If you look back into the theories and practices surrounding auras and the electromagnetic field of the body, it appears that something is really going on around us. What a lot of people would like to know is if we can, in fact, feel this ‘force field’ and how it has a purpose in our functioning world.
New scientific evidence has found that we use this ‘force field’ like area around our body to sense and avoid harm.
According to a study that was recently published in the Cognition journal, scientists are looking into this phenomenon where we can ‘feel’ into the space surrounding our body.
This ability may be mostly one used by our subconscious in order to avoid danger and add to our reflexes.
This is like how if you see something flying towards you out of the corner of your eye you can often tell if it’s about to hit you or not and can quickly move to avoid it.
What is so interesting about this study is that the scientists were about to create an experiment that allowed people to be ‘tricked’ into tapping into this new sense and feel the phenomenon for themselves.
The scientists found a new way to do an old mind trick experiment.
“In the classic interpretation of this experiment, the participants’ hands are hidden from their view but they are able to see a fake rubber hand in front of them. The researchers then brush the participant’s real hand and the rubber hand simultaneously. Within moments, they typically report that they can feel the brush on the rubber hand as if it was their own.” –newscientist.com
In the new version of the experiment, the participants had their real hand that was hidden stroked by the brush while the fake hand had a brush stroke above the rubber hand which means there was no physical contact.
“The majority of participants reported a sensation of “magnetic force” or “force field” between the brush and the rubber hand. However, this effect wore off when the brush strokes were around 30 to 40 centimeters (12 to 16 inches) away from the rubber hand, around the distance of what scientists define as the peripersonal space.” –newscientist.com
So the typical person could sense some sort of magnetic force up to a foot away from their perceived physical body. Maybe this type of experiment can help ‘trick’ people to tap into a sense they would otherwise not be conscious of.
Our subconscious mind is so powerful that we really do not know all of the most subtle senses it picks up in order to navigate the world in real time.
Researchers are hoping that this experiment will help make sense of the “force field” that some people report feeling in their day to day life and give neuroscientists a way to start exploring this fascinating phenomenon.
The fun part about this experiment is that you can do it at home. Try it out and let us know that you think about it in the comments below.
Sources- newscientist.com
Journal reference: Cognition, DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.06.004