Precognition

Precognition is the claimed acquisition of information about a future event through means other than inference or ordinary prediction. Reports often take the form of dreams, sudden impressions, or a feeling of warning. Because memorable matches are easier to notice than misses, careful study must account for coincidence, selective memory, flexible interpretation, prior knowledge, and the large number of predictions people make.

Psychical researchers developed forced-choice and dream experiments to test foresight claims. Some studies reported small statistical effects, but replication, methodology, and publication bias remain contested, and mainstream science does not regard precognition as established.

Fiction presents exact visions that form a plot’s causal chain. Real claims are usually retrospective and ambiguous, making it difficult to determine in advance what outcome would count as a match.

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Precognition,” reference entry.
• National Research Council, Enhancing Human Performance, National Academies Press, 1988, evaluation of parapsychology.