This video will make you hallucinate
May 1, 2015 10:59 AM Subscribe
Warning: do not watch this if you’re epileptic. Don’t watch it if you’re on your way to a meeting or about to write an article, either. This video will allow you to hallucinate without taking any drugs.
The video works on the motion aftereffect principle. Some more examples here, here and here.
The video works on the motion aftereffect principle. Some more examples here, here and here.
That was fun.
The effect didn't last too long for me though.
posted by entropone at 11:13 AM on May 1, 2015 [6 favorites]
The effect didn't last too long for me though.
posted by entropone at 11:13 AM on May 1, 2015 [6 favorites]
I absolutely love that! I wish it lasted slightly longer, because it's so cool to see how your eyes can betray you with something so simple.
posted by xingcat at 11:15 AM on May 1, 2015
posted by xingcat at 11:15 AM on May 1, 2015
It works, and it's freaky, but does the effect really qualify as a hallucination? It's just motion aftereffect; I notice it when I watch scrolling movie credits.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:16 AM on May 1, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:16 AM on May 1, 2015 [10 favorites]
The music really helped.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:17 AM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by blue_beetle at 11:17 AM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
Yeah, but have you ever hallucinated ... on weeeeeeeed?
(Actually I tend to get auditory hallucinations from weed; it's pretty great.)
posted by uncleozzy at 11:21 AM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
(Actually I tend to get auditory hallucinations from weed; it's pretty great.)
posted by uncleozzy at 11:21 AM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
without taking any drugs.
Well I don't see what the point of that is.
posted by 1adam12 at 11:25 AM on May 1, 2015 [20 favorites]
Well I don't see what the point of that is.
posted by 1adam12 at 11:25 AM on May 1, 2015 [20 favorites]
It works, and it's freaky, but does the effect really qualify as a hallucination?
No.
Also: You can achieve the same effect with audio! Be in an enclosed environment for a few minutes with no sound but a constant buzz -- from electric hair clippers, say -- then stop the buzzing and make other sounds. The other sounds will be all weirded up for a while.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:27 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
No.
Also: You can achieve the same effect with audio! Be in an enclosed environment for a few minutes with no sound but a constant buzz -- from electric hair clippers, say -- then stop the buzzing and make other sounds. The other sounds will be all weirded up for a while.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:27 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
What a shitty hallucination. This sort of weak sauce is exactly why we need drugs!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:34 AM on May 1, 2015 [50 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:34 AM on May 1, 2015 [50 favorites]
Wait, this is seriously why people take drugs?
posted by pullayup at 11:34 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by pullayup at 11:34 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is what an overly puritanical attitude toward psychedelics gets you: the audiovisual equivalent of spinning around in a circle for like two whole minutes.
Not anti-spinnist.
posted by byanyothername at 11:38 AM on May 1, 2015 [16 favorites]
Not anti-spinnist.
posted by byanyothername at 11:38 AM on May 1, 2015 [16 favorites]
"YouTube, alright?! I learned it by watching YouTube!"
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:41 AM on May 1, 2015 [27 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:41 AM on May 1, 2015 [27 favorites]
I do have an inexplicable desire to play Earthbound now, though.
I think it's the music.
posted by byanyothername at 11:44 AM on May 1, 2015 [7 favorites]
I think it's the music.
posted by byanyothername at 11:44 AM on May 1, 2015 [7 favorites]
ALL HAIL HYPNOTOAD!
posted by briank at 11:46 AM on May 1, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by briank at 11:46 AM on May 1, 2015 [5 favorites]
I'd rather have DMT.
posted by juiceCake at 11:46 AM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by juiceCake at 11:46 AM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Wait, this is seriously why people take drugs?
Oh no, we take drugs because our parents were awful.
posted by bondcliff at 11:48 AM on May 1, 2015 [51 favorites]
Oh no, we take drugs because our parents were awful.
posted by bondcliff at 11:48 AM on May 1, 2015 [51 favorites]
Have you ever looked at your YouTube? I mean, REALLY looked at your YouTube?
posted by happyroach at 11:50 AM on May 1, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by happyroach at 11:50 AM on May 1, 2015 [10 favorites]
The effect didn't last too long for me though.
