Is Technology Killing Your Sixth Sense?
Do you ever just know something without any logical explanation?
Like when you take a different route home and later find out you avoided a massive traffic jam. Or when you meet someone and instantly feel like you’ve known them forever — or should avoid them at all costs.
That’s your sixth sense at work, right?
What’s wild to me is that we’ve built a bunch of spaceships, decoded the human genome, and created an AI that can compose symphonies, yet we can’t collectively define this mysterious intuition we all share. Isn’t that ironic? Maybe even paradoxical?
With all our science and technology, the essence of this human experience remains an enigma.
It seems that our sixth sense inherently evades quantification. Perhaps it’s a subtle reminder that not everything valuable can be graphed, charted, or coded.
Or maybe it is so elusive for us because it involves countless micro-computations — tiny bits of information processed subconsciously — such that it’s virtually impossible for to measure (for now). If this were the case, it would be like trying to count the individual drops in a waterfall while standing beneath it.
I think we can all agree that we have a collective “sixth sense”, we all know it’s there. So first of all what exactly is it, and is technology killing your sixth sense or enhancing it?
Let’s dive down this rabbit hole together, shall we?
The Unspoken Connection
We (humans) love to label things. If it exists, we’ll name it, categorize it, and slap a barcode on it. But our sixth sense slips through the cracks like sand through the boardwalk planks.
Some people refer to it as intuition. Others talk about gut feelings, hunches, or even extrasensory perceptions. Some people take it a step further to try and convince you that they have some level of control over these phenomena. Maybe that’s true, but I suspect most of those people are just trying to sell you something.
In any case, deep down, we all know something is there, inside us. It’s the internal whisper that guides you when logic falls short.
All five of our conventional senses can be communicated from person to person. Have you ever had someone “give you a smell” just by talking about freshly baked bread or a sizzling steak? Suddenly, you can almost taste it, smell it, feel the warmth, whatever your fancy.
This isn’t just poetic language; it’s also a symptom of our sensory interconnectedness.
Research into mirror neurons sheds some light here. Discovered in the early 1990s, mirror neurons are brain cells that fire both when we perform an action and when we observe someone else performing the same action. They’re thought to be the neural basis for empathy (!!), allowing us to feel what others are experiencing.
To add to this, a study published in Brain and Language found that sensory words can activate the corresponding sensory areas in our brains. When someone describes a velvety piece of chocolate, the parts of our brains responsible for taste and touch light up as if we were experiencing it ourselves.
It’s like we have this built-in survival mechanism — a way to share vital information quickly without the need for direct experience, both sensory and extrasensory. I’m sure its been very useful to us over the years.
But what about the sixth sense? Can we share that?
So many questions…not a ton of answers…and at the end of the day it’s probably semantics anyways.
Why Can’t We Define It?
Maybe because it’s like trying to describe a color you’ve never seen or a sound you’ve never heard. Or like explaining a dream to someone who wasn’t there.
Our sixth sense seems to be personal, intimate even; it seems to defy the confines of language.
Science suggests that our sixth sense is deeply connected to interoception — the subconscious perception of internal bodily states. According to an integrative review published by NIH, our emotional feelings are closely linked to physiological signals from the heart, lungs, and gut.
Our brains continuously process these internal cues beneath our conscious awareness, integrating subtle changes in bodily systems into what we perceive as gut feelings.
The immense complexity and subtlety of these subconscious processes render them virtually impossible to quantify, yet they play a pivotal role in shaping our intuition and emotional experiences.
Science will catch up eventually, and we will figure out how to measure it. Now by that time it may have changed on us, but that’s another problem for another day.
My takeaway on the definition is that truth lies in the paradoxes and contradictions. For me, paradoxes are truth markers, representing where multiple realities converge. Our sixth sense is one such paradox — an undeniable (shared) experience that science struggles to explain.
Once we can explain our sixth sense coherently, it will cease to be a paradox, and will become an accepted part of our collective knowledge base. Perhaps we are getting closer. For now we must be comfortable with a looser definition.
The Digital Dulling or the Techno-Boost?
With all our gadgets, apps, and AI overlords, what’s happening to this elusive sense of ours?
On one hand, technology might be smothering your intuition like a heavy blanket.
You’re constantly bombarded with notifications, drowning in data, and outsourcing your decision-making to algorithms. If you aren’t careful, your mind becomes cluttered, leaving little room for that subtle inner voice.
A study in Computers in Human Behavior found that excessive screen time can reduce your ability to read emotional cues, potentially dulling your intuitive social interactions. Are you trading your spidey-sense for Siri?
But — as with all of them — there’s another side to this coin. What if technology is actually enhancing your sixth sense?
Many of us have wearable tech that monitors our heart rate, sleep patterns, and stress levels. The systems around us are constantly designed to remind us of how we feel (or invoke feelings). This biofeedback can make us more attuned to our bodies and minds, potentially sharpening our intuition about our physical and emotional states.
Plus, there’s that little piece of technology called the internet. It has woven us into a global hive mind. We’re sharing experiences, thoughts, and feelings at an unprecedented scale. This collective consciousness might be birthing a new kind of intuition — a digital sixth sense, if you will.
Research in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication suggests that online interactions (with gaming, of all things!) can enhance our ability to understand and predict social behaviors in virtual environments.
Would you look at that — there’s evidence for both sides of this argument!
So technology can enhance your sixth sense, or else it can dampen it. Depends on how you use it…
If you let it dominate you, numbing your senses with endless scrolls and pings, you’ll probably lose touch with that inner compass.
But if you use it mindfully — as a tool rather than a crutch — it will amplify your natural abilities.
Final Musings (TLDR)
Perhaps we need to accept that not everything can — or should — be defined. Our sixth sense is a reminder of the vastness of human experience that lies beyond data points and code.
In a world obsessed with metrics, KPIs, and analytics, maybe the most valuable things are those that resist quantification.
We share more global human experiences than we might think, buried under layers of silicon. Our sixth sense is one of those shared threads — a silent understanding that connects us all. Technology is a double-edged sword. It can either sever that connection or strengthen it, depending on how we wield it.
So try not to let your devices dull your instincts. Instead, integrate them into a balanced existence.
Be reasonable and be moderate.