'The Unknown' (cue Arthur C Clarke's 'World Of The Mysterious' music) just because we have stopped using and relying on it.
But I am in full agreement that it's as much of our natural being and way of interacting with the world as all our other senses, and no mystery is needed.
What about that feeling that you have when walking around in the dark, yet know you are about to bump into something?
Or how when you close your eyes you will know where your hands and feet are in relation to the rest of your body?
These are all senses.
That traditional 'sixth sense' - whatever we call it - has been experienced by just about everyone.
I fully agree with whoever it was above who said that we put it down to 'The Unknown' (cue Arthur C Clarke's 'World Of The Mysterious' music) just because we have stopped using and relying on it.
But I am in full agreement that it's as much of our natural being and way of interacting with the world as all our other senses, and no mystery is needed.
That's an interesting theory about being able to walk around in the dark without bumping into things.
I used be able to walk around the house or a warehouse I worked in in the pitch black but the older I've got the harder I find to navigate it.
Losing my perception or just old age. Not sure.
I used be able to walk around the house or a warehouse I worked in in the pitch black but the older I've got the harder I find to navigate it.
Losing my perception or just old age. Not sure.
People rarely remember or talk about all the times they had a feeling about something and whatever turned out to not be the case. I get those all the time and only on occasion are they actually true.
I do think we collect lots of sensory information that we (and science) are not fully aware of (yet), but we're likely to respond to it.
I do think we collect lots of sensory information that we (and science) are not fully aware of (yet), but we're likely to respond to it.
Weird but true story.
Many years ago, I was driving up on the mendips with a friend and our daughters for a caving trip.
As we approached the castle of comfort pub, I "saw" a car come barrelling around the corner and flip on its side. I pulled into the pub car park and opened the door to get out and help...just as a minni came round the corner and flipped on its side.
We dealt with the accident and rescued the two joy riders who had pinched mums car, and then went on our way once the law arrived to deal with the incident.
My friend after a quiet moment, asked me how I knew what was going to happen. . I saw it all happening in sequence, but he told me I'd stopped the car, and was halfway out of it before the car appeared and flipped. So did the girls.
Due to the bend in the road, there was no way I could have seen the car beforehand, but I know I did.
We even went back to check on the way home. It was true, I could not possibly have seen the car before it flipped. But I'd yelled at the girls to go into the pub for help as I started to get out of our car before the accident happened. They were all a bit wierded out about it.
Spooky.
Many years ago, I was driving up on the mendips with a friend and our daughters for a caving trip.
As we approached the castle of comfort pub, I "saw" a car come barrelling around the corner and flip on its side. I pulled into the pub car park and opened the door to get out and help...just as a minni came round the corner and flipped on its side.
We dealt with the accident and rescued the two joy riders who had pinched mums car, and then went on our way once the law arrived to deal with the incident.
My friend after a quiet moment, asked me how I knew what was going to happen. . I saw it all happening in sequence, but he told me I'd stopped the car, and was halfway out of it before the car appeared and flipped. So did the girls.
Due to the bend in the road, there was no way I could have seen the car beforehand, but I know I did.
We even went back to check on the way home. It was true, I could not possibly have seen the car before it flipped. But I'd yelled at the girls to go into the pub for help as I started to get out of our car before the accident happened. They were all a bit wierded out about it.
Spooky.
Here's another odd one.
Back in the day, as friends we used to hunt each other around the local woods with BB guns.
It was late 80s/early 90s, when Vietnam films were all the rage. From one of those films we picked up the advice that if you are hiding and aiming at someone not to look directly at them until you are ready for the shot because they would be drawn to your eyes staring at them. Always look just to side.
We tried it, and it was dead true.
I've no idea what the science behind that is, if science can even answer it. But it's absolutely true and that's all that matters.
That's got to be another of those unnamed senses at work.
Back in the day, as friends we used to hunt each other around the local woods with BB guns.
It was late 80s/early 90s, when Vietnam films were all the rage. From one of those films we picked up the advice that if you are hiding and aiming at someone not to look directly at them until you are ready for the shot because they would be drawn to your eyes staring at them. Always look just to side.
We tried it, and it was dead true.
I've no idea what the science behind that is, if science can even answer it. But it's absolutely true and that's all that matters.
That's got to be another of those unnamed senses at work.
Doesn't seem to work for Imperial Stormtroopers however. Must be the Helmet design.
There was an interesting experiment done some years ago, where they had put a group of people into living quarters that were kept in complete darkness, and where they just lived their life. I think it went on for several weeks. After a time, some of them actually started "seeing" their surroundings without visual input and light. Why doesn't every blind person get these benefits? Do they experience something like this? I have no idea. There was another article from an artist who did a blind experiment and she recalls a "360 degree perception" of sound which developed when she abstained from sight, and as soon as she returned to her normal five senses that special feeling was gone again.
What we perceive consciously is a sort of summary reported by the brain. It's a bit behind what the subconscious brain is actually doing, features heavily filtered data from our senses and can include utterly fictitious filler to stitch together elements of the internal narrative. A sixth sense could simply be a prediction based on data that had not or does not otherwise feature in regular conscious thought, such as sights from our peripheral vision or sounds from the extremes of our hearing.
This is an interesting read on the subject. I've always thought of the sixth sense as being a sub concious awareness.
www.psychologytoday.com
Understanding Interoception, the Sixth Sense
Inside the mystery of brain-body communication.
www.psychologytoday.com
For me Six Sense is situational awareness. In a civilized society we get comfortable with the concept that we, and others, will adhere to laws and as such we get very comfortable. With this level of comfort we begin to lose our ability to be connected with the environment around us.
Having a number of deployments into combat areas in the world always heightens my Six Sense. My lazy no worry comfort level is replaced with maintaining a continuous connection of all things about me.
Hope my rambling made some sense. Thanks RevCol.
Having a number of deployments into combat areas in the world always heightens my Six Sense. My lazy no worry comfort level is replaced with maintaining a continuous connection of all things about me.
Hope my rambling made some sense. Thanks RevCol.
Last time I looked into senses we had 7 or more senses. All accepted by the usual scientific method by experts in the topic. I believe the excepted 6th sense is something to do with awareness of what is around you but i could misremember as it is 20 years since I read it.
Sorry 6th sense is vestibular which is about balance and movement, kind of the sense that detects where we are in space.
7tb is the one I was thinking of. Proprioception. The sense that allows us to detect where are body parts are in relation to reach other and that gives us control on force we apply through our fingers for example. Aiui without this we would not be able to pick up an egg without cracking it.
The mythical idea of a 6th sense is possibly a kind of higher sensitivity in these last two senses.
7tb is the one I was thinking of. Proprioception. The sense that allows us to detect where are body parts are in relation to reach other and that gives us control on force we apply through our fingers for example. Aiui without this we would not be able to pick up an egg without cracking it.
The mythical idea of a 6th sense is possibly a kind of higher sensitivity in these last two senses.
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