Extrasensory perception
Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke University botanist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, psychometry, clairvoyance and their trans-temporal operation as precognition or retrocognition.
Second sight is an alleged form of extrasensory perception, whereby a person perceives information, in the form of a vision, about future events before they happen (precognition), or about things or events at remote locations (remote viewing). There is no evidence that second sight exists. Reports of second sight are known only from anecdotes. Second sight and ESP are classified as pseudosciences.
ESP (extrasensory perception) is a term for purported psychic abilities that go beyond the known five senses, with telepathy being the most well-known form—the direct transfer of thoughts from one mind to another. While telepathy is a popular concept, scientific research has found no conclusive, reproducible evidence for its existence. Supporting evidence is rare and often explained by psychological phenomena like confirmation bias (focusing on hits and ignoring misses) or heightened intuition rather than a supernatural ability.
What is ESP?
- Definition: Extrasensory perception (ESP) refers to the ability to gain information or knowledge through channels other than the five known senses.
- Key Types: The most common types of ESP discussed are:
- Telepathy: The transfer of thoughts or feelings between people.
- Clairvoyance: The ability to perceive objects or events that are not physically available to the senses.
- Precognition: The ability to know or sense things that will happen in the future.
Why is telepathy not considered a proven phenomenon?
- Lack of Evidence: Despite numerous studies, especially with card guessing (e.g., Zener cards), no significant results have been consistently replicated, according to Britannica.
- Psychological Explanations: Skeptics suggest that claims of telepathy can often be attributed to:
- Confirmation Bias: People tend to remember instances where they felt a connection and forget the many times they didn’t.
- Heightened Intuition: Some individuals are skilled at unconsciously analyzing subtle cues from their environment, which can lead to highly accurate guesses that feel like mind-reading.
- Coincidence: Many seemingly connected events happen by chance, but people tend to focus on these few instances as evidence of something supernatural, ignoring the vast number of coincidences that don’t occur.
How do people perceive telepathy?
- Anecdotal Evidence: Many people have strong personal experiences that feel like telepathy, especially in situations with strong emotional connections or in certain cultural contexts.
- Misleading Perceptions: These individual experiences may lead people to focus on the “hits” and disregard the numerous times their thoughts did not align with the other person’s.
- Pseudoscience: The concept of ESP and telepathy is often considered a pseudoscience because it lacks rigorous scientific proof and reliable experimental results.
AI responses may include mistakes.
[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/telepathy
[2] wikipedia/en/Parapsychology
[3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extrasensory%20perception
[4] https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/psychology/extrasensory-perception-esp
[6] https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/extrasensory-perception-ESP/274242
[7] https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/extrasensory-perceptions/esp.htm
[8] https://www.livescience.com/ESP
[9] https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/NSA-RDP96X00790R000100030008-7.pdf
[10] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6396695/
[11] https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00791R000200230023-7.pdf