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Many years ago, back when I lived up in the sunny north, I was going out with a girl who was, bless her, a bit of a fruitcake (I'm sure those of you who know me will be nodding as you read that and observing to yourselves that you're seeing a pattern emerging, but stick to what you know, that's what I say) and one of said fruitcake's more endearing qualities* was a firm belief that she was psychic. Now, if there's one thing that spending time with the sort of person who has more cats than marbles has taught me, it's that when someone thinks that they are psychic then sooner or later they're going to decide that you are too, whether you are or not, or even whether or not you particularly want to be. Anyway, after a day when I made a lucky guess at what time it was and got it right to the minute, she decided that I could astrally project and spent a lot of time try to get me to develop my mental powers.
Being me, this resulted in me making up a whole load of astral visions for my own entertainment and to ensure she remained impressed by the Powers Of My Mind, right up until the point she dumped me for one of my friends.
I didn't see that coming, either.
From the above preamble, you might guess that I don't think I'm psychic. It's not just me, though. I don't think that anyone else is either. I'm an equal-opportunity sceptic. But maybe I'm wrong - because recent research suggests that under very specific circumstances, people might have some sort of sixth sense. If I might quote a study by Daryl Bem of Cornell University published in the latest edition of The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology:
[Subjects] were presented with a computer screen showing two curtains. They were told an image, which could be erotic, lay behind one curtain and they should guess which.
Prof Bem found [subjects] predicted correctly 53 per cent of the time when the picture was erotic, while regular images only elicited a 50 per cent success rate, in line with average chance.
So there you have it; in circumstances when there's something a bit rude going on, the evidence suggsets that there might be some sort of sixth sense at play. Indeed, according to the study, the chance of the results happening randomly is something like one in seventy four billion and I suppose that would make sense. If humanity has precognitive powers in any form, it stands to reason that evolution would ensure they became involved in the propagation of the species.
The only problem with this from my point of view is that I started pretty much every night when I was a student dolling myself up in front of a mirror and saying "I'm going to pull tonight!", and I was right far less often than half the time.
Instead, I've always seen a belief in psychic powers as an attempt to make an uncertain world comprehensible and predictable, and so controllable. People as a species tend to be afraid of the things we cannot see - and the greatest thing we cannot see is the future. If that changes - if we, or others who prey upon our gullibility or need believe we can see what is going to happen then the fear of the unknown is lessened. Personally, I've never wanted to be psychic (except perhaps when it comes to lottery numbers) as I think that would spoil the surprise.
But, you know. If being psychic meant I'd've copped off more often when I was student, I'd reconsider.
*One of her other endearing qualities was an inability to show up any less than 45 minutes late for any appointment. I got to the point of arranging to meet her an hour before I would turn up, safe in the knowledge that I'd still probably be there before her**
**In my defense, she was quite spectacularly cute - which was why I put up with this sort of crap for as long as I did.***
***I just remembered. She had a magic crystal which was attuned to her emotions and would become cloudy or clear depending on whether she was sad or happy. Presumably she wouldn't have been able to judge her emotional state without it.****
****Actually, now I think about it, that's not unlikely.*****
*****Nobody except her was allowed to touch the crystal, as it was attuned to her and anyone else touching it would destroy the connection she had with it. This prohibition worked on me for about as long as it took her to finish telling me and turn her back.
Being me, this resulted in me making up a whole load of astral visions for my own entertainment and to ensure she remained impressed by the Powers Of My Mind, right up until the point she dumped me for one of my friends.
I didn't see that coming, either.
From the above preamble, you might guess that I don't think I'm psychic. It's not just me, though. I don't think that anyone else is either. I'm an equal-opportunity sceptic. But maybe I'm wrong - because recent research suggests that under very specific circumstances, people might have some sort of sixth sense. If I might quote a study by Daryl Bem of Cornell University published in the latest edition of The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology:
[Subjects] were presented with a computer screen showing two curtains. They were told an image, which could be erotic, lay behind one curtain and they should guess which.
Prof Bem found [subjects] predicted correctly 53 per cent of the time when the picture was erotic, while regular images only elicited a 50 per cent success rate, in line with average chance.
So there you have it; in circumstances when there's something a bit rude going on, the evidence suggsets that there might be some sort of sixth sense at play. Indeed, according to the study, the chance of the results happening randomly is something like one in seventy four billion and I suppose that would make sense. If humanity has precognitive powers in any form, it stands to reason that evolution would ensure they became involved in the propagation of the species.
The only problem with this from my point of view is that I started pretty much every night when I was a student dolling myself up in front of a mirror and saying "I'm going to pull tonight!", and I was right far less often than half the time.
Instead, I've always seen a belief in psychic powers as an attempt to make an uncertain world comprehensible and predictable, and so controllable. People as a species tend to be afraid of the things we cannot see - and the greatest thing we cannot see is the future. If that changes - if we, or others who prey upon our gullibility or need believe we can see what is going to happen then the fear of the unknown is lessened. Personally, I've never wanted to be psychic (except perhaps when it comes to lottery numbers) as I think that would spoil the surprise.
But, you know. If being psychic meant I'd've copped off more often when I was student, I'd reconsider.
*One of her other endearing qualities was an inability to show up any less than 45 minutes late for any appointment. I got to the point of arranging to meet her an hour before I would turn up, safe in the knowledge that I'd still probably be there before her**
**In my defense, she was quite spectacularly cute - which was why I put up with this sort of crap for as long as I did.***
***I just remembered. She had a magic crystal which was attuned to her emotions and would become cloudy or clear depending on whether she was sad or happy. Presumably she wouldn't have been able to judge her emotional state without it.****
****Actually, now I think about it, that's not unlikely.*****
*****Nobody except her was allowed to touch the crystal, as it was attuned to her and anyone else touching it would destroy the connection she had with it. This prohibition worked on me for about as long as it took her to finish telling me and turn her back.
