sensitivi

Sensitivi is a term used in Italian to describe individuals who claim to perceive information beyond ordinary senses. The label is commonly found in spiritualist, parapsychological, and New Age contexts and refers to people who assert abilities such as extrasensory perception (ESP), clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition, or psychometry. Etymologically, it derives from the adjective sensitivo, meaning capable of sensing or perceiving beyond the usual range.

In historical contexts, sensitivi have appeared in Spiritualist movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, where they were sometimes described as intermediaries who could communicate with spirits or perceive hidden aspects of reality. In contemporary parapsychology, such phenomena are studied under the broad umbrella of psi research, with laboratory inquiries into ESP, psychokinesis, and related effects. Early popularizers conducted experiments that generated interest but remain contested regarding replicability and interpretation.

Claims and varieties of abilities commonly associated with sensitivi include clairvoyance (seeing distant or hidden events), telepathy (reading another’s thoughts), precognition (predicting future events), and psychometry (gaining information from objects). Some sensitivi report experiences of energy, aura, or emotional sensing, which are often described in subjective terms.

Scientific assessment: there is no consensus or reproducible evidence that sensitivi possess verified supernatural abilities. Critics point to methodological issues such as biases, sensory leakage, fraud, and placebo effects. Proponents argue that subjective experiences can be meaningful even if they lack conclusive external validation.

In modern usage, the term persists in popular culture, elsewise framed by personal testimony, spiritual practices, or therapeutic contexts, while mainstream science maintains a skeptical stance. See also: parapsychology, ESP, clairvoyance, telepathy.