Very fleeting. Also fun. Are there any drugs that actually cause these sort of Scooby Doo flashback waves?
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 11:55 AM on May 1, 2015
Very fleeting. Also fun. Are there any drugs that actually cause these sort of Scooby Doo flashback waves?
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 11:55 AM on May 1, 2015
My preferred way to hallucinate without using drugs is to go to sleep. Or to just let my mind wander.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 11:58 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mrjohnmuller at 11:58 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
I found it fairly similar to an early experience with weed, where as a novice I had far, far too large a hit off far too large a gravity bong outside in the winter and then walked back to my dorm. That's the only time I ever had significant visual hallucinations though, and it was my second or third time so mileage may vary.
It's also a little bit like the vision swimming that really low blood sugar can give you if you're hypoglycemic, but with less headache, nausea and falling down. Better music too.
posted by neonrev at 12:02 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's also a little bit like the vision swimming that really low blood sugar can give you if you're hypoglycemic, but with less headache, nausea and falling down. Better music too.
posted by neonrev at 12:02 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
So, cortex, is that your CSS for next April 1?
That was wonderful, though the discomfort from my eyes drying out while I watched lasted longer than the visual effect. :7( Would make for a dandy, brain-melting screensaver, though!
posted by wenestvedt at 12:04 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]
That was wonderful, though the discomfort from my eyes drying out while I watched lasted longer than the visual effect. :7( Would make for a dandy, brain-melting screensaver, though!
posted by wenestvedt at 12:04 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]
This made me feel very queasy and kind of disoriented for about 10 minutes. Should I be worried, or avoid these sorts of things?
posted by onehalfjunco at 12:17 PM on May 1, 2015
posted by onehalfjunco at 12:17 PM on May 1, 2015
“Do you think this is good for your eyes?”
posted by ob1quixote at 12:25 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ob1quixote at 12:25 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Meh. If that's their idea of hallucinating...well...If I were them, I'd go kick the ass of whomever it was that sold them their trips.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:35 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 12:35 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
I got like 10 seconds of slight waviness and then nothing.
Unless, of course, I am only HALLUCINATING that I am in my office... whoah
posted by caution live frogs at 12:41 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
Unless, of course, I am only HALLUCINATING that I am in my office... whoah
posted by caution live frogs at 12:41 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
Reminds me of playing Guitar Hero, focusing on the bar with the notes zooming towards you, and getting the room warping around afterwards.
posted by Wysawyg at 1:11 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Wysawyg at 1:11 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]
Steely-eyed Missile Man: "The effect didn't last too long for me though.
Very fleeting. Also fun. Are there any drugs that actually cause these sort of Scooby Doo flashback waves?"
Take a 3.5 grams of psilocybe cubensis. Sit back, close your eyes, listen to psytrance/goa music. Not necessarily this, but I know someone *ahem* who has experienced amazing "tunnels" of spirals constantly shifting towards a center zone, shifting color.
And doing drugs does way more than just trippy visuals. That's like level 1 shit. That's just the *start* of knowing you're tripping. Tripping isn't just hallucinations it's a state of mind, and, like meditation, or "the flow" it's hard to describe.
I don't want to say tripping is "OMG THE TRUTH" nor do I want to say it's just a bunch of brain misfirings. I think it's something in between, and I think it can give you a healthy new perception on life... IF you are mature enough and stable enough to handle it, you need to have good sitters and people you trust, and you need the right frame of mind and environment to be in.
Personally you need to feel good about yourself and health. If you, like me as I age, start to worry about your health, any little pain or ache might just make you feel paranoid that this is the big one, so... It's probably good to make sure you're aware of that.
I have had this really really weird effect years ago on mushrooms... I mean... a FRIEND had this weird effect one time. He's a cat person, and while at his friends house, he was snuggly with a cat that he's always been snuggly with before, but while on shrooms, he totally had an allergic reaction, his body was super itchy all over, any bit of cat hair aggravated the reaction (allergies tend to be from dander and chemicals from the skin, not cat hair itself). But while tripping, such an affect is NOT well appreciated, and spoiled a lot of the trip for him.
