A Touching Story: Psychometry
Human beings have evolved a remarkable capacity to gather information from their environment. Sight, taste, smell, sound and touch- these traditional senses provide a concrete way to define the space in which we live. Individuals can develop these senses, some to a level of proficiency beyond that of the average human being. Consider the visual acuity involved in military marksmanship, the discriminating palate of a gourmet cook, a wine taster’s sensitivity to the bouquet of a bottle of wine, or a trained musician’s ability to identify perfect pitch. Despite the fact that people like these have honed their sensory abilities to an advanced degree, however, their talents would not be called paranormal. However, there is the belief that an extrasensory capacity for touch exists within the repertoire of human abilities.
The term psychometry was first coined by Joseph Buchanan in 1842, and its meaning has evolved since then to refer to the ability to “read” an object’s history through touch. As fantastic as this is perceived to be, like many paranormal abilities, it has been met with warranted skepticism. Attempts to explain how psychometry is possible have suggested that an object’s history is embedded within its “aura”, a type of (spiritual) energy field that some individuals can detect and even measure the quality of, in such a manner that allows information about where the object has been and who has handled it to be gathered. In fact, a photographic technique, called Kirlian photography, is supposedly capable of detecting these energy fields and capturing them on film, though modern physics relates this phenomenon to coronal discharge effects that affect the film used in this type of photography.
Though psychometric reading has been met with scientific criticism, significant belief exists in the legitimacy of individuals who claim to have this ability, enough so that some police and detective agencies have employed psychic detectives to help solve crimes. In such cases, items belonging to the victim are provided to psychics or mediums who “read” the object to gain information on details surrounding the crime in question. The development of modern forensic techniques has largely obviated the need for such alternative means of crime scene investigation, but even so, some have not discounted the use of psychometry as a valid forensic tool.
Human genetics offers a possible explanation for a phenomenon with characteristics that could be misinterpreted by some as a paranormal ability to gain information about an object through touch. Synesthesia describes a type of cognitive processing where input from one of the senses is interpreted by the brain in a manner that provides feedback and output in another sense. Simply put, individuals born with this sensory re-wiring will, for example, see words and numbers as colors, or taste specific flavors for different sounds that they hear. Fascinating and intricate, this ability would theoretically allow a person to quantify tactile experiences in such a way that would yield qualities of information that regular non-synesthetic means cannot.
So perhaps “psychometry” exists within human potential, but simply needs a re-definition to de-mystify its paranormal origins. In the meantime, the range of senses that we can engage and enhance provides us with a very real context in which we can develop highly trained, if not superhuman abilities. That said, if a person can hit a target the size of a quarter from a hundred yards with pinpoint accuracy, identify a millionth of a change in the chemical composition of any food or drink, or detect a minute fluctuation in air pressure created by changing sound frequencies, who’s to say that those abilities aren’t superhuman?
synopsis
June 13, 2012 @ 3:12 pm
Very good read. I think everyone has at one time or another, touched something that seemingly is just another random object and get a feeling, good or bad. That of course could just be a side effect of creativity though, where the person subconsciously kind of puts together a back story, and feels as if they “know” it verses it actually having an “aura”. Very good read as i said. Dealing with the last paragraph though, those examples are all things that can be practiced to gain those abilities, I don’t think they run along the same lines. I make music, and can tell what a frequency is just by hearing it, came from years and years of practice. Some people though have perfect pitch, and can do it naturally. So is one a power, ability, evolution, or so on even though they are the same thing, in the final result, the path to the ability is quite different. So maybe psychometry is the same way if it exists, some born with it, and some working on it over time.
bleachorange
June 16, 2012 @ 1:53 pm
lol. this makes me think of going to a vending machine (the ones with a clear front) to buy something and you pick one drink out of a whole row of identical cokes because something in your head is telling you THAT ONE will taste better.
or how you go to a sporting outlet and decide you like this bike better than than the identical one next to it. it doesn’t always happen, sometimes there IS a difference in the two products (maybe one is damaged, or a fruit looks fresher or something). but it always seems strange to me how we pick one of many identical products off a shelf or from a car dealership due to a ‘feeling’.
synopsis
June 16, 2012 @ 7:31 pm
Ha… thats funny because its so true. I never really thought of that. I can see myself doing it though, looking at a wall of the same product and looking for the “best” one, even if they are truly identical. This doesn’t work with all things though, i WILL ALWAYS get the milk furthest in the back, its the best, FACT!
bleachorange
June 16, 2012 @ 7:37 pm
unless a sneaky snake puts the oldest milk in the back and you don’t look at the date. then you get home and open out of date milk and curse the sneaky snake that fooled you. 😉
synopsis
June 16, 2012 @ 7:43 pm
GAHH! Now i am going to be a paranoid about the milk. Now its all back to the beginning, just when i thought i had it figured out!