The Sixth Sense
The sixth sense, in my opinion the most interesting sense, and also the most unknown. There are no diagrams that you can find on the web about how the sixth sense works in the body, you cannot find a peer reviewed paper as to why we have the sixth sense, and some people can’t even agree on a definition for what it even is.
Most people agree that the sixth sense is a sense of intuition. That gut feeling that you get sometimes that something is going to go wrong or that you forgot something. Or that you are walking into a great opportunity. This is why I believe that the sixth sense is the most religious out of all of the senses. There are no real scientific explanations for why people feel the sixth sense, sometimes you just feel as if something told you what to do, or that something is wrong. This is what makes it almost a religious experience, for some people their sixth sense acts as a way of saving something, or avoiding harm, for others it is a feeling to go out and do something, to take a risk that ultimately pays off. This is extremely similar to many things in religion. There are so many stories in the Bible of God or angels coming down to earth and telling people what to do, as either a test of their faith or as a guiding light. There are examples in Judaism and in Hinduism as well. The very idea of the sixth sense could be explained by a higher power coming down to earth and giving you the awareness that you need.
I am also a big fan of Star Wars. In Star Wars, there is a presence that is all around the people, the environment, and everything in between called the Force. The Force is explained as an energy that is constant and continuously present everywhere in the galaxy. When reading Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram, I found the Force very similar to what he describes in the book at the “Life-World.” The "Life-World" is described as a corporeal dimension half-way between transcendental consciousness and objective matter that is part of the science world. This “Life-World” is extremely similar to the Force as they are both the sense of presence of physical matter, and something much more transcending than just crude matter. Giving both Jedi, and people on Earth their sixth sense.
I am also a big fan of Star Wars. In Star Wars, there is a presence that is all around the people, the environment, and everything in between called the Force. The Force is explained as an energy that is constant and continuously present everywhere in the galaxy. When reading Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram, I found the Force very similar to what he describes in the book at the “Life-World.” The "Life-World" is described as a corporeal dimension half-way between transcendental consciousness and objective matter that is part of the science world. This “Life-World” is extremely similar to the Force as they are both the sense of presence of physical matter, and something much more transcending than just crude matter. Giving both Jedi, and people on Earth their sixth sense. 
I liked how you compared the sixth sense to the force from star wars. That's pretty creative, and I never thought about it that way! Do you think the sense sixth is somewhat related to what we call instinct?
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting how you pointed out the sixth sense as a "religious experience." I know in Judaism, one example is that we refer to Elijah the Prophet arriving at the seder during Passover. Have you had any religious sixth sense experiences yourself?
ReplyDeleteHuge fan of Star Wars too. But it is interesting how sometimes your senses just start flaring up and if you stop and think about the origin, you can't explain it. Sometimes you just know what's going to happen before it happens. To quote Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and C-3PO, "I have a bad feeling about this."
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that sixth senses can be available to everyone but more people are more sensitive or attune to it. Just like how the force binds all natural things together but only some can utilize it.
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