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Improving Your Senses
by Ron Kurtus (updated 18 May 2023)
The capabilities of your senses are essentially genetically determined. You have certain abilities in vision, hearing, and your other senses. In some cases injury or disease can even degrade the ability of your senses to operate.
It is very difficult to improve your senses, although you can improve your skills by becoming more sensitive and aware.
Questions you may have include:
- Why is it difficult to improve what you have?
- What does sensitivity have to do with things?
- Would it help finding other senses?
This lesson will answer those questions.
Senses determined
Your ability to sense has been already determined by the time you are born. Humans can see within a certain band of light wavelengths, can hear a certain range of sound frequencies, and can taste and smell certain materials and chemicals.
They also require certain thresholds of energy to sense things. For example, humans need a certain brightness of light to see. Also, their noses aren't as sensitive to smells as as dog's.
Vision is the most complex sense, as there is also the ability to focus properly that affects the ability to see well.
Some have better senses than others
Some people seem to have been blessed with more sensitive senses than others.
Vision
There are people who can see well in the dark or have extra-sharp vision. Old time baseball player Babe Ruth was said to have such good eyes that he could read a license plate of a car that was so far away that the average person could not even tell what color the license plate was.
Hearing and smelling
There are people who have extra-sharp hearing. There are others whose noses are so keen that they can smell orders that others can't.
6th sense
We all know people who seem to have a 6th sense that is more sensitive than others. It is assumed that everyone has some 6th sense, but in most it is too weak to be useful.
Very weak senses
Also, we may have senses to detect electrical or magnetic fields, as do some animals. If we do have such senses, our sensitivity is so weak that it does us no good.
Trying to improve sense
Can you strengthen your senses, so that you become more aware? This question is especially of interest to those that believe that we have psychic senses that can be developed.
Becoming more aware
You can become more aware of things, such that your sensitivity increases. Soldiers have learned to see better in the dark by moving their eyes back and forth to enhance what they can see. Others can block out their other senses to listen carefully for low volume sounds. Did you ever see a cat listening for a mouse in a field? Concentration increases the sensitivity in that case.
One thing about this is that you become more aware of the sense itself, as well as the world around you. This increases the sensitivity of the sense.
When senses are lost
When a person loses one of his or her senses, the other senses become more sensitive. For example, a blind person seems to develop a better sense of touch and hearing. Part of this is due to the fact that the brain has less information to process, so you tend to pay more attention to the remaining senses.
Try watching a movie with the sound turned off. You can see the nuances of the movement and expressions of the actors much better than with the sound on. This is especially true with the old silent films, because the actors had to communicate without sound. Most silent films on TV include some irritating music to help dull your senses.
Improving sixth sense
So, can you improve your sixth sense? Maybe. But it would not be easy. Although you can become more aware of certain senses when others are not being stimulated, it is very difficult to improve your senses beyond what you have been given. Just consider trying to do exercises to improve your vision or hearing. It just doesn't seem to work.
It is not certain if blind or deaf people have experienced the 6th sense more than those with all their senses. But it is possible to become more aware of any of your senses by cutting out distractions, noticing things with that sense and practicing using it.
With some senses, concentration helps. But with the 6th sense, it seem that the more you try, the less it works. Any concentration must be done without really trying to use the sense. That is why it is important to recall how you felt when you did experience your 6th sense. In this way, you can concentrate on repeating the feelings and ability to use the sense.
Summary
Some people can sense things better than others. Some have better vision, while others are more psychic. Although it is almost impossible to improve the natural sensitivity of the senses with which you have been born, it is possible to learn to use them better and to become more aware of the sense. Being aware of how the sense works and blocking out distractions help to improve your abilities.
Know yourself and improve.
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Improving Your Senses