Comments on: What will the parents think of this...

What will the parents think of this...

tybeet — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:22:32 -0800

Then, all of sudden, I saw a hand holding a piece of chalk and writing on a black-board something like a mathematical formula. The vision was very clear, but it stayed only for few seconds and disappeared again. The Internet is abound with a new, simple technique for at-home DIY multimodal (vision, sound) Ganzfeld Hallucinations (previously).

The Ganzfeld procedure is similar to sensory deprivation, whereby you submit your senses to white-noise stimuli, and as a result these senses start to hallucinate for lack of anything meaningful to attend to. The technique, in a nutshell: You can simulate the Ganzfeld procedure in your own home by taping two half ping-pong balls over your eyes and listing to the radio tuned to static [(or a white noise generator)] in an evenly lighted room. Anecdotes: (via) "A friend of mine and I, we were inside a cave. We made a fire. There was a creek flowing under our feet, and we were on a stone. She had fallen into the creek, and she had to wait to have her things dried. Then she said to me: 'Hey, move on, we should go now'." "In the right side of the visual field, a [mannequin] suddenly appeared. He was all in black, had a long narrow head, fairly broad shoulders, very long arms and a relatively small trunk.... He approached me, stretching out his hands, very long, very big, like a bowl, and he stayed so for a while, and then he went back to where he came from, slowly."

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:40:50 -0800

I find white noise is best made with a white noise generator. The radio tuned at nothing can be more than a little annoying as the volume jumps around and you might get non-white noise sounds coming in via interference. Some people prefer pink or brown noise too. This stuff (along with mind machines) feels like "poor man's meditation" or meditation for people who love gimmicks. I can close my eyes, calm myself, and see strange hallucinations in my mind's eye in ten minutes or so. Im not even an experienced mediator. I think the only advantage here is that these images can be seen while your eyes are open looking at the ping pong ball, but its really the same thing at work. Perhaps the real advantage is that you can sell it to your friends as being sciency if they are turned off by traditional meditation.

By: Solon and Thanks

Solon and Thanks — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:52:17 -0800

"He approached me, stretching out his hands, very long, very big, like a bowl, and he stayed so for a while, and then he went back to where he came from, slowly." If that's what I'm going to hallucinate, holy crap do not want.

By: Pater Aletheias

Pater Aletheias — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:55:58 -0800

The sensory deprivation effect can be deepened, but be advised that for prolonged total sensory deprivation there will also be some adverse effects, for example loss of identity, apathy and depression. Who thinks that losing your apathy and depression is an adverse affect? (Big pharama, probably.) Power to the people!

By: Damn That Television

Damn That Television — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:02:16 -0800

Get ready to go camping yall cause I swear this shit is IN TENTS

By: mhoye

mhoye — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:02:35 -0800

Ok, raise your hand if you really don't want to know what sort of tricks your mind will play on you if you give it the chance.

By: dng

dng — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:05:06 -0800

Its easier to not bother with the ping pong balls and to just close your eyes and grind your palms into your eyeballs until everything goes white

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:07:01 -0800

Mind modification links aren't working for me. Still, this sounds like something to do tonight when I'm bored...

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:07:32 -0800

Who thinks that losing your apathy and depression is an adverse affect? This could be the Rittalin talking but don't they mean the possible adverse affects are: 1. Loss of identity. 2. Apathy 3. Depression

By: DU

DU — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:08:44 -0800

ganzfeld hallucinations or ganzfeld REALITY think about it

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:08:54 -0800

...experiments have yielded results that deviate from randomness to a significant degree, and that these results present some of the strongest quantifiable evidence for telepathy to date. Needs batshitinsane tag.

By: burnmp3s

burnmp3s — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:13:23 -0800

This could be the Rittalin talking Possible adverse effect of Rittalin: inability to detect sarcasm.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:15:11 -0800

All I know is that crazy cat sure likes lasagna.

By: regicide is good for you

regicide is good for you — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:16:18 -0800

So it's mushies without the gut-rot, then? Sounds worth a spin. This stuff (along with mind machines) feels like "poor man's meditation" or meditation for people who love gimmicks. I can close my eyes, calm myself, and see strange hallucinations in my mind's eye in ten minutes or so. Im not even an experienced mediator. Most meditation teachers I've encountered seem to believe that any hallucinations encountered are distractions, and you should treat them as you would any discursive thinking - acknowledge them, then ignore them. Or this is a TM thing specifically?

