Disabilities and the 6th Sense

stormkeeper

This is something I've observed for ages though haven't really discussed it with many people, so I thought I'd bring it out into the open.

Anyway, as you guys prolly know by now, I have something that is classified as a "hidden disability". One thing I've noticed is that people who are blind, deaf, have a mental disability, depression, etc. seem to have their abilities more "active" than others. I've observed this on a few separate occasions, and it definately seems to be true from what I see, though I'd like other opinions on this, be they in agreement, or disagreement.

Anything related to this is welcome too...

solas

I'll come back to this tomorrow hopefully as its a bit late to delve into anything to deeply right now.
I thought it might be an idea to outline the senses so we know what we're talking about.
Afaik, the regular five senses are that of touch, taste, hearing, smell and sight. The sixth is still questionable, what exactly would be the function of an extra sense?
If it's true that it a dominant feature in people who lack in other areas then perhaps its natures way of adapting to particular circumstances.

stevenmu

Kennett wrote:

Anyway, as you guys prolly know by now, I have something that is classified as a "hidden disability".

MSN Addiction ?

I've been around people with conditions serious enough that they required residential care and one thing that has come across very strongly is that many of them have an innocent childlike quality. Many people believe that we're all born psychic, able to see spirits etc, but as we grow older this gets beaten out of us as we're taught what's 'real' and what isn't. One theory I've had is that parents, and others, simply wouldn't bother trying, and that would leave them with a more unhindered view of things.

Zillah

Its a bit of a myth that people get better senses if they lose one. What does happen however, is that their brain gets better at using the remaining senses.

If you lose your sight, the section of your brain that deals with sound and spacial awareness develops considerably very quickly, so while your hearing gets no better, you brain's ability to process it does. Seems a little relevant...

6th

I've had some dealings with peoples who have impaired senses and like Zillah says its not always a case that if you go blind you get super hearing (DareDevil is a comic book hero after all!).

So i really dont think there is anything in the theory at all. If anyone has any research to state other wise i'd love to read it but other that that i think its mostly a romantic notion.

Again like Zillah says

seems a little revelant

.... but not much.

I personally wouldnt have even put it on the paranormal topics thread.

solas

"So I responded emotionally when I saw something emotional, and I remained calm when I saw something calm," she says. "How does that demonstrate a sixth sense?"

I direct her attention to the segment of the graph showing her responses before the computer selected the pictures. "This bump shows that your body responded to emotional pictures before the computer selected them. And this flat line," I say, pointing to the other line, "shows that your body did not respond before calm pictures were shown. You see? Your body was responding to your future emotion before the computer randomly selected an emotional or calm picture."

As this sinks in, I add, "We can now demonstrate in the laboratory what at some level we've known all along: Many people literally get a gut feeling before something bad happens. Our viscera warn us of danger even if our conscious mind doesn't always get the message."

Our editor's body showed signs of what I call presentiment, an unconscious form of "psi" perception. Psi is a neutral term for psychic experiences, and though it sounds like fodder for an episode of the "X-Files," scientists around the world have studied the subject in the laboratory for over a century. The scientific evidence is now stronger than ever for commonly reported experiences such as telepathy (mind-to-mind communication), clairvoyance (information received from a distant place) and precognition (information received from a distant time). Studies suggest that we have ways of gaining information that bypass the ordinary senses. The sixth sense and similar terms, like second sight and extrasensory perception (ESP), refer to perceptual experiences that transcend the usual boundaries of space and time.

In trying to take these findings further, I realized that we have to dig deeper than what's detectable at the conscious level. While ESP and psi generally refer to conscious psychic experiences, I've always thought that asking people to consciously report subtle psi impressions was a shot in the dark. What would happen if we by-passed the psychological defense mechanisms that filter our perceptions and censor our conscious awareness? Would we find psi experiences that people weren't aware of?

Article "Is there a sixth sense?" from psychologytoday
It offers some plausible explanation as to how a sixth sense might function. It also demonstrate's the unconscious level such a sense works from. Those who are consciously aware of esp/psi refer to them as psychic experiences and claim to have developed ways of "gaining information that bypass the ordinary senses."

for example, no less an arch-skeptic than the late astronomer Carl Sagan rendered his lifelong opinion that all psi effects were impossible. But in one of his last books, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, he wrote, "At the time of writing there are three claims in the ESP field which, in my opinion, deserve serious study: (1) that by thought alone humans can (barely) affect random number generators in computers; (2) that people under mild sensory deprivation can receive thoughts or images "projected" at them; and (3) that young children sometimes report the details of a previous life, which upon checking mm out to be accurate and which they could not have known about in any other way than reincarnation."

Maybe its the case with children, where those "ordinary senses" are "by passed", perhaps because they don't posses the psychological defense mechanisms which censor's their conscious awareness. The same can be said in cases of particular situations like blindness and deafness or in mental conditions where the effect of "mild sensory deprevation" brings about an alternate state of perception and develops a state of awarness that falls into the category of esp.

