>Although you are, of course, reacting to hundreds of other clues besides
>the odors of the place, there is just beginning to be some serious work on
>human pheromone perception, which are the 'scent markers' used by many
>animals, including primates. Studies have shown receptors for many
>pheromones, but so far no producing mechanism among humans. At any rate-
>this is a definite scientific avenue of exploration, [...]
I wonder if such markers, exuded perhaps in times of great stress or trauma,
could account for "ghostly" presences people sometimes claim to experience.
We evolved to transmit and receive such markers because they were
advantageous to our survival, and if they become trapped in whatever
material was near at hand when the event took place, I suppose it's possible
that someone could sense them years after the fact. The "bad vibes"
phenomenon, explained ;->
Speaking of other strange ways of transmitting information, one of my weird
past-times is the hobby of metal detecting, which involves using a device
with a magnetic coil to locate metal objects in the ground. One general
hopes to find coins and gold rings, but more often digs up pull tabs and
bottle caps. Anyway, on the times I go coin hunting with my parents, my mom
often claims to get "feelings" about certain small areas of ground, usually
no more than 5 feet in diameter. I've learned by experience to trust her
feelings, since in virtually all cases we do find something valuable in
those small areas, including in one case a gold coin. Now, I don't believe
anything supernatural is behind this, but I must admit I'm having trouble
coming up with a good explanation for it. It's true that some areas
generally yield better results than others (e.g., coins are often lost
around shady trees), but I know from (bitter) experience that the majority
of such "good" spots have already been picked over, so I don't think my
mom's ability is entirely based on guessing what areas people might have
lost coins in. What are some other possible explanations?
-Ken