This friend also was able to walk a set of staircases that sort of spiraled up, look down and physically felt, in the 4 dimensions of space-time as if he were in an MC Escher painting. This was not a visual effect, it was not just "oh hey, let's pretend" there was some deep intuition of understanding of the connectedness of space-time itself and loops and spirals.
Also - there is a lot of science around these hallucinations (not "optical illusion effect" in the OP, but about psychedelic visuals (Closed Eye Visuals - CEV - as they're known)):
1979 Ermentrout-Cowan paper (PDF)
Another Cowan paper, with different authors, and from the year 2000 (PDF)
Plus Magazine: Uncoiling the Spiral (webpage)
Vice Magazine Article (never saw before, perhaps it links to the previous pieces -- webpage
"Psychedelic Information Theory (From James Kent - former publisher of TRP (The Resonance Project) Magazine) - (webpage))
posted by symbioid at 1:15 PM on May 1, 2015 [7 favorites]
Very fleeting. Also fun. Are there any drugs that actually cause these sort of Scooby Doo flashback waves?"
Take a 3.5 grams of psilocybe cubensis. Sit back, close your eyes, listen to psytrance/goa music. Not necessarily this, but I know someone *ahem* who has experienced amazing "tunnels" of spirals constantly shifting towards a center zone, shifting color.
And doing drugs does way more than just trippy visuals. That's like level 1 shit. That's just the *start* of knowing you're tripping. Tripping isn't just hallucinations it's a state of mind, and, like meditation, or "the flow" it's hard to describe.
I don't want to say tripping is "OMG THE TRUTH" nor do I want to say it's just a bunch of brain misfirings. I think it's something in between, and I think it can give you a healthy new perception on life... IF you are mature enough and stable enough to handle it, you need to have good sitters and people you trust, and you need the right frame of mind and environment to be in.
Personally you need to feel good about yourself and health. If you, like me as I age, start to worry about your health, any little pain or ache might just make you feel paranoid that this is the big one, so... It's probably good to make sure you're aware of that.
I have had this really really weird effect years ago on mushrooms... I mean... a FRIEND had this weird effect one time. He's a cat person, and while at his friends house, he was snuggly with a cat that he's always been snuggly with before, but while on shrooms, he totally had an allergic reaction, his body was super itchy all over, any bit of cat hair aggravated the reaction (allergies tend to be from dander and chemicals from the skin, not cat hair itself). But while tripping, such an affect is NOT well appreciated, and spoiled a lot of the trip for him.
This friend also was able to walk a set of staircases that sort of spiraled up, look down and physically felt, in the 4 dimensions of space-time as if he were in an MC Escher painting. This was not a visual effect, it was not just "oh hey, let's pretend" there was some deep intuition of understanding of the connectedness of space-time itself and loops and spirals.
Also - there is a lot of science around these hallucinations (not "optical illusion effect" in the OP, but about psychedelic visuals (Closed Eye Visuals - CEV - as they're known)):
1979 Ermentrout-Cowan paper (PDF)
Another Cowan paper, with different authors, and from the year 2000 (PDF)
Plus Magazine: Uncoiling the Spiral (webpage)
Vice Magazine Article (never saw before, perhaps it links to the previous pieces -- webpage
"Psychedelic Information Theory (From James Kent - former publisher of TRP (The Resonance Project) Magazine) - (webpage))
posted by symbioid at 1:15 PM on May 1, 2015 [7 favorites]
I have a strange urge to drink Fruitopia now.
posted by davelog at 1:30 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by davelog at 1:30 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]
Wait, this is seriously why people take drugs?
Not really. This is why people who don't take drugs still don't get it.
posted by Chuffy at 1:51 PM on May 1, 2015 [9 favorites]
Not really. This is why people who don't take drugs still don't get it.
posted by Chuffy at 1:51 PM on May 1, 2015 [9 favorites]
Note: friends have informed me that if one is of a particularly introspective bent of mind, one can upon pondering the nature of the tunnel of shifting spiraling colors that Symbioid discusses (can you control it? If so, to what extent? Is it best to think of the spiraling tunnel as something you're making, or as something else, not reasonably describable as "you," generating these images? If it is not "you," what is it?), ahem, one can through pondering the nature of this tunnel (while watching it) find oneself entirely disassociated from external reality, and then eventually, as you continue analysing the nature of the now-consciousness-filling spiral, you may find that the spiral itself has become exasperated with all your questions and has decided to just show you what it really is. The details of the spiral's explanation of itself are irrelevant; the important thing is how the experience can be reasonably described as "touching the face of the absence of god".
