<p>Usually when we think of people who are very aware of their surroundings or very sensitive to the subtleties in all situations, we assume that it is because their brains are more advanced so they can see and understand things that the average person cannot. An example of such a person is Oscar Wilde. From his books, it is clear that he has a very different view of the world around him. He was way ahead of his time and understood things that we are only beginning to understand. He was very aware of how the world works, and so was advanced philosophically.</p>

<p>Could it be that such people are that way because parts of the brain that should function unconsciously did not develop fully or properly? And so they are forced to do things consciously,which makes them think differently and consider a wider spectrum of things than the average person. So it is actually a defect and not an enhancement of the brain that had resulted in this effect.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-25T18:05:55.950Z
Can you give a few examples on the types of experiments that you would expect to find as evidence against or for this possibility?
Seanny123
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-26T00:13:01.890Z
Hmm... That's an interesting question @Seanny123. I'm not a scientist, but I guess if a brain scan could show which parts are active consciously and which parts unconsciously, then we could just scan many different people and compare the scans.
Yvonne Liew
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-30T20:01:31.547Z
@YvonneLiew from my understanding, such people may have mutations of neurotransmitter receptors that alter their conscious experience. For example, people with such mutations respond differently to psychoactive substances https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-HT_receptor
Alex Stone
<brain-development>
Are people who are very "aware" of the world that way because their brains are more advanced or les advanced?
Yvonne Liew
# Are people who are very "aware" of the world that way because their brains are more advanced or les advanced?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-07-25)

Usually when we think of people who are very aware of their surroundings or very sensitive to the subtleties in all situations, we assume that it is because their brains are more advanced so they can see and understand things that the average person cannot. An example of such a person is Oscar Wilde. From his books, it is clear that he has a very different view of the world around him. He was way ahead of his time and understood things that we are only beginning to understand. He was very aware of how the world works, and so was advanced philosophically.

Could it be that such people are that way because parts of the brain that should function unconsciously did not develop fully or properly? And so they are forced to do things consciously,which makes them think differently and consider a wider spectrum of things than the average person. So it is actually a defect and not an enhancement of the brain that had resulted in this effect.

**Tags:** brain-development

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Can you give a few examples on the types of experiments that you would expect to find as evidence against or for this possibility?  
> **username_0**: Hmm... That's an interesting question @username_1. I'm not a scientist, but I guess if a brain scan could show which parts are active consciously and which parts unconsciously, then we could just scan many different people and compare the scans.  
> **username_2**: @YvonneLiew from my understanding, such people may have mutations of neurotransmitter receptors that alter their conscious experience. For example, people with such mutations respond differently to psychoactive substances https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-HT_receptor  

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## 0 answers

