ESP (Extrasensory Perception) refers to the alleged ability to receive information through means other than the known physical senses. While scientifically unproven, it remains a topic of interest in parapsychology and popular culture. | ESP Type | Description | Claimed Manifestations | Skeptical Perspective | |-------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | Telepathy | The ability to communicate thoughts or feelings without using known physical means | Mind-reading, thought transference | Cold reading, subjective validation | | Clairvoyance | The ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or event through perception| Remote viewing, seeing distant events | Confirmation bias, selective reporting | | Precognition | The ability to perceive future events before they happen | Prophetic dreams, visions of the future | Self-fulfilling prophecy, retroactive prediction | | Retrocognition | The ability to see or perceive past events | Psychic archaeology, past-life memories | Cryptomnesia, false memories | | Psychometry | The ability to obtain information about an object by touching it | Reading an object's history, sensing emotions tied to an item | Subjective interpretation, cold reading | | Mediumship | The alleged ability to communicate with spirits of the deceased | Séances, channeling | Cold reading, hot reading, ideomotor effect | | Aura reading | The ability to see or sense a person's energy field | Perceiving colors around people, sensing emotions | Synesthesia, subjective interpretation | | Psychokinesis | The ability to influence physical objects with the mind | Moving objects, bending spoons | Trickery, illusions, confirmation bias | | Dowsing | The practice of using a rod or pendulum to locate underground water, minerals, or objects | Finding water sources, locating lost items | Ideomotor effect, chance | | Remote healing | The ability to heal others from a distance using psychic or spiritual means | Energy healing, prayer healing | Placebo effect, regression to the mean | Key Concepts: 1. Psi: The term used in parapsychology to denote ESP and psychokinesis collectively. 2. Ganzfeld experiment: A technique used in parapsychology research to test for ESP. 3. Sheep-goat effect: The observation that belief in ESP may influence performance in ESP tests. 4. Decline effect: The tendency for ESP effects to diminish over time in experimental settings. 5. Staring detection: The claimed ability to sense when someone is staring at you. Skeptical Approaches: 1. Occam's Razor: Simpler explanations (e.g., coincidence, misperception) are often more likely than ESP. 2. Reproducibility: ESP effects are generally not consistently reproducible under controlled conditions. 3. James Randi Educational Foundation: Offered a $1 million prize for demonstrable paranormal abilities (unclaimed). 4. Cold reading: Technique used to create the illusion of psychic abilities through observation and inference. 5. Barnum effect: The tendency to accept vague, general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to oneself. #paranormal #esp #parapsychology #skepticism Note: This cheatsheet presents both claimed ESP phenomena and skeptical perspectives for a balanced view. The scientific consensus does not support the existence of ESP. #paranormal #esp #parapsychology