Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as the sixth sense, is a paranormal ability to receive information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. ESP encompasses a wide range of paranormal abilities, including telepathy (mind reading), psychokinesis (moving objects without physical contact), and precognition (predicting the future) . Although many people claim to have this ability, the scientific community rejects ESP due to the absence of an evidence base, the lack of a theory that would explain ESP, and the lack of positive experimental results. However, some scientists continue to study ESP, and there is a significant body of scientific evidence that suggests that ESP may exist.
One common experimental design used to examine the ESP hypothesis is the ganzfeld procedure. In this procedure, subjects attempt to guess correctly the symbols of cards hidden from their view under controlled conditions. A better-than-chance percentage of correct calls on a statistically significant number of trials is considered to be evidence of ESP. Skeptics point out that results that appear to provide evidence for ESP arent actually much different from what youd expect based on chance.
In summary, ESP is a paranormal ability to receive information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. While the scientific community rejects ESP due to the lack of evidence, some scientists continue to study it, and there is a significant body of scientific evidence that suggests that ESP may exist.
