There is a channel on YouTube by a guy that I really enjoy watching.  His videos are some of the easiest to understand when it comes to scientific concepts.  Today, I watched one of his videos called “”Why Do We Kiss” and never imagined it would lead me to theorize that what he was talking about at a certain point in the video was the reason behind why we often feel like we are being watched.  He explains this from about 3:50 minutes on.  This video was not at all what I assumed it was going to be.

Basically, he talks about how well adaptive humans are to recognizing faces and that we are so adept at recognizing faces, that we can feel when we are being watched.  We detect when someone (or in this case something) is looking directly at us.  At 5:08 minutes, he says “we also have impressive gaze direction networks inside our brains containing individual neurons that fire when someone is staring directly at us but that stop firing if the gaze shifts just a degree or two.  So, yeah, you can tell when you are being watched.  We humans are quite sensitive to it…”.  One thing he mentioned was that in order for it to work, the gaze must be within your line of sight.  In other words, you wouldn’t be able to pick up on it if someone is starring at you from behind.

You can access the video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixQbCXLUUj8

He also refers to what is called the Psychic Staring Effect, which “falls within the realm of pseudoscience because no widely accepted studies have ever found evidence that it exists”.  This video was posted in April of last year (2013).  Although there have been some advances since then, as far as what he is talking about here, it is pretty accurate.  There has yet to be any ACCEPTED studies that PROVES this phenomenon.  There have been some studies done on the phenomenon, such as those by The Windbridge Institute and a few others, that essentially claim it as a viable possibility and the fact that there is NO scientific principle to-date that PREVENTS it from being a possibility is even more intriguing.  In fact, more and more scientists are agreeing that Consciousness is a quantum process being validated by more and more research.  Biologically, this claim has been validated in avian navigation, photosynthesis, and even in human smell.  More and more scientists are validating that thoughts can travel through space and time.

Of course, I don’t necessarily think this phenomenon (perceived extrasensory perception of a feeling of being watched) applies in terms of having to be within your line-of-sight if we apply the principle to spirits/ghosts.  I don’t think it matters in what direction the stare is coming from, that entity is capable of igniting neurons (whether it is directly or indirectly) in your brain.  And this ties into something I wrote for one of the UPI newsletters – The Science of FEAR – which can be found in the December edition of the UPI newsletter.  Access it by clicking here.  In this article, I explain how and why your body reacts the way it does when it experiences what we have come to call FEAR.

One of the things I have noticed in my research is that the universe, meaning everything we know and that which we have yet to learn, is all about logic, reason, and order amidst a sea of initially perceived chaos and disorder.  The logical side of me wants to say that if we can pick up on this energy from living breathing humans, as well as from all other animals, who’s to say we wouldn’t be able to continue doing so if that person has “died” and “left behind their energy”?  Of course, this is assuming that spirits/ghosts are, in fact, the energy left of a person after the physical body has died.  In fact, it would make even MORE sense to me if this were the case because your body picks up on energies that you are not aware of immediately but that your body has already started responding to because of the fact that it is self-aware, an evolutionary response.  For instance, you can “see” things because your brain has already received and processed the information from light.

The purpose of FEAR is a rational and evolutionary response to the perceived threat of danger in order to promote survival.  It is instinctual and your entire body, which is amazingly self-aware anyway, will automatically respond before you realize it is doing it.  When you feel like you are being watched, the neurons have already begun to fire in your brain.  And because we are Conditioned, a situation often referred to as the brain automatically associating bad experiences with perceived danger (or vice versa with good experiences), you will inadvertently and automatically kick in the FEAR response.

With the “feeling of being watched”, you brain has ALREADY perceived some kind of outside stimulus and has sent that sensory information to the thalamus.  From there, that information travels to different parts of the brain and the body based on the evaluation of the information by your brain and you, as a result, respond.  So, if you “feel like someone is watching you”, you may begin to look around you to see where it is coming from in an automatic attempt to identify the direction – an evolutionary response by our bodies to locate and prepare for perceived potential threats of danger.  You realize no one is around and “fight or flight” kicks in because you assume, logically, that if you feel this way, then someone you can physically see and identify should be there.  You should be able to see who or what is watching you.

In conclusion, the “feeling of being watched” should be acknowledged because of the very nature of it – YOUR BRAIN has received some kind of OUTSIDE stimulus that has prompted it to react.  It should not be ignored.  Do not ignore your body responses but do not panic either.  The stimulus could be completely benign!  If you experience FEAR as a result of a stimulus, certain things will happen to your body in attempt for it to automatically prepare for the PERCEIVED threat of danger:

*  Pupils will dilate to take in more light and receive more frames per second, allowing the person to absorb as many details as possible.  Only then can you and your body make the best decision on how to proceed;

*  Veins in the skin constrict to send more blood to major muscles, causing the “chills” commonly associated with fear and is a direct result of less blood in the skin to keep it warm;

*  Blood-glucose (sugar in the blood) levels increase, which is an important energy source that is needed by all the cells and organs of our bodies, such as our muscles and brain, and regulates our internal body environment;

*   Muscles tense up because they are energized by this glucose and the hormone adrenaline, which causes what we refer to as “goose bumps”, when tiny muscles attached to individual hairs tighten, forcing the hairs to stand upright and pull the skin with them;

*  Some muscles will relax to allow more oxygen to enter the lungs;

*  Nonessential systems are shut down, such as digestion and the immune system, to allow energy for essential functions; and

*  A person may find it difficult to focus on small tasks because their brains are directed to focus only on the bigger picture to determine where the threat is coming from.

Basically, no one should automatically think they are crazy for responding this way.  We all perceive outside stimuli differently.  What one person perceives as a threat, another may not.  It is also the reason why we have so many “phobias”.  One person may be afraid of spiders (regardless of the reason) while another person will not care or actually enjoy them.  The same principle applies to the “feeling of being watched”.  Just because one person in a group has received a perceived threat of danger but others in the group have not does NOT mean there is NOT a threat (or vice versa).

The best thing to do is NOT TO THINK.  Allow your body’s biological, chemical, and other types of responses to do their thing…and try to remain as calm as possible.  Allow your body to respond instinctually to outside stimuli you receive.  In other words, attempt to rely MORE on instinct and LESS on logic and reason!  It will face you well on your way of understanding the “unknown”!

+10