This is an idea I have been thinking about for quite a while, and I am posting on ATS to see what others feel.

Most of us recognise that people with sensory disabilities develope their other senses to compensate. For example I am visually impaired, and my body seems to have developed my other senses beyond what a normal person would have done. I hear better than most fully sighted, my sense of smell is incredible, as is taste and feeling.

But my question is; Do they develope their sixth sense to compensate as well?

If anyone at all has views on this then please share!

IMO the rise or fall of ones senses would come from the nessessity/desire of ones awarness as a whole. What I mean by that is just because I go blind does not mean I will start to hear better, unless the need for me to hear better presents itself. Awarness as a whole can and will advance using any and all senses if available if there is need for such advancement. A Sixth Sense then would certainly be in higher demand if one of the other five were gone and a need to increase Awarness was also there.

I present for example the high possability that a Blind Man might be much more aware of Himself and the world around him than a man with all 5 senses in tact, he would just experience and explain it non-visually.

Result: Sixth Sense within those who lack 1 or more of the first 5 is a Higher Probability, but stays equal in Certainty.

I think your other senses just become more sensitive. And you learn to overcome it. We have a guy that is blind at work. From time to time I help him get packages or p/c parts to his office. It is incredable watching this guy move thru the building.
He knows where he is at by listening for the most part. All the differant sounds his cane makes as he taps along the wall and floor. When I see someone coming down the hallway....he hears them and moves before they get close him. And he walking just as fast as I am. It is amazing.
But it is his physical senses that adapt. Nothing mystical. IMO...........

[Edited on 9/19/2003 by nyeff]

I tend to agree with Nyeff on this.

A blind person has a better developed sense of hearing,a deaf person a better sense of sight.These are developed through necessity.

To the able bodied these refined senses may seem extraordinary almost, in some cases, to the point of being supernatural.

I guess our perception is evenly divided between our senses and that perception is not lessened by the loss of one but redivided amoungst the 4 senses that remain.

Originally posted by John bull 1
I tend to agree with Nyeff on this.

A blind person has a better developed sense of hearing,a deaf person a better sense of sight.These are developed through necessity.

To the able bodied these refined senses may seem extraordinary almost, in some cases, to the point of being supernatural.

I guess our perception is evenly divided between our senses and that perception is not lessened by the loss of one but redivided amoungst the 4 senses that remain.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I think that the other 4 senses get a lot better and sometimes this can seem supernatural.

Well yea! The body has it's own balancing systems! Like if you get a leg cut off, you're not going to die. Well if taken care of immediately ha! At the same time...if you want to get around, you're gonna have to learn to...on crutches... wheelchair. Pick your choice. You can develop your psychic abilities. They are always there. Just waiting.

Actually, I've had a similar theory in mind for a while. There are severely mentally disabled people, called Idiot Servants (or something like that). These people can do almost no mental comprehension at all, but one part of their brain is so highly advanced, it's amazing. For instance, there was once a man who could listen to a piano piece once, bang around on the piano keys for a few seconds, and then echo the exact piece without flaw. There are similar people with similar abilities. If you've ever seen the movie Rain Man, it's similar to that. I've often wondered if there might be someone like that who has a highly developed 6th sense or something like that...I don't know.

There seems to be no doubt that we possess some kind of "sixth" sense. Just as some can see or hear better than others...likewise, some are more intune with it than others as well....

Whenever one loses some or all of one sense, it's common experience that the brain forces the other senses to become sharper to try and compensate...it stands to reason that this occurs with the sixth sense as well. Ask yourself...ever wonder why so many "true" psychics usually discovered their talent