I have always been interested in what is commonly referred to as extra-sensory perception, and I long suspected that it is merely sensory perception on levels not easily perceptible by most people, but is present, generally speaking, in all. The only difference that accounts for some people "possessing", and most people not "possessing" this ability, I thought, was the degree of sensitivity and the natural preference towards perceiving the stronger stimuli (as in the five commonly recognized human senses) versus the much weaker ones, which we tend to dismiss outright, or, in the best case, somewhat indiscriminately and ignorantly relegate to "extra-sensory".
While not exactly on the subject of my interest, this excerpt from the article was a revelation to me:
"The brain’s sensory systems are geared towards detecting the presence of objects, rather than their absence: when an object encroaches on your visual field, generally speaking, neurons in your visual cortex are activated. Moreover, this bias towards detecting objects has been reflected in scientific interest in the topic: most neuroscientific investigations of perception and consciousness are interested in how we become aware of something. Despite this, experiences of absence make up a significant portion of our conscious experience – we often become aware of what we can’t see. Revealing their neural basis is just as important for fully understanding the mechanisms supporting human awareness."
For the first time I see empirical validation for what I only speculated about. Not only that, the author links "extra-sensory" phenomenon, or, in his words, "becoming aware of what we cannot see", directly to networks of neurons that specialize in detecting the presence of the imperceptible, and the author cites studies that suggest evidence of similar mechanisms in various animals.
Fascinating! Much appreciated!
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