Strange Abilities Some Humans Still Have
par AdnanSome people can hear colors. Some can feel when a storm is coming hours before the clouds appear. Some wake up at the exact minute they decide to, without any alarm. And some can remember almost every day of their life in perfect detail. These abilities sound like something from a fantasy story. But they are real. And the strange part is this… they are not superpowers. They are human powers. Hidden inside ordinary people. Maybe even inside you.
For a long time, we believed humans were all built the same way. Two eyes. Two ears. One brain. The same limits. The same senses. But when you look closer, you start to see cracks in that idea. Small signs that the human mind is not as simple as we thought. Some people can see more. Hear more. Feel more. Remember more. Or control their body in ways that seem impossible.
And most of them don’t even know how rare they are.
Let’s start with something simple. Imagine looking at a calendar from ten years ago. Now imagine someone asking you what you did on June 14th. Most people would guess. Or say they don’t remember. But there are a few people in the world who can tell you exactly what they wore that day. What they ate. Who they spoke to. What the weather felt like. They don’t try to remember. It just comes to them.
This is called highly superior memory. But that name sounds cold. The reality is more strange. Their mind records life like a movie that never stops. Every day is saved. Every detail stays. They can replay their past whenever they want.
At first, this sounds amazing. Imagine never forgetting a birthday. Never losing a memory. But think deeper. What if you could never forget embarrassment? Or pain? Or grief? What if every sad moment stayed as fresh as yesterday?
For these people, memory is not just a gift. It is also heavy. Their brain does not filter. It does not erase. It keeps everything.
So how does this happen?
Your brain normally throws things away. It decides what matters. It saves the important parts and lets the rest fade. This protects you. It keeps your mind light. But in rare cases, the brain’s filter is weaker. It keeps more than it should. The brain becomes a perfect recorder.
This shows something powerful. Forgetting is not a weakness. It is a design. Your mind is not broken because it forgets. It is protecting you.
Now let’s move to another strange ability. Some people see sounds. Not in a poetic way. In a real way. A letter might always appear red to them. A number might feel blue. Music might create shapes in the air.
This is called synesthesia. But again, the name sounds more complex than it is. It simply means the senses are connected in a different way.
When you hear a sound, one part of your brain lights up. When you see a color, another part lights up. But in some people, these parts talk to each other. So when they hear music, the color part also turns on. When they read a word, the taste part might activate.
They are not imagining it. It is automatic. It has always been this way for them.
For them, the world is layered. A song is not just sound. It is light and shape. A name is not just letters. It has texture. It has color.
Why would this happen?
Your brain is built like a city. Different areas have different jobs. But they are all connected by roads. In most people, some of these roads fade as they grow up. The brain becomes more organized. More separate.
But in people with synesthesia, some of these roads stay open. The brain remains more connected. More blended.
And this tells us something else. The way you experience reality is not the only way. The world you see is shaped by your brain. Change the wiring, and the world changes too.
Now imagine walking into a room and feeling something is wrong. No one has spoken. Nothing looks strange. But you feel it. You feel tension. You feel danger. You feel sadness.
Some people are extremely sensitive to small signals. A tiny change in someone’s voice. A slight shift in posture. A short pause before a reply. They pick up on it instantly.
This is often called high sensitivity. But that word does not capture the depth of it.
These people notice everything. The way someone breathes when they are nervous. The way light changes in a room before rain. The mood of a group before anyone says a word.
It feels almost psychic. But it is not magic. It is attention.
Your brain is always scanning for patterns. It reads faces. It reads tone. It reads movement. Most of this happens in the background. You don’t notice it. But in some people, this system is stronger. Louder. More awake.
They receive more input. More data. More signals.
It can be overwhelming. Loud places feel too loud. Crowded rooms feel heavy. But it also gives them deep understanding. They can sense when someone is hiding pain. They can feel joy spreading through a room.
Their nervous system is simply more alert.
