# How do we know we're being stared at? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 26, 2001, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233 "2001-08-26T22:26:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![orr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@orr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orr)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/1 "2001-08-26T22:26:33Z")
My little nephew stumped me with this question. How do we know? It doesn’t seem to involve any of the five senses. Is it one of those “just because” answers that my nephew dreads? I thought of doing a search for the answer, but realized that I have no idea how to go about it. So I turn it over to you. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/2 "2001-08-26T22:38:27Z")
We _don’t_ know. On occasion, we just happen to look at somebody while they are looking at us. Never ascribe to mystery what can be \*as easily[i/] explained by coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/3 "2001-08-26T22:44:48Z")
You don’t. Controlled tests give the staree no better than 50% of the time can he/she tell. However I live in a Garden Apartment (translate basement) and when I’m up late I get a weird feeling and low and behold there is a cat looking at me. I guess I am the only apt with a light on so they come over. Makes you wonder how many times they watch when I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/4 "2001-08-26T22:52:04Z")
A couple of articles on this alleged phenomenon: [http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-03/stare.html](http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-03/stare.html) [http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-09/staring.html](http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-09/staring.html) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/5 "2001-08-26T22:58:09Z")
> [@](#): > > The whites of human eyes are unusually prominent, with the consequences that the pupil and iris stand out, making the direction of gaze potentially easy to see. This is likely to be more than a coincidence, because gaze direction is a powerful social signal. from: [http://puppet.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/pat/VisualInformation.htm](http://puppet.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/pat/VisualInformation.htm) The amount of white visible on each side of the iris changes depending on which way someone is looking. The effect is exaggerated by the fact that eyes are spherical rather than flat. The illusion that the eyes in some portraits follow the viewer around a room probably stems from the fact that unlike real eyeballs, a 2d representation of the whites of the eyes doesn’t change symmetry when the viewer angle changes with respect to the portrait. ---
**Author:** ![Tedster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/6 "2001-08-26T23:18:12Z")
I think the ability probably exists, though it might be awfully difficult to prove in controlled studies. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/7 "2001-08-27T00:17:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tedster \* > \*\*I think the ability probably exists, though it might be awfully difficult to prove in controlled studies. \*\* Why? Do you mean that it would suddenly (and rather suspiciously) evaporate in the face of scientific enquiry? Or do you just have difficulty designing a suitable experiment? Here’s one: Place subject in police-style interview room, seated with his back to a one-way mirror. Do not explain the nature of the experiment to the subject. Have an assistant stand for set periods of time staring at the subject’s back. Record the number of times the subject looks around a) while being stared at b) while not being stared at. Repeat for large number of subjects. ---
**Author:** ![Prez2032](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58f4c7/32.png) [@Prez2032](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prez2032)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/8 "2001-08-27T00:58:45Z")
For the times when no one is staring at the subject, how do they know when he looks around? The experimenters would have to be watching intently 100% of the time to ensure they see when he looks around, and I think in this context that would ruin the experiment. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/9 "2001-08-27T01:48:08Z")
“Watching intently 100% of the time” would be [the researcher’s] job description. But in the event the somebody blinked at just exactly the wrong time, I guess something could be missed. We probably won’t be able to get over that hurdle until the discovery of video tape recording. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Otter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Space\_Otter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Otter)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/10 "2001-08-27T01:53:28Z")
Does anyone know about the pineal spot? (I think that’s what its called). I had a high school biology teacher who mentioned this several times. Apparently the pineal spot (not to be confused with the pineal gland) is a vestigeal nerve cluster that functions like a simple eye, it merely detects the presence of light/dark areas. In primitive organisms (like fish and invertebrates, not “North Carolina Republicans” you jokers)it helps them stay upright, so a jellyfish or such with no true eyes can still surface or dive, find their way around, etc. My teacher’s point was that this spot has fallen out of usage in more advanced mammals with better eyesight but we are still born with it and it’s allegedly still connected to the brain. If I remember correctly he claimed it was on the top or back of our heads someplace. I know enough about biology to know that there are many “left over” traits and some people have control over them where most people don’t. People still have tail muscles even though extremely few people are born with tails. And I’ve read about bee sight, people who can train their eyes to see polarized light, an ability we have that isn’t usually noticed. Perfect pitch might fall into this category, too. Anyway, my point is, can someone speak definitively about human pineal spots and whether they might be responsible for that creepy feeling you get when someone is standing behind you? Has anyone else heard of this? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/11 "2001-08-27T03:19:33Z")
> [@](#): > > “Watching intently 100% of the time” would be [the researcher’s] job description I think Prez2032 was pointing out that in order to collect data the researchers would have to continually stare at the subject; thus “proving” the effect by ensuring that the subject would have someone staring at them each and every time they turned around. This video tape recording technology you mention sounds promising though. 🙂 In regard to the creepy feeling of having someone **behind** you staring at you: The way ambient sounds echo will change if someone comes into a room behind you. This can be used to used to determine, consciously or subconsciously, not only that someone has entered the room, but also roughly where they are. Of course this depends on the size of the room, ambient noise levels etc. It gets easier to do if the person behind you makes even the tiniest noise. Once you have decided they are there, you can pick up all sorts of clues as to their activities by listening to the noises the make; cloth rustling, breathing, brushing etc. If they start to stare a hole into the back of your neck, their breathing is likely to become softer with concentration, and all the other sounds they make will also diminish. Being poorly armed omnivores, we tend to regard a period of relative silence, after a barely detectable assortment of furtive noises, to be **highly** suspicious. There’s no need to drag the pineal gland into this. Experimentally, the effect wouldn’t survive a glass partition between starer and staree, so it is easily testable. I wonder if anyone has bothered ? ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Stewart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Dave\_Stewart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Stewart)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-know-were-being-stared-at/78233/12 "2001-08-27T11:12:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Markxxx \* > \*\*You don’t. Controlled tests give the staree no better than 50% of the time can he/she tell. > > However I live in a Garden Apartment (translate basement) and when I’m up late I get a weird feeling and low and behold there is a cat looking at me. > > I guess I am the only apt with a light on so they come over. > > Makes you wonder how many times they watch when I don’t know. \*\* That’s a bit disappointing. I always manage to catch people staring at me. Damn faulty zipper…