Can Forebodings Have An Element Of Truth?

We all had, from time to time, the feeling of knowing that something was going to happen, before it even happened. This is called intuition or foreboding. These are forms of premonitions that do not refer to great events but to personal situations in which we are involved. They act a bit like a guess that something is going to happen in a certain way.

We talk a lot about hunches in popular culture. It is said, for example, that a mother’s heart is never wrong. This claim refers to the fact that mothers, apparently, are able to detect what is and is not suitable for their children. We often say phrases like “I can feel it…”. This expression is linked to the possibility of seeing beyond appearances.

Presentiments are found halfway between intuition and premonition. We think they act like some kind of speed camera. They imprecisely capture a future fact, good or bad. They let you know that one path will lead to a happy ending, while another will lead us to great difficulties. Or that a happy event is going to happen soon (or a tragedy). Do the forebodings really exist? Are they as fair as claimed?

Testimonials that speak of forebodings

Ivan Tozzo is the vice-president of Chapecoense, a Brazilian soccer team which in 2016 suffered a terrible air crash in Colombia. As an executive member of the team, one of his obligations was to accompany the players to the matches of the South American club final. However, before boarding the plane that eventually crashed, Tozzo had a hunch. He decided not to leave, without knowing why. And this decision saved his life.

A former guerilla from El Salvador, named Francisco Cerquera, said that one night he was assigned to watch the southern area of ​​his camp. But unlike other times, he got scared. And he was so afraid that he invented a strong stomach pain to be relieved of this function, which was attributed to another soldier. That same night, the army attacked them precisely where he had refused to stand guard.

On social media, a mother named Martha Fernández recounts her experience. She said her son always came home late at night, but never at the same time. Once, when it was still early, she suddenly felt anxious. The hours had started to pass and her son was not coming home. In the early hours of the morning, she received a call telling her that he was in the hospital. He had been knocked down. The mother claims to have felt great anguish an hour before the accident.

There are surely many other testimonies of similar phenomena. Can we take these accounts as a basis for asserting that forebodings do exist? Science has also asked itself this question. In fact, several experiments have been carried out to try to detect the truth. And an interesting concept has emerged: that of “anticipatory predictive activity”.

Anticipatory predictive activity

The  Northwestern University,  USA, was given the task of reviewing 26 studies developed in different places, whose central theme was the forebodings. These studies had been published between 1978 and 2010.  Faced with the question concerning the possibility of having forebodings, the researchers gave a categorical answer: yes, it is possible to have some. According to their research, there are many times when human beings do anticipate what is going to happen.

The key to all of this is not in any magical force, but in our subconscious. Researchers have indicated that the unconscious has much broader and deeper information and knowledge than consciousness. Some physiological measurements have shown that the body responds before the stimulus is conscious. A study from the University of Washington corroborated this with an experiment in 2005.

Dr Julia Mossbridge, chief responsible for this research, indicated that  if people are in tune with their own body, they detect a risk situation 10 seconds earlier. She also points out that these phenomena cannot be considered as forebodings. She gave the name of “anticipatory predictive activity” to this class of reactions. This is not something “normal”, in the sense that it does not apply to all subjects. On the other hand, it can be verified in the laboratory.

According to Mossbridge, this phenomenon cannot be explained with our current knowledge of biology. Measuring instruments show changes in the respiratory, heart and lung systems seconds before something dangerous happens. But, so far, the reason is unknown. The  Northwestern University group  reports that it may be possible to find explanations in quantum biology. The study was published in  Frontiers in Percepction Science .

Even though we cannot give credit to all the sensations and thoughts that come over us, sometimes they are so intense that we are unable to turn a deaf ear. Let’s call it sixth sense, intuition or hunch; in any case, those feelings that help us protect ourselves or enjoy the present moment are welcome.