Also, upon rejoining what passes for consensus reality, you may become briefly convinced that what appears to be consensus reality is in fact still just something inside your head, and you may spend about ten, twenty minutes attempting to verify that objects in the world are actually where they're supposed to be. so, for example, you may become briefly concerned that everything in the room you're in is mirrored from the way it's supposed to be - that the windows, for example, which are on the west side of the room actually should be on the east, and that you're only seeing them on the east because you put the room back together wrong when you came back from touching the face of the absence of god.
The optical illusion produced through this video is pretty cool too.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:51 PM on May 1, 2015 [9 favorites]
Also, upon rejoining what passes for consensus reality, you may become briefly convinced that what appears to be consensus reality is in fact still just something inside your head, and you may spend about ten, twenty minutes attempting to verify that objects in the world are actually where they're supposed to be. so, for example, you may become briefly concerned that everything in the room you're in is mirrored from the way it's supposed to be - that the windows, for example, which are on the west side of the room actually should be on the east, and that you're only seeing them on the east because you put the room back together wrong when you came back from touching the face of the absence of god.
The optical illusion produced through this video is pretty cool too.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:51 PM on May 1, 2015 [9 favorites]
"As above, so below"
Less Aleister Crowley and more David Foster Wallace: “And Lo, for the Earth was empty of Form, and void. And Darkness was all over the Face of the Deep. And We said: 'Look at that fucker Dance.'”
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 2:37 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Less Aleister Crowley and more David Foster Wallace: “And Lo, for the Earth was empty of Form, and void. And Darkness was all over the Face of the Deep. And We said: 'Look at that fucker Dance.'”
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 2:37 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Metafilterowid.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 3:22 PM on May 1, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 3:22 PM on May 1, 2015 [6 favorites]
Not really sure how the thread got hermetically sealed, but, hey.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:24 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 3:24 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's so cute how people want to get off without, you know, taking drugs.
Because it's the imbibing that's immoral, not the desire to get off.
Now. Where did I out that orgone machine....
posted by clvrmnky at 3:52 PM on May 1, 2015 [6 favorites]
Because it's the imbibing that's immoral, not the desire to get off.
Now. Where did I out that orgone machine....
posted by clvrmnky at 3:52 PM on May 1, 2015 [6 favorites]
Watched this with my partner, who was convinced it was going to be a screamer. Added a certain frisson of stress to the whole thing.
posted by terretu at 4:00 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by terretu at 4:00 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
It didn't do anything for me. I feel cheated. These things never work for me. I never get to hallucinate. Not for lack of trying. I took a lot of drugs, tons of pot and alcohol but never had an hallucination
posted by charlesminus at 4:17 PM on May 1, 2015
posted by charlesminus at 4:17 PM on May 1, 2015
I have had hallucinations of flashes of light like distant lightning when driving at night. I don't know if this is common, but for quite a long time it has made me rather distrustful of legitimate thunderstorms.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:29 PM on May 1, 2015
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:29 PM on May 1, 2015
It's so cute how people want to get off without, you know, taking drugs.
I have heard of people who are really interested in psychedelics but somehow are completely unable to find anyone to hook them up okay
well this is now the end of this lovely comment that was written in the Boston area
posted by threeants at 4:32 PM on May 1, 2015 [8 favorites]
I have heard of people who are really interested in psychedelics but somehow are completely unable to find anyone to hook them up okay
well this is now the end of this lovely comment that was written in the Boston area
posted by threeants at 4:32 PM on May 1, 2015 [8 favorites]
And this is how we boost Metafilter's profile: we somehow get conservative politicians to denounce it as a gateway drug.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 4:46 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 4:46 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
That's a pretty good replication of the visuals I got with LSD. Straight lines go wavy, things like carpets look like they're shifting shades, like a field of crops in a heavy wind. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas had a similar CGI effect in the scene when they're checking into the hotel, very reminiscent of this as well.
posted by zardoz at 4:55 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by zardoz at 4:55 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Warning: do not watch this if you’re epileptic.