And here is something important. In early human history, this ability would have been powerful. Sensing danger before others. Noticing small changes in the environment. Reading the tribe’s mood. These were survival tools.
Today, in a world of noise and speed, it can feel like a burden. But it is not a flaw. It is an old system still working perfectly.
Now let’s talk about something even stranger. There are people who can lower their heart rate on purpose. Some can warm their hands in freezing weather using only their mind. Others can slow their breathing so much that doctors are surprised.
Monks have shown this in studies. They sit in cold rooms with wet sheets around their bodies. And instead of shivering, they raise their body temperature.
How?
Your body has systems that usually run automatically. Heartbeat. Temperature. Breathing. You do not think about them. They just happen.
But with years of training, some people learn to influence these systems. They focus deeply. They breathe in certain patterns. They calm their thoughts.
Your brain and body are not separate. They are in constant conversation. When you feel fear, your heart races. When you feel calm, it slows down.
Most of us react without control. But with practice, the mind can send different signals. It can choose calm. It can choose heat. It can choose stillness.
This shows how much power attention holds. Where attention goes, the body follows.
Now consider this. Some people never get lost. They can walk through a city once and remember every turn. Every corner. Every building. They carry a map inside their mind.
Taxi drivers in large cities have shown this ability. Their memory for streets is incredible. Brain scans reveal that the part of their brain linked to navigation is larger than average.
The brain grows stronger where it is used. Like a muscle.
But here is the deeper part. Humans once depended on this skill. Before phones. Before maps. Before signs. We traveled by stars. By landmarks. By memory.
The ability is still there. It just sleeps in many of us.
And then there are people who wake up at exactly 6:29 without an alarm because they decided to wake at that time.
You might have experienced this once. You tell yourself, “I need to wake up early.” And somehow, your eyes open minutes before the alarm.
Your brain keeps track of time, even while you sleep. It moves through cycles. Light sleep. Deep sleep. Dreaming. It knows how long you have rested.
When you strongly set an intention, your brain listens. It prepares. It brings you to lighter sleep near that time. It wakes you gently.
This ability is quiet. But it shows something powerful. Your unconscious mind is always working. It is aware. It tracks patterns. It listens to your thoughts.
Now let’s move into something that feels almost unbelievable. Some people feel pain when they see someone else get hurt. If they watch someone cut their finger, they feel a sharp sting in their own hand.
This is linked to mirror neurons. These are cells in your brain that activate when you do something and also when you see someone else do it.
They are part of empathy. When you see someone smile, your brain lightly mirrors that smile. When you see someone cry, your brain feels a small echo of that sadness.
In some people, this system is stronger. The mirror is clearer. The line between self and other becomes thin.
This can make them deeply compassionate. But it can also make life intense.
It reveals something beautiful. Humans are built to connect. Your brain is wired to understand others from the inside.
And then there is the ability of lucid dreaming. Some people realize they are dreaming while still inside the dream. And once they know, they can change it. They can fly. They can ask questions. They can explore their own mind.
Think about that. Being aware inside a dream.
Usually, when you dream, your logical mind is quiet. You accept strange things as normal. But in lucid dreaming, awareness returns. You become both the dreamer and the observer.
Studies show that certain brain areas become active again during lucid dreams. The part linked to self-awareness lights up.
This suggests that consciousness is not on or off. It has layers. It can exist even inside sleep.
And perhaps the strangest part is this. Many children experience lucid dreams naturally. Over time, as life becomes structured and busy, this ability fades.
Which makes you wonder… how many abilities did we once have that we slowly forgot?
There are also people who can learn languages at incredible speed. Children especially can absorb multiple languages without effort. Their brains are flexible. Open. Ready.
As we age, the brain becomes more fixed. It becomes efficient. But less flexible.
This flexibility is called plasticity. It means the brain can change shape. Form new connections. Build new pathways.
Children live in a state of high plasticity. Their brains are like wet clay. Easy to shape. Adults have more hardened clay. Still changeable. But slower.
