To get an overwhelming sense of danger from a stranger?

[ThisIsCheese]

The weirdest thing just happened. I’m in the supermarket and as I’m stood selected and bagging vegetables I suddenly feel very uncomfortable.
There is a man about 50 something stood with his elderly mother a few feet away to the side of me and I felt very sick and uncomfortable when I looked at him.
Absolutely no reason for it but it was overwhelming, like a sense of fear he was not a good man.

Completely clueless why I felt that way I moved along quickly but I crossed paths with him again in another aisle and knew he was there before I saw him because the sick / anxious feeling returned.

Anyone else ever had this? I don’t have anxiety or anything but this feeling was so odd, like I could sense he wasn’t a good person.

Never met him before, he could be perfectly lovely but my physical reaction to him was so strong

She was a nurse when she told the story in the company of other nurses. I'm sure it's not just sleep deprived nurses that hallucinate!

There is a thread running about what children should be taught at school.
1)Occam’s Razor.
2)What confirmation bias is.

When the event occurred this person was an office worker not a nurse.

I am not sure how her being a nurse now has anything to do with it.

Im not sure what her job, whatever it was, had to do with anything.

People do not suddenly and temporarily turn into monsters with horns.

Can’t believe I felt the need to write that on an adult forum!

Im not sure what her job, whatever it was, had to do with anything

I was being pedantic.

The incident was being passed off as the reason this woman had an hallucination was because she was a tired nurse and I was trying to say at the time she wasn’t.

I know PropagandaMachine! I can't believe some people think it's possible.
Anyway, my point much earlier about Mary being a woman of science in like company was that she had scientific training, so whilst I'm sure it was a frightening thing to experience, did she, all those years later, not think or say 'I had an awful hallucination once'

Ffs these threads pop up on here with monotonous regularity.

After the arrest, everyone says, "I always knew there was something dodgy about him."

"Pure evil" is invisible. That's why it flourishes so nicely.

Oh and yes, doggies always know! Xxx

I actually really enjoy these threads! I think it's (mostly) very interesting. They seem to go two ways - one down the 'psycho' path & the other wanders off down 'woo' way.
My approach & mindset is scientific (education /training), & I'm naturally sceptical so when people start discussions about 'evil' I find it interesting just how many people go along with the notion that evil exists or that evil spirits etc must be real. I had an Irish Catholic upbringing & now I'm atheist so I have huge problems with the very concept of evil. Just look at how the current pope has blamed evil forces for the rape of children by catholic priests. Those men - real people, humans, did those things, not some invading evil force. But when people say that the idea of ghosts/evil spirits or whatever frighten them, I think there are enough real things to be afraid of. & that includes some truly awful people who want to do harm to others.
But yeah, I think this thread is somewhat running out of steam.

But ideas pervade & are lodged very deeply in our psyche. Evil spirits used to be blamed for all sorts that we, at one time, did not understand. Including schizophrenia, epilepsy, psychopathy etc. Scary children's stories were created to make them afraid of the boogeyman, ie. any would-be abductor/paedophile.

Seems perfectly feasible that someone may feel something a bit “off” about someone: they notice some unusual or shifty behaviour, micro expressions, cold or insincere smile etc. that may - may - tell them something about that person and their intentions; but the idea that people emanate “evil” that is then wafting through the air to be detected is bizarre.

Similarly bizarre is the notion that future events waft their danger and misery back in time to be detected by a lucky, chosen few who can then take evasive action.

That magical crystal ball that is hindsight.
I do absolutely believe that some people are more adept ( for whatever reason, such as growing up with abusive parents ) at 'reading' other people and I'm surprised that that very idea has been widely dismissed out of hand on this thread.

BertrandRussell do you have a link to that thread?

I do believe in ghosts though, but it sounds to me like they are somehow a recording of people being replayed through forces physics does not as yet understand, rather than evil spirits!

DD2 is an atheist, but she genuinely believes in ghosts now, after experiencing what she says could only be a ghost in the room with her!

I'm outta here!

Yes, some people are better at reading the micro body language stuff we all do all the time- the hyper vigilance that abuse victims sometimes exhibit is a good example of this. I just reject the whole “perceiving evil” and unexplained instincts stuff. I think that’s dangerous and misleading.

Oh, and atheists can believe in ghosts. Just because you’re sensible in one area of your life doesn’t mean you can’t be bonkers in others!

'The man knew she’d been dazzled, probably said “I don’t think you can see me” or something. '

Or 'I don't know what you're seeing,' given that her face must suddenly have gone

“My sister can usually “sense” child abusers.“

With @BertrandRussell on this one, because ... logic.
How would the sister know if 94 child abusers had happened to interact with her & she HADN'T "sensed" them?

It's bloody stupid.

I saw a picture of an ex colleague today and it reminded me of how I felt when I first met him.

There was something not quite right with his eyes, they felt unfeeling and like there was nothing behind them. He was training me at the time. Everyone warmed to him except me. I just felt this vibe coming off him in waves.

Over time and with promotions I worked my way up to his level and we spent a lot more time together. I was always on my guard around him, never wanted to say too much and felt like he was taking mental notes of everything I said.

One of the team that I managed came to me with some messages they'd received from him. We'd always wondered if there was something going on as we had four people convert to Islam within a few months. Real party goers (this was in a call centre so quite a rowdy crowd, lots of weekend millionaires) that claimed to have been saved. Fine, no issues but we had wondered what the link was. Two of the girls who had converted rushed in to marriage within weeks of converting.

Turns out my colleague was behind it all, and was radicalising a large section of the workforce. Preying on vulnerable team members and marrying them off to men who were known in the community to be abusive.

It wasn't until the girl I had managed had shown us his horrendous messages trying to persuade her that we were able to whistleblow on it.

But the reason people liked him was exactly what he was using to coerce the team. He was a heavy drug user (how hypocritical?) and would often give people he was trying to get close to weed or cocaine for free, get them extremely high and then talk about religion and slowly get in to their psyche.

We reported him to the police, as it was scary watching people change personality so quickly. Strangely, he left alone the people who were already Muslim, obviously realising he couldn't brainwash people who actually knew about the religion.

I'm glad I never got close to him. And glad I listened to my instincts.

I think people can sense evil in someone.

It can be because of past abuse and being adept at noticing almost imperceptible twitches or the look in someone’s eyes that they have seen before.
Or
It could be because thoughts and brain activity are electrical impulses like feeling lightning. Someone could be emitting those sort of electrical sparks that another person is picking up on.

I think people can sense evil in someone

But evil is an abstract concept, the definition and understanding of which may vary from person to person and culture to culture; it's not a concrete, measurable, detectable thing.

Yes

Years ago when I was little there was a fishmongers on the corner of a lane into the old Greenwich fruit and veg market (long before the craft market it is now) . Bloke who run the fish mongers scared the life out of me but had to pass it if I wished to go to the market (and also short cut to reach the King William Walk entrance to Greenwich Park) . He never spoke to me, nor looked at me or anything but something about him gave me the creeps.

ghoulish expression and she could see 2 small protuberances on his head, like horns

So, this is scary because... he looked like "The Devil"?
But the devil is a Christian/Abrahamic creation, whose appearance is not even described in the Bible. As an angel, he'd have had no substance, but when he did appear, as the angel of light, he'd have been beautiful and beguiling.
The, hooves, pointy tail etc. are all inventions of early artists and the distinctive look was formed in the middle ages.

Poor Walter is NOT the devil!