ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVTY: A PROMISING PATH FOR PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRY

Brandon Massullo, MA, MSc.

The physical environment affects certain individuals more than others, which may lead to varying environmental conditions and dysfunctions. These individuals would be categorized as environmentally sensitive. Past research points to environmental sensitivity as a neurobiological phenomenon by which certain individuals, from birth onward, are capable of registering very slight differences or changes in the physical environment. Environmental sensitivity has also been linked with paranormal experiences for close to thirty years, as those who are categorized as environmentally sensitive, report experiencing a higher number of psi and apparitional experiences. There have been several studies in the past 10 years which have provided significant correlations between environmental sensitivity and paranormal experiences. Recent breakthroughs have discovered a sensor of the Earth’s magnetic field in the brain of a tiny worm suggesting that animals have a ‘magnetic sense’. Since different sensitivities to environmental factors are well-established, if there were affects from MFs not everyone would react the same. If a ‘magnetic sense’ is present in all humans and magnetic fields are associated with haunt-type experiences perhaps those with an increased sensitivity to the environment would be more likely to report haunt-type experiences. The future of environmental sensitivity is vast not only for research into haunt-type phenomena, mystical experiences, and psi, but for mainstream psychology as well due to recent evidence suggesting that sensitivity may impact an individual’s behavioral responses, developmental processes, and coping mechanisms.

Published on June 17, 2017