Part 5/11:
Among the most compelling claims made by Sheldrake is the phenomenon of scopaesthesia, commonly described as the ability to sense when one is being stared at. This phenomenon suggests that individuals can detect a gaze without any direct visual cues, a viewpoint that challenges traditional understanding of sensory perception.
Sheldrake references controlled experiments where subjects consistently demonstrate a slight ability to discern whether they are being watched, even when blindfolded. While the effect is modest—averaging 55% accuracy in trials versus the expected 50% chance—this small but consistent deviation suggests that there may be subtler mechanisms at play.