I've worked with children who in some cases had extreme comunication difficulties, yet surprisingly they often demonstrated keen insight into what we were thinking (and would convey as much) or know instinctivly what we were going to do next. (highly developed sense of pre determination) I figure it's a debatable issue, but I'm just commenting from experience.
I'm sure anyone who knows folk who have visual or hearing impairment, might also be able to vouch for their highly developed sense of discrimination. I find it entirely plausible that such perceptual experiences function at a levels which "transcend the usual boundaries".

Oryx

By disability you can be dealing with three different areas, that of physical disability, ie sight, hearing, etc being absent; mental disability, where mental processes are altered to that of 'normal' people ie ADHD, autism. (Im not delving into other mental disability, such as downs) Then you have emotional disability, where people suffer from nervous disorders, depression, anxiety, mania. We could be here quite a while, its a very complex thing to look at.
My 2c... People who are emotionally sensitive for whatever reason, can tend to be more psychically sensitive. Why this is I dont know, maybe because they are more introverted, and examine their thoughts, impressions and emotions more.

Psychics *can* be more empathic, is this because of a shortcoming or emotional disability in themselves? Because of their own difficulties they are more sensitive to the feelings of others? In contrast tho, depression quite a selfish illness (speaking as a sufferer) which cuts you off from others, so I dont know if you can argue that depressives in particular can be more psychic.:rolleyes:

6th

There is simply no connect between and kind of disability and being sensitive/psychic? if you are psychic in some way and have a disablity - accept that you have a gift not because of your disability. I am artistic and have green eyes - that doesnt mean i am artistic because i have green eye. I thinka connection is being made that just isnt there.

I hope people get what i mean.

stormkeeper

I think I get what you mean 6th. I was letting this topic flow to see what other responses were out there, and it seems that people in general disagree with the theory I had, though reasonable areguments are made. One thing I do know is though that people could easily go mad if they don't control their abilities, ie: experiencing empathy all day long for instance... though I guess its a given. That said, this may be able to be disproven too?

stevenmu

6th wrote:

I am artistic and have green eyes - that doesnt mean i am artistic because i have green eye. I thinka connection is being made that just isnt there.

But if it seems that people with green eyes are more likely to be artistic then there is a link.

I think someone really needs to clarify the kind of disabilities we're talking about here, I didn't really think that we were talking about people who've had their eyes burnt out bye radioactive toxic waste or people suffering from depression. I'm not saying they're not disabilities, just not the kind I thought this thread was about.

stormkeeper

stevenmu wrote:

But if it seems that people with green eyes are more likely to be artistic then there is a link.

That is quite true...

I think someone really needs to clarify the kind of disabilities we're talking about here, I didn't really think that we were talking about people who've had their eyes burnt out bye radioactive toxic waste or people suffering from depression. I'm not saying they're not disabilities, just not the kind I thought this thread was about.

I guess that is my job... seeing as I started the topic. I was leaving it open-ended deliberately to see what people would think of when I mention the term "disability", and it in relation to psychic abilities, which I referred to as the "6th sense", perhaps erronously (sp) on my part.

Anyway, the type of disabilities I was thinking of would be the likes of ADHD, blindess and the other things from birth. Freak accidents, while they do occur, aren't really covered by this, and is possibly left for a different thread altogether, at least for now. Depression is a borderline thing, though for the time being, I'll exclude that as well. Physical disabilities can be, for the most part, again, at least for the time being, be excluded.

Whatever remains then could be discussed in that context, seeing as they're still disabilities, whether or not they are hidden.

I dunno if this helps at all?

6th

Doesnt help me at all

I'm not sure what it is you are looking to discuss - and i usually ahve an idea whta you mean.

stormkeeper

6th wrote:

Doesnt help me at all

lol, damn.

I'm not sure what it is you are looking to discuss - and i usually ahve an idea whta you mean.

That actually scares me, that you understand me and how I think... lol

Nah seriously, I dunno how to explain it any further, unless someone else wants to have a go at an explanation, or try to make sense of what I say

6th

Rather than tryin to explain what you mean us to discuss why not tell us what you think?

Do you think there is a connection between and form of disability and a heightened psychic awareness? If you do what is it based on?

6th

stevenmu wrote:

But if it seems that people with green eyes are more likely to be artistic then there is a link.

The point i was making was that i made the statement without looking into whether there was a connection or not and i think the OP may have done the same thing with his point.

