Morning Andy.
Very interesting thread.
Firstly I should (ashamedly) admit I was tickled by Mr.Magoo's post. I'm sorry!
Secondly I should say that I basically agree with Gill's comments (in post 3).
I love all this stuff, and would dearly love to believe that a sixth sense exists.
In a sense (sorry
) I think it does, but I happen to think that a sixth sense is brought about by one's other senses (mainly
vision and
hearing if one is lucky enough to possess both).
I've spent most of my free time outside, and a fair proportion of my professional time there too.
I've even played on this 'sixth sense' thing.
If I'm walking along a river with my parents in law for example, and I hear a Kingfisher, I'll suddenly announce "STOP!" to everyone, and "WATCH...."!
Lo and behold, a Kingfisher will dart by -pretty well every time.
Likewise, if I see the birds all jump into the sky ahead of us, in a patch of scrub, I'll do the same - and more often than not a Hawk will speed by.
I know this isn't quite the same as the 'sixth sense' you are alluding to.
I'll explain its relevance...
I think there are many people (many on WAB, I'm positive), who employ their five senses (mainly vision and hearing, like I said) in quite different ways to other people.
I LOOK. (rather than SEE).
I LISTEN. (rather than HEAR).
Not only that, (I speak for most WABers again I guess), we have a REAL interest in the things we see in the countryside - be it a river, or a wood, a mountain or a meadow. We are genuinely fascinated (in almost a child-like way) in our environment.
Combine the actual physical processes of LOOKING (not seeing) and LISTENING (not just hearing), with a lot of experience and you've got a perfect recipe for predicting occurrences in the countryside, which may be put down to a sixth sense.
For the mathematicians amongst you...
SENSE 1 (LOOKING, not seeing) +
SENSE 2 (LISTENING, not hearing) +
GENUINE INTEREST +
EXPERIENCE =
SENSE 6.
That a very dull way of showing what I (sadly) believe to be the case as far as the sixth sense you are talking about Andy.
I'm afraid, as so far as my fishing experience goes, I have very little - just a few trout and salmon weeks on the Lyon, and as far as predicting when a fish would bite before it did then - well, that was out of the question - nothing bit ever!
As far as you knowing when someone is staring at you across a pub Mark, well, I'd probably put that down to almost unperceived signals, very early on in the episode, that you've subconsciously picked up on, like for example they've stopped talking or drinking, or altered their body position. You don't have to even be in sight of that to KNOW thats happened...
As for getting the feeling you're being watched in a wood, turning round and there's a deer - I can't really explain that, but I can give you a related example.
I used to think that I "KNEW" when a Raptor was above me in the sky,
without any signal like mobbing or panic flocking by smaller passerines or waders).
Too often to mention (it still happens), I'd suddenly just look up, and yep, there was a Hawk (Maybe almost just a dot, high in the sky). I KNEW it was there you see.
Hmmmm. I'd like to think so.
I have come to the inevitable and rather dull conclusion though that I and we,(in common with many people on this site, as I've mentioned before) utilise, no, EMPLOY our senses far more rigorously than many, many other people, mainly down to our interest I suppose.
I'll always be looking up (without realising it I suppose) on a day, when (subconsciously?) I know the weather is good for raptors. I won't deliberately be looking up, I'll just be doing it.
Very often, there will be no raptor in the sky (no surprise there) but regularly (of course) there
will be too.
I can kid myself that I'm in tune with the birds, but I feel the truth is that I am putting myself in the position to have that happen to me, by my interest, the way I use my two main senses, and a whole lot of experience.
On top of that, I am FAR more likely to remember the times that I suddenly looked up and saw an Osprey (as I did on passage in the south of England this year), or a deer thats watching me, or a fish thats ready to bite (and I somehow
know it) than the many times
none of the above happened. I think thats completely understandable and natural.
I think we don't fully understand our senses, and certainly not our "sixth" or "seventh". (how can we)?
Years ago, I used to play a bit of golf. I was ok. Not great.
I was lucky enough to get an albatross and a hole in one during my playing years.
I KNEW, even before getting ready to hit the ball, on each of those two shots mentioned above, that the shot I was about to play was going to be perfect, or near as. I had no reason to know that - in both cases , the rest of the round was a bit of a write-off - its just that in those two shots, like I say, even before I'd addressed the ball, I KNEW everything was right.
I can't explain that.
I'm a triplet too. To cut a long story short, I'm a TWO EGG TRIPLET, ie 2 eggs in my mum's womb - one of which split to form my 2 identical twin sisters, and one remained whole, to form me.
My two twin sisters have ALWAYS been spookily in tune with one another, even on different sides of the planet (these days one lives In Chicago, the other Paris). They could write a book on their "extra sense".
I cannot explain that, either.
Anyway.
I've just read my post.
Sorry. It seems a bit disjointed.
I've got the flu at the moment, so I'll have another (better) think about the subject over a mug of lemsip...
Good thread Andy.
