Which paranormal ability might be real in the future?

[osmosis]

I've been waiting for that one to come up!

The bad news is that you'd need to be able to control it. Some sights are best unseen.

OMG you're right! What if I was flipping channels and accidentally came across the Montel show and Sylvia Browne was on there?

 

[alfaniner]

I don't know if it even counts as paranormal; more of a physics problem really, I don't rule out time travel.

Well, if it's ever possible, it will have already been done, and is happening right now.

 

[The Atheist]

OMG you're right! What if I was flipping channels and accidentally came across the Montel show and Sylvia Browne was on there?

You'd tear your eyes out to make sure you never saw the like again.

Has anyone worked out whether Sylvia Browne is actually a woman? Or human?

 

[kalen]

I think hindsight would prove that thought. Even to people of only a few centuries ago, even the simplest of us would be a god.

More like a devil.

Without our cell phone, TV, computers, etc, the simplest of us would be indistinguishable from people from only a few centuries ago.

Then, if you were to start to explain all these wonderous things to them, you would be promptly burned at the stake for witchcraft.

 

[articulett]

If you cross your eyes to often they really will stick?

 

[The Atheist]

More like a devil.

Without our cell phone, TV, computers, etc, the simplest of us would be indistinguishable from people from only a few centuries ago.

Then, if you were to start to explain all these wonderous things to them, you would be promptly burned at the stake for witchcraft.

Ah, but did I mention that when my time-machine is perfected and I return to earlier days to change history, I will be taking a large number of rapid-fire automatic weapons, RPGs* and assorted weaponry.

*NOT Warcraft.

 

[Mojo]

I used to have a cat named Dingfutzer who was completely stone-deaf (hence the name; it didn't matter what we called him). You could not sneak up on him.

We used to have a cat who was deaf, and you could sneak up on him. That's how we realised he'd gone deaf.

He went deaf quite late in life, though. Was Dingfutzer deaf from young?

 

[Mojo]

Would a rat have survival advantages if it could detect a cat's intent and not only its presence? Well perhaps if it could detect a cat's actual decision vs. its musings ("Hmm, water (pads towards water dish), oh fluffy thing! (stops and attacks its toy) oh, a fly! (races after fly) ")-- than yeah, sure! More likely I think it would start reacting to thses signals the same way that the people ignored the boy who cried wolf in that fable; that is, if it didn't go crazy instead from processing not only every thing it was thinking (or whatever processes come close to thinking in rat) and what ever other life form it was "receiving" was thinking too.

In the absence of language, it might not be able to tell what the cat was thinking, but it might be able to tell that there was a cat nearby. Think of it as being analogous to sound. We might be confused by a lot of people talking at once, as far as the meaning of what they were saying was concerned, but we would be able to detect a crowd of people all talking at once. Creatures without language, or unable to understand our language, would not be able to get information about what we were saying in any case. But if they heard a lot of human voices, they would at least know that there were a group of humans around, and be able to tell which direction it was in.

Going back to the rat, merely being able to detect the cat's brain processes might be enough to enable the rat to avoid an area where a cat was waiting in ambush. It wouldn't need to know that the cat was planning an ambush; just that the cat was there.

I think this type of telepathy would just be too overwhelming to have any survival advantages.

Again, think of it as being analogous to sound. Beings without hearing might think it would be overwhelming to be constantly hearing different sounds, but it certainly has survival advantages.

 

[articulett]

We used to have a cat who was deaf, and you could sneak up on him. That's how we realised he'd gone deaf.

He went deaf quite late in life, though. Was Dingfutzer deaf from young?

A lot of white cats are deaf...you can vacuum around them--

 

[articulett]

More like a devil.

Without our cell phone, TV, computers, etc, the simplest of us would be indistinguishable from people from only a few centuries ago.

Then, if you were to start to explain all these wonderous things to them, you would be promptly burned at the stake for witchcraft.

Yes, that's true. I mean if you arrived in their village at the time of some natural disaster they'd blame you and kill you before you could even begin to explain anything to them.

Think of the really simple things that even kids know now--"there are these invisible things on your hands called germs and if you wash your hands frequently and cover your mouth when you cough, you can save people a lot of grief--especially if you are performing surgery on them or delivering babies! Heck, you can save lives even!"

Or "No, don't burn grandma...she's not a witch; she has Alzheimers!"

Or "he's not a prophet; he's schizophrenic!"

 

[Jeff Corey]

..