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:19:11 -0800

This could be the Rittalin talking Possible adverse effect of Rittalin: inability to detect sarcasm. See? It was the Rittalin.

By: anazgnos

anazgnos — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:21:36 -0800

You can simulate the Ganzfeld procedure in your own home by taping two half ping-pong balls over your eyes Ah, yes, life's like that, isn't it.

By: roygbv

roygbv — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:26:30 -0800

You can simulate the Ganzfeld procedure in your own home by ~~taping two half ping-pong balls over your eyes~~ dropping acid.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:36:17 -0800

You can simulate the Ganzfeld procedure in your own home by ~~taping two half ping-pong balls over your eyes~~ ~~dropping acid~~ falling asleep.

By: solipsophistocracy

solipsophistocracy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:37:57 -0800

You can simulate the Ganzfeld procedure in your own home by taping two half ping-pong balls over your eyes dropping acid. No, you can't. The visual distortions one might experience under the influence of the serotonergic class of psychedelics are markedly different than actual hallucinations. Thanks for playing, though.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:39:49 -0800

By: everichon

everichon — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:43:03 -0800

We like to simulate the Garfield procedure by surreptitiously eating other people's lasagna. Then we make lame quips about it.

By: humannaire

humannaire — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:44:22 -0800

By: anazgnos

anazgnos — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:45:49 -0800

You can simulate the Ganzfeld procedure in your own home by ~~taping two half ping-pong balls over your eyes dropping acid falling asleep~~ watching six hours of Twilight Zone during a Thanksgiving marathon with the sound off while baked out of your skull on cheap weed while The Slider blares on repeat in the background.

By: jbickers

jbickers — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:50:08 -0800

I prefer the Garfield Hallucination.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:59:26 -0800

Fascinating post. Here is a free online white noise generator. Ping pong balls $2.78 a pack.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:03:22 -0800

...after an indeterminate time knotting our way through the dank grove of leafless scrub oaks, we came upon a pink door standing, frameless, in a clearing of tall grass gone to seed. The door appeared to be made almost entirely of muscle and flesh, and as we approached, the panels clenched and spasmed as if in anticipation of some immanent undertaking. Hesitantly, I reached for the knob, an unsettling gristly protuberance rounded off like a pulsating goiter. Just as I lost my nerve and began to slowly withdraw my hand, I noticed a quick motion and a wet gleam of white shining beneath the knob. What I had mistaken for a keyhole, was in fact an eyelid, thoroughly painted up in midnight mascara. Now the eyelid had opened, and a single bulging eyeball was regarding me with a disconcertingly purposeful gaze. And then the door opened of its own accord, and impossibly, there within the shadow of its sweeping embrace, a passageway revealed itself, entirely invisible until now. The passageway was dark, but not completely indiscernible, and I couldn't help but notice that this, too, appeared to be constructed of some sort of living tissue, twitching and cramping in constant motion. Even as we were inexorably drawn forward as if by a mighty indrawn breath, I couldn't help but wonder which of the Devil's orifices awaited us...

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:36:53 -0800

"Some of the descriptions of hallucinations are really quite striking:" I'm all alone. I'm rolling a big doughnut and this snake wearing a vest...

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:37:30 -0800

Ugh, it's Revolt in the Fifth Dimension all over again.

By: effugas

effugas — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:13:45 -0800

So, the original Ganzfeld experiments were all about making the eyes unable to detect color, due to the lack of edges. They all used these half ping pong balls. Amazing how all those decades of Ganzfeld experiments never resulted in, "OH BY THE WAY YOU SEE ALIENS".

By: well_balanced

well_balanced — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:27:30 -0800

Anybody see James Turrell's A Frontal Passage installation at MOMA? If you could hang out there for a while undisturbed it seems like it would produce some Ganzfeld-like effects. One of the coolest installs I have ever seen. I want something like that in my house. I've read that coloring the ping-pong balls red with a marker is better. In my experience it's easier to relax and look at a red light field for extended periods than a white one.