This tells us something hopeful. While some abilities are stronger in childhood, the brain never fully stops changing. With practice and repetition, new skills can grow at any age.
Now let’s look at something very subtle. Gut feelings.
Have you ever made a choice without knowing why, only to find out later it was right?
Your brain collects small pieces of information all the time. Tone of voice. Micro expressions. Past experiences. Tiny details.
You do not consciously process them. But your brain does.
It forms a pattern. It senses a match or a mismatch. And it sends you a feeling. A tightness. A calm sense. A warning.
This is intuition.
It feels mysterious. But it is pattern recognition happening below awareness.
Some people trust it more. They listen closely to that quiet signal. And over time, it becomes sharper.
Your body is not separate from your thinking. The stomach tightens when something feels wrong. The chest opens when something feels safe.
The body speaks in sensations. The mind translates them into meaning.
Now imagine being able to taste words. Or smell fear. Or sense magnetic direction like birds do.
There are rare reports of humans who can sense direction without tools. It is not fully understood. But some studies suggest that humans may have a weak magnetic sense, like other animals.
It might be subtle. Almost silent. Covered by noise and distraction.
But if that is true, then inside us are traces of ancient abilities. Remains from a time when survival depended on deeper awareness of nature.
Think about early humans. No screens. No engines. No artificial lights. Just sky, wind, earth, sound.
Their senses had to be sharp. Their memory strong. Their attention steady.
Modern life does not demand the same skills. So some of them grow quiet.
But they do not disappear completely.
There are also people who can move their ears. Or control single muscles most cannot. These small abilities show how much of our body we do not fully use.
Your brain has maps of your body. Some areas are large, like hands and face. Others are small. But with focus, some people expand these maps. They gain fine control.
This is seen in musicians. Dancers. Athletes. Their brains adapt to their practice. The areas linked to their skill become more detailed.
The human system is flexible. It changes based on attention and repetition.
And here is something even more fascinating. There are people who can remain calm in extreme danger. While others panic, their mind becomes clear. Time seems to slow down. They see details sharply.
This is linked to adrenaline. When danger appears, your body prepares to act. Heart rate rises. Senses sharpen. Focus narrows.
For some, this feels overwhelming. For others, it feels like clarity.
Training plays a role. So does personality. But it also shows that under pressure, the human system can enter a different state of awareness.
Time does not actually slow. But your brain processes more information in that moment. So it feels longer.
Your perception of reality shifts.
All of these abilities share something in common. They are not foreign. They are not unnatural. They are variations of normal human systems.
Memory. Senses. Attention. Emotion. Awareness.
In some people, one system becomes stronger. Louder. More connected.
And here is the quiet truth. You likely have small traces of these abilities too.
You have felt intuition. You have woken before an alarm. You have sensed tension in a room. You have felt another person’s pain in your chest.
These are not accidents.
They are glimpses of the deeper design of the human mind.
The brain is not a fixed machine. It is alive. It adapts. It rewires. It responds to how you live.
If you train attention, it grows. If you practice memory, it strengthens. If you sit in silence, you begin to notice subtle signals that were always there.
We often think evolution is something that happened long ago. But evolution is not only about the past. It is about potential.
The human being is not finished.
Some abilities may fade. Others may grow. And some may return if we create space for them.
So the next time you feel a strange knowing. Or remember something with perfect clarity. Or sense a mood before a word is spoken.
Pause.
Instead of dismissing it, consider this.
Maybe your mind is more powerful than you were taught.
Maybe what seems strange is simply rare.
And maybe, hidden beneath the noise of modern life, there are abilities still waiting quietly inside you.
Not loud. Not dramatic.
Just present.
Waiting for your attention.
Because the most mysterious thing about these abilities is not that a few people have them.
It is that they remind us of what it truly means to be human.
And perhaps the real question is not what strange abilities some humans still have.
But what abilities you might discover… if you begin to look inward, slowly, and listen.