I may be wrong but we'll have to wait til this topic is actually paired down a bit.

solas

Kennett, I'd be interested in hearing how aspergers affects your perception, in a way that you find relative to esp.

edit: I'd agree with Katie in that a vast majority of folk who experience psychic episodes have come about their awareness through some traumatic experience, be it a loss or witnessing events or in the case of NDE's actual death. While these are not exactly "disabilities" they are certainly psyhcological elements causitve to the conditions which tend to bring about alternate states of perception.
BTW, I'm not suggesting this factor negates esp or psychic ability, in fact it seems to be quite the opposite, its generally accepted in terms of research that through inducing sensory deprivation, the likelihood of retrieving evidence of esp and psychic ability is far greater. " Experimenters and researchers alike have always considered there to be a strong link between Psi and altered states of consciousness. Psi has often been associated with meditation, hypnosis, dreaming, and other naturally occurring, or deliberately induced, altered states of consciousness (Bem & Honorton, 1994)." See ganzfield experiments

The ganzfeld ("total field") experiment uses audio and visual sensory deprivation to test for extra-sensory perception (ESP).

There are claims that this experiment yields results that deviate significantly from randomness, and represent some of the strongest experimental evidence for psi phenomena to date.

Oryx

I have green eyes but I dropped out of art college.:)

I know where Kennett is coming from on this one, but I would have my doubts about a link with disability per se, my thinking is that its more emotion related, but dont want to hijack the thread.

6th

I dont think you would be hijacking it seeing as Kennett isnt sure himself what it is we're to discuss. I think you are onto something there with regards to emotions and maybe it is the affect of a condition on the emotion state of a person (some may leave you rendered emotionaly stunted).

solas

I don't have green eyes...although they have a hazel twinge when the sunlight hits them.

katie wrote:

I know where Kennett is coming from on this one, but I would have my doubts about a link with disability per se, my thinking is that its more emotion related, but dont want to hijack the thread.

its probably particularly reltaive, one of the main traits of autism is the inability to determine others state of emotions. Conveniently scientists are working on ways to overcome the problem

Scientists at MIT's Media Lab are developing a wearable device they say is capable of helping people read the subtlest, most nuanced emotions in another person by tracking the movements of that person's eyebrows, lips, and other facial features.

This technology can be used to help people with autism in their everyday lives. One of the disorders associated with autism is a condition some scientists call ''mind blindness," the inability to put themselves in someone else's shoes and understand that person's emotions. There are about 1 million to 1.5 million Americans with autism, according to the Autism Society of America.
The system's software goes beyond tracking simple emotions like sadness and anger to estimate complex mental states like agreeing, disagreeing, thinking, confused, concentrating and interested. The goal is to put this mental state inference engine on a wearable platform and use it to augment or enhance social interactions, The ''emotional social intelligence prosthetic" device is the latest in technology that focuses on helping computers read and relay human emotions. But while the technology has traditionally focused on helping machines understand people, now it is being used to help people understand people.

edit:I'm not sure the word disability in the title is appropriate either, although I'm open to discussing the relationship between particular "conditions" and esp phenomena.

stormkeeper

6th wrote:

The point i was making was that i made the statement without looking into whether there was a connection or not and i think the OP may have done the same thing with his point.

Well, my "theory" in this case was more of an observation... I'm open to being proved wrong on it, if I have indeed gotten the wrong idea.

I may be wrong but we'll have to wait til this topic is actually paired down a bit.

Yeah... and seeing as I don't fully know what I want to discuss yet, though I think down the line, more specifics will come out, after I work out what I'm trying to get at, though that said, it was one of those semi-off the cuff things that I do, as in there is something valid in there, but the implementation of it something is botched up, or very ambiguous, if you understand that at all?

solas wrote:

Kennett, I'd be interested in hearing how aspergers affects your perception, in a way that you find relative to esp.

I'll post that a little later on, after I've given it a bit more thought.

KatieK wrote:

I know where Kennett is coming from on this one, but I would have my doubts about a link with disability per se, my thinking is that its more emotion related, but dont want to hijack the thread.

It's not hijacking at all, in fact, as someone said, it would be related. Sometimes, going off on slight tangents helps with the overall picture of things. This topic is very open-ended, and this is deliberate on my part, seeing as I haven't fully thought things out yet, and was thinking that if something of any relation to the topic may help provide a focus to this topic, so feel free to post it.

6th wrote:

I dont think you would be hijacking it seeing as Kennett isnt sure himself what it is we're to discuss. I think you are onto something there with regards to emotions and maybe it is the affect of a condition on the emotion state of a person (some may leave you rendered emotionaly stunted).

I've kind of covered a lot of this in my reply above this (I'm actually answering these and putting them in random order!), and will possibly respond to more of this in subsequent replies, though I'm posting it here to acknowledge it, as it did recieve a mention previously.

solas wrote:

I don't have green eyes...although they have a hazel twinge when the sunlight hits them.

My mum has hazel eyes.

its probably particularly reltaive, one of the main traits of autism is the inability to determine others state of emotions. Conveniently scientists are working on ways to overcome the problem

Indeed it is... I think it may be another year or so before something tangable in this field would come about. For the most part, something like this would be redundant for me, but useful to others...

[/quote] edit:I'm not sure the word disability in the title is appropriate either, although I'm open to discussing the relationship between particular "conditions" and esp phenomena.[/quote]

Perhaps the title was a little too off the cuff... lol. I'm open to a change of title, if someone can think of something more suitable?