By: symbioid

symbioid — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:32:42 -0800

I recommend DMT if you're going to go for hallucinations, thanks... But I suppose in the absence of such chemicals, perhaps a couple ping pong balls and white noise is what the doctor ordered.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:36:40 -0800

Anybody see James Turrell's A Frontal Passage installation at MOMA? Oooh, I saw that. It felt like I was somewhere I was not ever, ever, ever supposed to be.

By: localroger

localroger — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:38:12 -0800

US classifies ping-pong balls and white noise generators as drug paraphernalia in 3, 2, 1...

By: symbioid

symbioid — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:40:57 -0800

solipsophistocracy: "You can simulate the Ganzfeld procedure in your own home by taping two half ping-pong balls over your eyes dropping acid. No, you can't. The visual distortions one might experience under the influence of the serotonergic class of psychedelics are markedly different than actual hallucinations. Thanks for playing, though." Actually, DMT is serotonergic, and according to the many reports I've read... Well, let's just say it goes beyond visual distortion. But you are correct that for most serotonergic psychedelics that "hallucination" is the wrong word (and why I always prefer psychedelic or entheogen over hallucinogen -- what a stupid fucking word)

By: Kid Charlemagne

Kid Charlemagne — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:47:54 -0800

Oddly enough, a state of minimal-stimulus coupled with visions of a hand writing something indistinct on a chalk board is how I would describe most of my education. Maybe it's time to up the Ritalin again.

By: Jpfed

Jpfed — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:52:41 -0800

"A friend of mine and I, we were inside a cave. We made a fire. There was a creek flowing under our feet, and we were on a stone. She had fallen into the creek, and she had to wait to have her things dried. Then she said to me: 'Hey, move on, we should go now'." Berserk, episodes 11-13

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:10:17 -0800

You can also generate white, pink or brown noise in Audacity. I wonder when Kim Komando will discover this?

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:38:50 -0800

Also, holy crap!

"a clearing in a forest [Lichtung], a place bathed in bright sun-shine, and the trunks of trees around. A feeling of a tranquile summer afternoon in a forest, so quiet, so peaceful. And then, suddenly, a young woman passed by on a bicycle, very fast, she crossed the visual field from the right to the left, with her blond long hair waving in the air. The image of the entire scene was very clear, with many details, and yes, the colours were very vivid."

By: Kronos_to_Earth

Kronos_to_Earth — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:41:44 -0800

I think an internet connection makes for an element of redundancy when it comes to Ganzfeld Hallucinations....

By: lekvar

lekvar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:07:12 -0800

This all sounds like fun until you remember that this is how Mr. Morden became Mr. Nobody.

By: Alex404

Alex404 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:33:24 -0800

People argue acid or Ganzfeld procedure? I say, acid AND Ganzfeld procedure! No, but seriously. That might be awesome.

By: Alex404

Alex404 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:33:46 -0800

Or you'd go insane.

By: solipsophistocracy

solipsophistocracy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:05:50 -0800

Actually, DMT is serotonergic, and according to the many reports I've read... Well, let's just say it goes beyond visual distortion. Whoops, you're right about that. Should I have said indole psychedelics? I'm not sure how to group them.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:36:02 -0800

No, you can't. The visual distortions one might experience under the influence of the serotonergic class of psychedelics are markedly different than actual hallucinations. Thanks for playing, though. ur doing it wrong. Seriously though, most of the time all you get is twisty patterns, but if by "actual hallucinations" you mean things like people, or other recognizable objects then it is certainly possible.

By: FatherDagon

FatherDagon — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:30:47 -0800

most of the time all you get is twisty patterns, but if by "actual hallucinations" you mean things like people, or other recognizable objects then it is certainly possible. And if you combine the lsd WITH the psilocybin fungii, it is not just possible, but alarmingly definite. And it lasts much longer than either would, taken separately. And also, wow.

By: humannaire

humannaire — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:39:55 -0800

Speaking of hallucinogenic drugs, unless someone builds a friendly sentient rainbow friend with the indefinite power of Santa Claus, I am not going anywhere!