On October 21, 1966, in the Welsh mining village of Aberfan, a black mudflow buried a school. 116 children died. The day before Paul Davies, eight years old, had drawn men digging in a hill with “The End” written above the figures. Eryl Mai JonesA ten-year-old boy had told his mother he'd dreamed of "something black" descending on the school. Both died the next day, along with their other classmates. A terrible event, often recounted by those who cover the world of the paranormal: a new study from the University of North Carolina, however, suggests that so-called premonitions may be less paranormal and more neurological than we thought.
One fact above all? 84% of adults Observed individuals have regularly experienced at least one type of anomalous experience: premonitions, déjà vu, unexplained synchronicities. How is this possible? Let's look at the scientific perspective behind these phenomena.
The subconscious connection, the trait that predicts
A study published in Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice It involved over 2.200 American adults. The goal was to understand why some people seem more "tuned in" to future events than others. Olafur S. Palsson, psychologist and professor emeritus of theUniversity of North Carolina, developed a questionnaire called Thought Impact Scale to measure what defines “subconscious connection”: the degree of interaction between conscious awareness and subconscious thought.
Participants rated how much they agreed with statements about mental experiences and psychological traits: automatic thoughts, sudden intuitions, emotional resonance, spontaneous mental imagesBut also the frequency of unusual experiences such as telepathic impressions, precognitive dreams, and disturbing coincidences. The result? People with high subconscious connection reported these experiences much more often. compared to those with low scores.
Subconscious connection isn't an on/off phenomenon. It's a trait that varies from person to person, like extroversion or neuroticism, but remains relatively stable over time. According to Palsson, some people simply have a more intense dialogue between the conscious and the subconsciousTheir minds register signals that others discard.
Premonitions: Dissociation, magical thinking, and absorption
The study identified a number of psychological characteristics related to anomalous experiences. Those who report frequent premonitions tend to show higher levels of dissociation (a disconnection from one's thoughts, feelings, or memory), magical thinking (the belief that thoughts or actions can directly influence physical events), and absorption (the ability to immerse oneself completely in an activity to the point of losing track of time).
But there is also the intuitive thinking: that form of reasoning based on immediate impressions rather than logical analysis. And the strange synchronicities, when two events occur together in such an unlikely way that they seem significant. As Palsson explains:
"Some people have a much closer connection with the unconscious parts of their minds. Their conscious and subconscious influence each other in an unusually intense way in everyday life."
The predictive brain constantly anticipates
Neuroscientists suggest that the brain operates as a “predictive machine”When we perceive sounds or see images, only a small part of the brain (1 to 5%) processes what we are actually seeing or hearing. The remaining 95% is busy making predictions about what might happen. This ability, known as predictive brain, helps us optimize mental and physical resources, preparing them to react better and faster.
The brain's default network, active during daydreaming and introspection, may play a role in generating these impressions. Increased connectivity between brain regions responsible for memory, emotion, and prediction It might explain the intensity or vividness of so-called premonitions.
“Anomalous experiences are something that most people experience at least occasionally,” Palsson says. “Our studies have shown that 84% to 86% of adults repeatedly have at least one type of such experience.”. It is therefore not a rare or marginal phenomenon, but a widespread characteristic of human cognition.
Evolutionary advantage or cognitive bias?
Could premonitions confer some evolutionary advantage? Perhaps these anomalous experiences allow humans to better interpret subtle patterns, according to Palsson. Or, more prosaically, premonitions could be explained by selective recallWe remember accurate predictions while forgetting those that never came true.
Let's consider the confirmation bias andavailability heuristic, our tendency to remember emotionally charged events and forget the trivial ones. A hundred dreams are forgotten; one that coincides with a tragedy becomes unforgettable. Premonition may be less a matter of "seeing the future" and more a matter of perceive, consciously or unconsciously, subtle signals that the mind is already processing.
It's a bit like when we cross the street: our brain automatically calculates whether the time needed to cross is short enough to avoid being hit by an oncoming car. We don't consciously think about it, but the calculation happens. Similarly, the subconscious may be processing information that the conscious mind isn't yet registering.
Premonitions, when the inexplicable becomes… navigation
The study also found that a greater amount of anomalous experiences was related to higher levels of stress, anxiety and depressive symptomsIt's unclear whether these experiences cause distress or whether people who are already stressed are more likely to notice and remember them. But the data suggests that Subconscious connection is not necessarily a “superpower”.
Palsson cautions that, while the findings are robust, they don't prove that subconscious connection causes anomalous experiences. It's possible that both are influenced by other underlying factors, or that people who are more open to experiences are simply more likely to notice or remember unusual events. Premonition, in this sense, becomes part of the way we navigate the world, not something outside of it.
The inexplicable, in short, could simply be the result of a mind working differently. Not better, not worse. Just different.
