by starcrusher » Sat May 22, 2010 8:16 am
Sensing things is a natural human ability, and most of time it's wrong. Here's an example, let's say that you're a hunter-gatherer in the woods, you think you see a bear, then you notice it was just a log, nine out of ten times, it will be a log, but on that one time it is a bear, you're ready for it. If you're sensing people's emotions, this is another natural human ability; it's called empathy, we pick up on each others' emotions.
Mind reading is another thing that can be explained, we can predict actions and feelings of other rational people because we ourselves are rational. Also, let's say that you try to predict something someone will do twenty times, you're right once. That one time is the time that stands out to you, all of the others no longer matter, so you assume you have some sort of ability.
Seeing auras: Sometimes, when you really, really want to see something, you see it. Also, auras are based on emotions, so let's say you find someone sad, they might seem a little "blue" to you. If you associate any specific feelings with colors, as most people do, you'll probably find that to be true.
Seeing your uncle in a dream means nothing, you see people you know or have heard of in your dreams, it doesn't matter if they're alive or dead; I've seen George Washington in my dreams, that doesn't mean I'm contacting his spirit.
The last one is a lesson in both physics and biology. You say you were sledding, so I'm going to assume there was snow, which probably applied some resistance to the falling ladder. The ladder was acting as a lever when it fell, with its fulcrum at it's base, and as it fell, tension built up, causing it to slow. Now let's say there was no snow. This is the same principle as if you were holding a piece of paper that you dropped. If you dropped the paper vertically, it would fall to the ground faster than if you dropped it horizontally, with most of its area parallel to the ground. This is called air resistance. Except in this case, the ladder fell in an arc, meaning the surface area parallel to the ground increased, thus increasing the air resistance.
One more bit of science here--the ladder could have not slowed noticeably at all. I'm going to assume your mom loves you. When people witness traumatic, shocking, or just "train wreck" events such as, say, a ladder falling on their daughter, time seems to slow down because of the sudden adrenaline rush. It's like the old saying of a train wreck in slow motion--you know what's going to happen, but you can't look away, and things look like they're slowing down, but you can do nothing to stop it.
So there you have it. None of that is psychic ability (you spelled it wrong, by the way), it's just stuff that everyone does at one point or another.