They say we use only a part of our brain and if we optimized it more, feats beyond the imagination of humans could be achieved. There are beliefs that we are attributed with abilities we hardly recognize.
Although, science does not approve of them, they still fascinate humans, many of whom are more than convinced about their authenticity. Let’s check them out.
1. Bi-location – the ability to be in two places at the same time
Life would have been so much easier if we had this one paranormal ability. Apparently, there have been people who actually could execute bi-location. Among the famous people known for having such powers, the most prominent name is that of Vladimir Lenin. Allegedly, in 1923, Lenin was spotted in his office in Moscow, going through some official papers when he was critically ill in Gorki.
Another eminent name that pops in the subject is Aleister Crowley . The English occultist was believed to have the ability but interestingly, he himself had no realization of it. Unfortunately, there have been no scientific evidence to back the existence of this paranormal power of humans.
2. Telepathy – the ability to communicate without using any sensory channel or device
It is one of the most talked about paranormal power in novels and cinema. Often associated with thought reading, two great performers, Washington Irving Bishop and Stuart Cumberland were believed to posses the ability. Both of them denied any psychic abilities and ascribed their skills to muscle reading.
Although, science considers telepathy as a part of pseudoscience, the 2014 revelations of two scientists, Dr Michel Berg and Dr Alejandro Riera, in the field of telepathic communications has created quite a stir in the field of study.
3. Clairvoyance – the ability to gain information through extra-sensory perception
Three key abilities make up clairvoyance and they are precognition, the ability to see events about to happen; retro-cognition, the ability to see events happened in the past and remote viewing, the ability to see events happening in the present but beyond the realms of the clairvoyant’s vision.
Victor Race had been the earliest name to be reported as a clairvoyant in 1784. He was a dimwit peasant, undergoing treatment who would suddenly change his personality and give diagnosis and prescriptions of his disease as well as others. In spite of huge amounts of money offered by several individuals and organisations to anyone who can prove to be a clairvoyant, no one really had come forward to take up the challenge.
4. Telekinesis – the ability to move objects without physically influencing them
It was a matter of intrigue to the US Army who in 1984, set up a panel to research on the subject with hopes to incorporate telekinesis as a military tactic. However, they were critical of the claims made in favor of telekinesis by the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Lab when the panel could not find much helpful data.
However, with 130 years of research on the service, the PEAR Lab scientific community still believes in the authenticity of the claims. In 2013, Electrical engineer Todd Coleman at the University of California at San Diego was reported to be working on inventing a tattoo that can induce telekinetic powers in humans.
5. Automatic writing – the ability of writing down information but not consciously
It is believed that the information comes to the writer from supernatural sources. Automatic writing is often associated to to planchette and ouija boards. Creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Connan Doyle, wrote in his The New Revelation (1918), that automatic writing can occur due to the subconscious of the writer or the operation of external spirits through the writer.
However, this is yet another alleged paranormal ability that scientific research has not been able to back up. It is considered as pseudoscience like most paranormal claims and often, the ability is explained with crytomnesia, an phenomenon where lost memories come back to a person without him realizing it.
6. Empathy – the ability to feel someone else’s emotions
Although, all humans are expected to be empathetic to each other, people with empathetic abilities can actually feel what others are feeling. Empaths are believed to be extremely sensitive to emotions around them. They can be affected very easily and suffer from a roller coaster of unknown emotions without knowing their source.
Edgar Cayce, an American mystic had claimed that such psychic abilities may result from the development of the soul from physical attunement and various incarnations. It is also believed by other theorists that empathetic abilities can develop more in people who have had near death experiences.
7. Astral Projection – the ability to get out of body and be back
Believers of astral travel claim that there is an existence of an “astral body” which can exist outside the physical body. The popularity of out of body experience as soared high with writings of Robert Monroe getting published. He later founded the Monroe Institution to carry out research on altered states of consciousness.
Science had not confirmed the authenticity of astral projection but numerous books have been written and researches conducted on the subject. Cases of astral projection, generally have proved to be reports made on the basis of hallucinogenics or mere dreams.
Science may not approve of them but many believe these powers do exist.
