H.P. Lovecraft once wrote, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown,” but what if the unknown was no longer uncertain? What if we could know of events before they occur? For centuries, people have claimed to have the aptitude to predict upcoming events. Precognition, or the ability to have the cognitive awareness of a forthcoming event, has been the topic of discussion for many psychologists who have acquired an interest in the potential skill of catching a glimpse of the future. Without assistance from the five senses, precognition has been classified as a type of ESP, along with telepathy and clairvoyance. The history, cause, and personal experiences of precognition have been studied and professed for years. Claims of precognition and other forms of ESP have been professed and declared for centuries. The earliest claims of precognition occur in literary works, including, but not excluded to, the Odyssey and the Old Testament. Countless stories of “visions” and “second sight” happened to be prominent in numerous, long ago cultures. A multitude of cases date back to times with the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Chinese. During those times, prophets, oracles, and mediums were hunted and searched …show more content…
Although rare, people have also had precognitive experiences that happen long before the event actually takes place. The recurrent factors in precognitive experiences appear to be some sort of severe emotional shock or trauma, as well as attachment. Most incidents include miserable and gloomy events that will occur in one’s life. Examples of such occurrences comprise affliction, death, and natural disasters. Close loved ones, such as a spouse, children, or personal friend, are typically involved in the terrifying and horrifying events that are recalled during precognitive
The video Round Trip, The Near Death Experience is an interesting and informative documentary. Five people were interviewed about their near death experience. Catherine was sick for several years; John almost drown from scuba diving, Mary had complications during childbirth, Alena was in an accident and Allan’s heart flutter during surgery. These five people near dead experience were similar. It is remarkable to hear them speak about their experience and how they are not afraid of death. The near death experience changed their lives. Catherine stated that she sees the future, she will know about something before it happens; also her religious structure became stronger. They all saw a bright light and experience a divine feeling and the power
If death is really real, based upon the animistic quality of our five physical senses, then how do we know that we are truly alive and breathing, not in a dream? It has been proposed that people aware the existence of surroundings majorly rely on their five senses, which may cause illusions. The ethereal, yet grounded, theory of existentialism provides the landscape for a more positively identified pathway which reaches across the separation exists among humans.
Gordon, R., Franklin, N., & Beck, J. (2005). Wishful thinking and source monitoring. Memory & Cognition, 33 (3), 418-429.
Sense Perception is a way of knowing in which a person can acquire knowledge using their five senses - taste, touch, sight, sound and smell. Sense perception is an important in our understanding of the world, and is a source of much of the pleasure in our lives. But, can we trust our senses to give us the truth? This may come out as an odd question to many because according to experience and history it is known that humans greatly rely on sense perception as a means of survival. However, like all ways of knowing, sense perception has its weakness; our senses can easily be deceived. In his TED Talk, “Are we in control of our decisions?” behavioral economist Dan Ariely uses examples and optical illusions to demonstrate the roles, strengths and limitations of sense perception as a way of knowing.
Last spring I was part of a tutor agency that provided activities to students from 1st – 6th grade. Such agency main purpose was to give students a set of mathematical problems or English pieces of reading in order for them to have an outstanding outcome on these two subjects at school. During my tutoring sessions I had a 4th grade student named Carolina who had a difficult time keeping focus, understanding the concept, and fully interested. She preferred texting in the middle of our session or making excuses to go to the restroom. I honestly felt helpless for her, and I didn’t know what to do and how to help her raise her grades. I realized that our tutoring sessions weren’t any help for Carolina since her mom showed me her grades which got worse. I finally decided to plan my tutoring session with her ahead of time, so I can make it interesting and more effective for her to learn but in a fun way. I choose to get different colorful cards, markers, and everything that could grave attention. When our session started I used those markers and cards to show her how to solve a mathematical problem by color coding every different step of the problem. Later, I asked her to show me the mathematical process she used in a similar problem by using those colorful cards and markers. Apparently, I make her use all these fun utensils that made the learning process more fun and effective. At the end of our session, I gave Carolina a quiz regarding the content we covered, and she did make a progress. I noticed that for Carolina the use of colors at every different step actually made her learn. Maybe it was due to the strategy that I showed her and the ability for her to remember those steps by associating them with each color which I was amazed an...
