[CrisBrown]

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