Serious question about ESP (I don\'t mean psychic or anything silly)
 

I forget where I heard this. Probably that Art Bell nonsense on late-night radio (which is the only non-sports talk radio available to me on my late-night commute home). Nine times out of ten, I'll turn it off after less than a minute, dismissing the night's subject as nonsense, but occasionally I'll hear something of interest.

So one guy presents, as an example of ESP, a sixth sense: the feeling that someone is looking at you, or watching you.

We've all been through this thousands of times. You're in a restaurant eating your sandwich, and suddenly, you look up, and somebody is staring at you. Absently, probably, not even aware that they're doing it, until confronted with your return gaze.

But still, of all the people in the restaurant, your eyes went immediately to the one person who was looking at you. You must've SENSED this stare, no?

How many times have watched two attractive females walking down the street together, engrossed in conversation, paying no attention to anyone else in any direction, when suddenly, one of them locks eyes with you, pretty much "catching you in the act" of staring at them?

What do you think? Is this ESP?

A definition of ESP for ya
 

It's coincidence.

I'll offer a definition of ESP:

ESP: misinterpretation of pure coincidence as having some non-random cause eminating from the human brain.

The two hott chicks caught you gawking. End of story. They've certainly caught me enough times, but I make no apologies for THAT. They have no special senses in their brains, they just caught you, face it.

As for your radio show, sounds like the rush limbaugh sports network.

al

Re: Serious question about ESP (I don\'t mean psychic or anything silly)
 

Let's have a more serious example? You wake up and have an overpowering feeling that you shouldn't take your normal route to work because something will happen to you if you do. So you take another route and nothing happens. Is that ESP?

I think in your example you are applying something special to normal situations. Did the woman catch you watching her because you were wearing a pink and purple shirt? Was there something else that caught her eye? Did she look away as people do when thinking of a new idea or lie and you were in her line of sight?

If you three were the only sighted people on the street and she looked directly at you there may be someting there, but eyes meeting? That could simply be advertising for survival of the species imo.

Re: A definition of ESP for ya
 

Hi Al,

What about a different and, IMO, better definition of ESP, to wit: the same as a "hunch." Psychologists readily admit to the existence and validity of hunches; they occur when sub-conscious perception and reasoning finally spit out a conscious thought.

There have been some studies which suggest this may well explain the phenomenon of knowing you're being stared at. Specifically, the studies showed you were UNLIKELY to know you were being stared at if it occurred in isolation, but VERY likely to know you were being stared at if it occured in a socially active setting (e.g.: a restaurant, mall, classroom, etc.).

Their reasoning -- and it makes sense to me -- is that while you haven't yet "caught" the person staring at you, your subconscious is picking up subtle cues of eye and body movement from people around you who HAVE noticed that you are being stared at. We all perceive and process these kinds of subtle cues when we're among other people; it's an evolutionary survival mechanism which allows us to quietly detect and communicate danger.

So without even realizing that you're noticing these cues, and indeed those people probably don't realise they're sending those cues, that prickle begins to run up the back of your neck as your brain puts together the signal matrix and finally spits out a solution: "You are being watched."

You turn, and sure enough, FAR more often than not, you are.

That's not ESP. That's simple subconscious perception and reasoning, the very same stuff that yields "hunches."

Cris

Re: A definition of ESP for ya
 

Again, when I used the term "ESP", I was not talking about any "psychic" phenomenon. I meant "perception that did not come from the five senses, but from something beyond the five senses."

I asked if sensing someone's gaze counted as a sixth sense.

CrisBrown gave an acceptable answer. Thanks, Cris.

Re: A definition of ESP for ya
 

This makes me think of a rather interesting anecdote I read about how to tell when someone's staring at you but every time you try to catch them, he or she's not looking.

A guy is sitting in a library studying when he gets a feeling that a certain girl at the next table is watching him. He can't catch her in the act so he decides upon a ruse. He fakes a yawn, then a few seconds later looks at the girl, and sure enough, she's yawning too. I thought that was pretty clever.

Re: A definition of ESP for ya
 

[ QUOTE ]
This makes me think of a rather interesting anecdote I read about how to tell when someone's staring at you but every time you try to catch them, he or she's not looking.

A guy is sitting in a library studying when he gets a feeling that a certain girl at the next table is watching him. He can't catch her in the act so he decides upon a ruse. He fakes a yawn, then a few seconds later looks at the girl, and sure enough, she's yawning too. I thought that was pretty clever.

[/ QUOTE ]

I will definately employ this tactic next time I suspect that I have caught the eye of a comely lass!

Thank you for your assistance in my pursuit of umm... love.

Kenshin

Re: A definition of ESP for ya
 

"Intuition is an encrypted message of logic and reason."

Re: Serious question about ESP (I don\'t mean psychic or anything silly)
 

My article was originally titled "ESP=BS," but the editor thought some people would be offended. It was retitled "ESP is nonsense."
You can read the article at cardplayer.com. Click on magazine in the top left corner, writers, and my name. If you don't want to look there, I will just summarize the central point. There is absolutely no scientifically acceptable evidence that ESP exists.
Don't waste your time trying to predict or control your cards. Focus all your attention on playing them well.
Regards,
Al

Re: Serious question about ESP (I don\'t mean psychic or anything silly)
 

you mentioned people look away while thing of a new idea. I do that too. Do you know why?