It had been reported that, “Numerous people have told of hearing their doctors or other spectators in effect pronounce them dead” (Moody Jr, MD, 2015, p. 17). This is an out of body experience. Each reported feelings of peace and quiet, which transitioned into a bad buzzing noise. After proceeding through a tunnel, they have an “encounter with a very bright light” (Moody Jr, MD, 2015, p. 51). Questions resound around a reflection of their life, what they had learned during it, and if it was worth it. Invariably, each of the subjects’ encounter a border at which they are told they need to go back. “Considering the skepticism and lack of understanding that greet the attempt of a person to discuss his near-death experience, it is not surprising that almost everyone in this situation comes to feel that he is unique, that no one else has ever undergone what he has” (Moody Jr, MD, 2015, p. 83). Naturally, the outcome of this experience has an effect on the lives of those experiencing it.
Thus, déjà vu mirrors the possibilities of gradual realities that are derivable from the unconscious emotional feeling and impression. A very vital observation from these scholarly postulations is that déjà vu is a sensory signal in human being, as it allows the affected to integrate his or her thoughts, to regulate his or her mood and to control or heighten emotions from distressing experiences. Déjà vu, therefore, is an unconscious emotion or feeling whose operation and manifestation creep from the level of unconsciousness to
Ability to Foresee The Future in Second Coming and World Is Too Much with Us
I figured someone had passed away, but I didn't think much of it. My father spoke to me in a very calm and soft voice with tears in his eyes. In between his words you could hear the hurt. He told me that my godmother had passed away. I sat there not knowing what to say, but could feel the hurt overwhelm me.
People can plan and predict their future as much as they desire but outside forces are sometimes unavoidable. However, some people may disagree with this thesis. For example, in “The Cost of Survival” by Theo Tucker, the author believes some people willingly put themselves in life-and-death situations and know before hand the danger that they are about to face. “The idea of holding people responsible is not to stop rescuing them. It's to discourage them from behaving in foolish and dangerous ways.
In Stephen Jay Gould’s essay, “Some close encounters of a mental kind,” Gould discussed about how certainty can be both blessing and dangerous. According to Gould, certainty can be blessing because it can provide warmth, comfort and secure. However, it can also be a danger because it can trick our mind with false information of what we see and remember in our mind. Gould also talked about the three levels of possible error in direct visual observation: misperception, retention and retrieval. According to Gould, our human mind is the greatest miracle of nature and the wicked of all frauds and tricksters mixed. To support his argument and statements, he used an example of an experiment that Elizabeth Loftus, a professor from University of California Irvine, did to her students and a personal experience of his childhood trip to the Devils Tower. I agree with Gould that sight and memory do not provide certainty because what we remember is not always true, our mind can be tricky and trick us into believing what we see/hear is real due to the three potential error of visual observation. Certainty is unreliable and tricky.
It all comes down to the mechanics of our senses and nature of our awareness. The self and the mind constitute a superposition of possibilities. The mind has many instruments with which to perceive, interact with, and interpret the world. The profound potential of these instruments are often exceeded by their limitations. The capacity of these instruments, and accuracy with which they interpret the world, to the mind, depend on the cognitive development and mindfulness of the individual; as well as that which is being observed. This constant input of data, happens at a conscious and subconscious level. This information informs emotions, behaviors, and world views. This system is analogous to a computer with many peripherals; necessarily limited, but sufficient to solve the average problem. Like the computer, our peripherals are governed by software; the sophistication of which, would appear to have many iterations, if observed at different points in history. Furthermore, this range of sophistication can also be observed within the lifetime of the individual. It is the neural sophistication of the human brain, which allows for, and institutes, the compartmentalization of this cavalcade of information, to help the individual navigate this reality. The brain both instructs and learns from its instruments. Our eyes distinguish light, determine depth, and assign color to the world. Our sense of smell allows for us to further identify and associate with our world. Ad to these, our hearing and sense of touch, and what we have is an experience; an ongoing image of
My first memory that some fucked up shit was happening came from the news. So picture this, me being 13 years old, eating some cereal when I’m watching a news headline about a huge fissure in the ground. The newscast was some place in the middle of California and just going on and on about this apparently fascinating fissure. Me being 13 at the time didn’t really think much of it and had switched the channel to something more entertaining. Nothing exactly got my attention until the fissure had increased in length and moved into the top of Arizona and bottom of Utah a
It is a common occurrence that people have some sort of experience that they can not explain, and these experiences make for a great story likely to be told to everyone around them. Some experiences could be very minor, but in s...
Blakslee, S. (1993, August 31). The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from www.nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/31/science/seeing-and-imagining-clues-to-the-workings-of-the-mind-s-eye.html