In Dreams Extrasensory Perception, much like out of body experiences, is classified in science as hocus pocus. Extrasensory Perception is, pretty much, having knowledge that's real creepy to have. There have been many documented cases of people predicting their own futures in their dreams, and people dreaming about meeting friends that wake up and find that that friend had the same dream, and all kinds of occurrences that we associate with "psychic" ability. Of course, a scientist would tell you that those who think they predict their own futures cast self-fulfilling prophecies; that they will, once having given themselves predictions, will do their unconscious best to make sure those predictions come true. Those same scientists would also say that friends that have similar dreams lead each other in conversation so that both believes the other's dream is exactly the same as his….but hey, it's a whole lot more fun to believe I can dream my own future and hold office meetings while I sleep. Science may be more informed than me, but I'm having a lot more good, old-fashioned, delusional fun. Here is some commonly reported "proof" of ESP's existence.

Precognition - You know those psychic hotlines that claim to be able to predict your future?

"Oh, you know, your husband? He's cheating on you. And your dog hates you. And your son is a drug addict and steals money from you…and he hates you too."

How do they claim to know all this? Well…yes, they are sham artists… but what they'd like you to believe is that they have precognitive ESP - that is, the ability to foresee the future in surprisingly accurate detail. The best part (at least for those nice overweight ladies at the Psychic Hotlines) is that precognitive dreams can never be proven, since they're entirely dependent upon the account of the dreamer. Pretty convenient…

Dream Psychometry - Oh, you're going to love this one. People claim that, through their subconscious, they can be thinking about something when they go to sleep and know much more about that thing when they wake up. For instance, you can be looking at a picture of someone you don't know as you drift into sleep, and wake up best friends with them… well, not quite. But pretty much like that. Actually it can be better exemplified by people that claim to go to sleep thinking about a physics test they have (or, more likely, have not) studied for and hope to wake up with a newfound knowledge of the subject. Of course, if that actually worked, I'd be doing much better in school…no I wouldn't.

Synchronous - These are the dreams in which the dreamer meets another dreamer in the dream and then calls the other dreamer once he awakens to find out that the other dreamer dreamed the first dreamer was in his dream and that both dreamers dreamed the same dream (in case you were counting, there are 12 derivatives of the word "dream" in that sentence). Basically, two people dream they meet each other at the same time in the same dream. These dreams fall, within the scientific community, somewhere between out of body experiences and dream precognition. These dreams cannot be proven to be real, so the scientific community does not recognize them, but people continue to report them.

Many don't even believe that out of body experiences exist. It is believed (largely as superstition), that you have two personas. You have an astral self, which is your consciousness and being (your soul, as it were), and a physical self. Death, these same people believe, is when the astral body permanently separates from the physical body. This is supported by the fact that most out of body experiences supposedly happen during near-death unconsciousness. This separation of "soul from self" can sometimes be observed in normal dreams.

Now, before you go about swearing off sleep for fear of having an out of body experience, getting lost, and never returning to your body, please consider the following. All you have read thus far is rarely believed superstition, and is, though interesting, not scientific at all. Secondly, there has never been, nor will there ever be, and instance where you can have an out of body experience, decide your astral self wants to wander off, and die. It just doesn't happen.

Unlike lucid dreaming, if you have an out of body experience, you'll definitely know. Out of body experiences are usually said to start with a loud roar, like that of a train coming through a tunnel in your direction (because I think we all have been in that position before, right?).

Out of body experiences are very rare, and little is known about them. We suggest you attempt to remember exactly what happened, because out of body experiences are few and far between, and if you have one, despite being very unsettled, you will be a "lucky" person.