What evolved power would you like? How realistic is your wish?

I pointed out in a post over on Wordpress ( Shameless plug ) that the human Brain was designed for nothing more taxing than Hunting and Gathering whilst staying alive and upright. D.N.A. has allowed us to upgrade and pass on these improvements but the Brain is still essentially primitive. Animal instincts and emotions rule it. It seems somewhere along the line we have somehow managed to start dealing with abstracts. Still it is nothing short of a miracle that we have reached the degree of understanding we have with such a limited processor.

Yet those instincts are something which offer hope of future evolution. I think of them as built in autonomous warning and information gathering programs accessed and read by the unconscious. One has always fascinated me. It is that burning feeling in between your shoulder blades that tells you that you are being watched. The advantage is obvious, it tells you that someone or something is showing interest in you. You are pre warned and your first reaction is to locate the watcher. Neat. But hang on, this sometimes happens when you are not facing anyone so visual clues are out. Often the watcher is in a crowded street so auditory clues are unlikely and smell would be difficult to pick up at such a distance and with so many other sources. Where does the information come from? Could this be nascent telepathy?

I don't know but I don't know how else it could happen either. Indulge me, then, if I extrapolate future human evolutionary changes from such a flimsy start. This is not a 'Which superpower would you like.' Post. I am only sticking to those powers that could possibly be ours in future. All this is my opinion and I am not citing any research or experiments to back it up.

Straightaway I am discounting teleportation, if it is possible, it would require more than just a normal brain, possibly a machine (As in Star Trek.). I cannot see the brain being able to move it's entire body vast distances unassisted.

Another one I would love to experience and some people claim is already ours is Astral Projection. The separation of consciousness from the body fascinates me and the idea of travelling in this way would enable you to experience the whole world while you sleep. Maybe you could even spy on your neighbours at their most vulnerable if that is your thing.

Despite my best efforts I have not experienced this but it does not seem like something you can develop. If you believe it, it is something you can already do or not, as with the 'Someone's watching me...' ability. This would be top of my wish list. I have tried to achieve this, result epic fail.

 

Next, and in my opinion most likely to develop within a few generations, is Telepathy. I have often felt that you can pick up on the emotions of another, especially if you are close in terms of emotional ties. No doubt there would be those who provide banal and commonplace explanations for this. You get used to someone's thought processes or you think in similar ways. However I have personally experienced this first hand and there is a distinct difference between knowing what someone would think and knowing what they are thinking. It is hit and miss but it has happened to me. In the future this may develop into a controllable ability.

 

 

Extra sensory perception is a hard one. Telepathy could be achieved, maybe by projection of bio electrical energy through the air with someone able to receive the signal, but this one requires a two way connection with inanimate objects. I can't see any logical way it would work. Once again there are those who claim this ability now but if it exists I have no idea how it would operate It would be very useful though.

 



 

Last of the more realistic abilities is Telekinesis. The movement of objects with the mind alone. Again a projected Bio electrical field may be able to achieve this. It would take a strong and constant field and a way of converting it into a semi solid physical force able to interact with other physical objects. I don't think it would ever work with large or extremely heavy objects, if it is possible at all. Again very useful if it ever happens

"What the hell is he on about?" I hear you scream. Well this is all just a thought experiments about which of these fringe ideas is ever likely to happen.

But what if we used technology? Professor Kevin Warwick of Coventry University already has implants which control computers responsible for Lighting, opening doors etc. The below is his Wikipedia entry with all the details and the second link is his personal webpage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Warwick
http://www.kevinwarwick.com/

Ok, it isn't true Telekinesis but it may be possible with cyborg like implants and Wi-Fi connections to create a passable telepathic ability. You may even be able to control machines that can move objects using the implants.

Personally I'd settle for telepathy. I would still REALLY like to do the 'Out of body experience' thing. If anyone has a set of instructions...................

Why we need a little mystery.

 

The above pictures are fairly well known. Crop circles have been a part of our lives for a few decades. Nessie (Or the Loch Ness Monster.) even longer. The one with the Leg is a case of Spontaneous Human Combustion, whereby a human body is almost totally consumed by burning (Which would require extremely high temperatures.) yet there is little or no damage to the surroundings.

 

The rise of the internet has proved one thing. We love our mysteries. The more inexplicable the better. While researching this I typed 'Unexplained' into Google and clicked images. The hundreds of results included a time travelling man, a 1940's girl with a suited astronaut behind her, a man with two faces, various supposed Ghost images, Ditto UFO images. The list went on. Many sites collate these things. There is a crossover with conspiracy theories here because all are covered by the title unexplained. Allow me to present you with a uniquely British example.

 

Spring Heeled Jack

 

This was a diabolical figure with fiery red eyes and clawed hands and was reported fro 1837 till 1877 and in various parts of the U.K. He was scary enough but his true terror for Victorian witnesses was that, from a standing start, he could leap 9 feet or more in order to escape. Various explanations were put forward, mainly upper class pranksters. Phosphorous and metal claws accounted for the physical aspects. Even the 1888 Jack the Ripper case was briefly attributed to this British bogey man. More often his appearances were put down to superstition or mass hysteria. More information can be found HERE.

 

 

Time slips.

 



This is another unexplained phenomena. One of the best known is two ladies who went to Versaille, France in 1901. They got lost on their homeward journey but noticed many anachronisms. The clothing was different. The atmosphere changed. Everything seemed flat and lifeless and they observed phenomena strongly suggesting they were in the 16th century. The full story is HERE

There are many other stories of unexplained events. Some point to modern watches found in Ming dynasty graves. Others maintain that the JFK story in 1963 involved time travellers and/or the Illuminati. The British at the battle of Mons in early ww1 swore that Angels had appeared and protected them from the German guns. The Irish Banshee appears on the roof of a house only when a member of the family's death is imminent. The Nazca Lines in Mexico are designed to be seen from the air despite being made in a time before flight.

Now I am a sceptic, I try to debunk Ghost images and it isn't difficult. I like to think we possess innate telepathic or telekinetic abilities but have never been convinced by stories of these abilities. I believe in Alien life but do not believe they would bother travelling all this way just to examine our bodies. I think the Illuminati died out in the far past. I really don't believe in a lot outside our own knowledge as a race.

BUT I get a thrill at the idea of a high jumping monster, banshees scare me, I get shivers at the idea of witches and hags. I like a good Ghost story provided research has given it at least a fighting chance of being based in fact. I would love to slip in time. I want a convincing story of a telepath. The man with two faces- Edward Mordake- would seem feasible as a conjoined twin but is just creepy enough for me.

I think this is the point. Our lives are full of the known and explained that we are desperate for something we can't explain and if it is slightly creepy so much the better. I have given myself some shivery moments looking at pictures for this post and I am oh so rational. If no one has ever managed to explain something with all our modern science and the facts cannot be put down to fakery then it might just BE supernatural. Personally I need something that can't be explained.