What is an Extraordinary Experience?

An extraordinary experience is a meaningful moment you can't really explain. It's a subjective incident when your senses tell you information in ways that defy the laws of science. Maybe you have a dream about an earthquake in Seattle the week before one occurs. You think of a long lost loved one the moment before the phone rings and it's her. These extraordinary experiences are not rare, but common. More than 1/3 of the population have reported extraordinary experiences at one time or another. This site is a home for conversations about these unique moments and how they affect our lives.

But I'm a Skeptic! Is there any science?

Yes, loads of it. But of course the science is controversial. Experts who study extraordinary experiences come from the fields of psychology, philosophy, physics, neurobiology and other disciplines. They call EEs by a few different names: exceptional experiences, anomalous experiences, or non-local experiences--to indicate these moments occur in a larger field of the mind than material science currently recognizes. There are a great many books on the topic already. The best ones suggest these moments are an important part of human psychology. 

Some Helpful Vocab

I found extraordinary moments so mysterious at first. Then I learned proper names and terminology, and everything became much more accessible. It seems too simple. But just knowing the name alone gave life to the memory, the feeling, and the personal meaning all at once. Turns out, there's a lot in a name.

Psi – an updated term for ESP. It's the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet, means psyche or soul, and includes the study of all non-local awareness

Telepathy – mind to mind connection or communication

Presentiment – when someone senses a future event and their body responds; arm hair stands on end, heart quickens, temperature changes

Precognition – when someone senses a future event and changes their behavior--they swerve their car to avoid a sudden avalanche, they stay home because they anticipate an office fire

Clairaudience – when someone hears a mysterious voice that seems to come from both inside and outside their own body-- giving an answer, calling their name, asking for help, saying goodbye

Remote Viewing – the ability to accurately see a specific target across distance and/or into the future

Near Death Experience – a Near Death Experience is a common occurrence leaves the impression on the experiencer that the soul, or part of our consciousness, survives death

Seriality – a series of events in the objective world that the mind takes note of and remembers. When those events create a pattern, they create an instance of seriality

Simulpathy – the experience of one person of another person's distress (also known as clairsentience, or feeling someone else's energy)