 

[SusanB-M1]

I have thought and thought about this while doing CV exercise at the gym for instance - passes the time nicely!) and I am very cross with myself that I cannot think of a paranormal ability which we could evolve. Even if we have switched-off genes or DNA, that still means that they are already in existence, including telepathic abilities; Science can deal with technologies that will be useful; I don't want to be a ghost or talk to my family after I die; but if I do think of something, I'll be right back here to say it.

 

[Soapy Sam]

For this,[sensitivity to electric / magnetic fields] and other abilities like telepathy, to develop in a large number of people wouldn't there have to be a survival advantage versus the general population? This could well be me completely misunderstanding the whole evolution/natural selection setup.

The question was what "paranormal"ability are we most likely (read "least unlikely") to develop.

That has to be something we know can evolve by natural selection.
The ability to navigate by and generate EM fields has evolved several times , in fish and mammals, so we know it's possible.

It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that the organs required to do this exist in humans in a form adapted to other purposes. (In fact, even without researching the issue, I would put money on it.)

So my answer was just an honest opinion to the OP.
As for whether it's likely- that's a wildly different question, but consider:- If global warming destroys the relatively stable Holocene climate, humanity may have to adapt significantly. That might mean massive population dieback, followed by economic collapse, widespread starvation and the odd nuclear holocaust or two.

Well, ok, we could probably just manage one, if we did it right, but when do we ever? Anyway, bags I the movie rights.

 

[Amapola]

Someone mentioned infrared earlier and that would be a really interesting ability. I know rattlesnakes can sense the heat coming from their prey (that's what the pit stands for in pit vipers) and it is claimed they can sense a difference of a very tiny amount. It even gives them a sort of depth perception. For people, they'd be able to "see" in the dark, or find a cooler place to hang out in the blazing sun.

 

[Ladewig]

It would be a borg-like artificial telepathy utilizing cell phone implants. You wouldn't be able to read other people's thoughts, just communicate with them wirelessly through the implanted devices.

The Phone Company has been thinking about it for 40 years now: The President's Analyst.

 

[gtc]

If we include forced evolution (i.e. genetically engineering a human to possess an inheritable trait) then a whole range of traits that currently exist in the animal kingdom should be possible.

 

[cj.23]

Life after death? I once jokingly suggested that if there is no afterlife we should build one, and the idea of uploading personal conciousness if it is just an (epiphenomenalist) product of brain activity on to an organic computer strikes me as entirely laudable and desirable. Of course I'm an unreconstructed dualist, but I like the idea...

cj x

 

[articulett]

If we include forced evolution (i.e. genetically engineering a human to possess an inheritable trait) then a whole range of traits that currently exist in the animal kingdom should be possible.

Yes...supersonic hearing or smell--we could look for genes that are involved in those senses...or maybe even implant genes for senses we don't have (infrared detection, echolocation, magnetic positioning) -- and people who pick up on facial expressions or nuances of communication can seem psychic and extra intuitive...they might not even be aware of how they know what they know. But that would just be "normal" not paranormal.

 

[Kaylee]

That has to be something we know can evolve by natural selection.
The ability to navigate by and generate EM fields has evolved several times , in fish and mammals, so we know it's possible.

It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that the organs required to do this exist in humans in a form adapted to other purposes. (In fact, even without researching the issue, I would put money on it.)

If people acquired this trait, then men would have a reason for not asking for directions.

 

[Kaylee]

In the absence of language, it might not be able to tell what the cat was thinking, but it might be able to tell that there was a cat nearby. Think of it as being analogous to sound. We might be confused by a lot of people talking at once, as far as the meaning of what they were saying was concerned, but we would be able to detect a crowd of people all talking at once. Creatures without language, or unable to understand our language, would not be able to get information about what we were saying in any case. But if they heard a lot of human voices, they would at least know that there were a group of humans around, and be able to tell which direction it was in.

Going back to the rat, merely being able to detect the cat's brain processes might be enough to enable the rat to avoid an area where a cat was waiting in ambush. It wouldn't need to know that the cat was planning an ambush; just that the cat was there.Again, think of it as being analogous to sound. Beings without hearing might think it would be overwhelming to be constantly hearing different sounds, but it certainly has survival advantages.

Well, I'm very hard of hearing so perhaps thats why your analogy isn't doing much for me , but it seems to me that it would be more logical for rats to evolve an even better sense of smell (especially to detect fresh from stale chemosignals, if they can't already) than to develop telepathy.