Researchers dismiss sixth sense – and put their faith in common sense

[mr blur]

Australian survey finds people can reliably detect a change in surroundings, even if they cannot accurately describe it

If you can eerily detect the presence of unseen people or have prescient knowledge of danger, it may be disappointing to learn that scientists have ruled out the existence of a “sixth sense”.

A year-long University of Melbourne study, published in the journal Plos One, found that people could reliably detect a change in their surroundings, even if they could not accurately describe what that change was.

However, the research concluded that this was not due to any kind of supernatural ability, but rather from cues picked up from more conventional senses such as sight.

Researchers presented pairs of photos of a woman to 48 different people. In some cases, the appearance of the woman in one of the pictures would be different – such as a different hairstyle or the presence of glasses.

The pictures were shown to the subjects for 1.5 seconds with a one-second break between them. The people were then asked whether a change had occurred and, if so, to pick the change from a list of nine possibilities.

The results showed that while the subjects could “sense” a change had occurred, they could not verbalise what it was. While this confirmed to some subjects that they possessed a sixth sense, or extrasensory perception, researchers said it showed there was no such ability

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http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jan/14/researchers-dismiss-sixth-sense

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!

[uriel1972]

1. Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi...nt

[William Seger]

2. Well, I prefer to put my faith in common sense, too, but...

... the logic of the conclusion here seems to be flawed, at least as it's stated in this article. Proving that people can "detect a change in surroundings, even if they cannot accurately describe it" is not surprising, but it doesn't really "rule out" being able to also detect things through "extrasensory" means. My common sense says that I shouldn't believe that's possible unless and until someone reliably demonstrates it under controlled conditions, but saying that this study proves non-existence is overstating the case.

[Archae]

3. Thhink about all the times you've been thinking about someone...

And they call you.

Now you'll remember that, but how many MORE times do you think about someone, and they don't call?

[DetlefK]

4. Ain't it weird that no illusionist claims to be a magician?

They pull the weirdest, mind-bending tricks and yet none of those "super-beings" claims to have super-natural powers. (Well, Uri Geller claimed that and it ended in utter humiliation.)