Do not watch this if you're a photosensitive epileptic. This video isn't stress or a hangover so I was able to safely watch it and trip the fuck out, dude.
posted by brundlefly at 5:53 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
Do not watch this if you're a photosensitive epileptic. This video isn't stress or a hangover so I was able to safely watch it and trip the fuck out, dude.
posted by brundlefly at 5:53 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
I have heard of people who are really interested in psychedelics but somehow are completely unable to find anyone to hook them up okay
well this is now the end of this lovely comment that was written in the Boston area
It's too bad there aren't any colleges nearby.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:25 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
well this is now the end of this lovely comment that was written in the Boston area
It's too bad there aren't any colleges nearby.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:25 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
um actually there are a TON of colleges in boston fyi sooooo
posted by threeants at 6:59 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by threeants at 6:59 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
This was really strange, I have a sort of paisley wallpaper pattern in my living room and the individual patterns were all trying to twist around each other for about 30 seconds.
Just as weird the second time.
posted by boilermonster at 11:31 PM on May 1, 2015
Just as weird the second time.
posted by boilermonster at 11:31 PM on May 1, 2015
Tried it twice. Aside from about 0.5 seconds of seeing lines on my white wall (expected after staring at anything), I got absolutely no effect out of it.
I wonder if the lack of effect was due to my inability to watch it straight through without blinking a few times.
P.S. I was a white-and-golder
posted by mantecol at 2:21 AM on May 2, 2015
I wonder if the lack of effect was due to my inability to watch it straight through without blinking a few times.
P.S. I was a white-and-golder
posted by mantecol at 2:21 AM on May 2, 2015
Neat effect. Not really like the visual effects of psychedelics that much, but about close as I've seen.
If you're seeking psychedelics but can't find any, you could always get into a little amateur mycology. As Paul Stamets has pointed out, there is no place on earth except the poles that is more than 10 miles from naturally occuring psilocybin mushrooms (during certain times of the year). DO NOT just eat any small mushrooms you may find. Learn to identify and confirm that what you have found is the real thing. Please note that innocent seeming little psilocybin mushrooms can really kick your ass, so pay attention to set and setting.
posted by telstar at 2:43 AM on May 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you're seeking psychedelics but can't find any, you could always get into a little amateur mycology. As Paul Stamets has pointed out, there is no place on earth except the poles that is more than 10 miles from naturally occuring psilocybin mushrooms (during certain times of the year). DO NOT just eat any small mushrooms you may find. Learn to identify and confirm that what you have found is the real thing. Please note that innocent seeming little psilocybin mushrooms can really kick your ass, so pay attention to set and setting.
posted by telstar at 2:43 AM on May 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Also found in Omni magazine, May 1981 (nee the Tri-Zonal Space Warper). I remember laboriously blackening-in a photocopy because the higher the contrast the more rapid the effects take hold.
posted by achrise at 6:48 AM on May 2, 2015
posted by achrise at 6:48 AM on May 2, 2015
No effect at all. I stared at the center of the screen the full time without blinking, but once I looked around the room, there weren't even what I would consider 'after-images', but less hallucinations. Interesting, though.
posted by chaotic_neutral at 8:51 AM on May 2, 2015
posted by chaotic_neutral at 8:51 AM on May 2, 2015
Be careful if you get migraines with aura, too -- I didn't actually get one after watching the video, but it was a close call. (Still nifty, though.)
posted by sarcasticah at 11:44 AM on May 2, 2015
posted by sarcasticah at 11:44 AM on May 2, 2015
Meh. If that's their idea of hallucinating...well...If I were them, I'd go kick the ass of whomever it was that sold them their trips.
Back in the 1960's or so, when Critical Criminology was new thing, some British criminologists (maybe Jock Young or Geoff Pearson -- someone of that ilk) wrote a paper that addressed some aspects of Howard Becker's classic paper, 'Becoming a Marijuana User'. Becker's paper makes the argument that users don't immediately perceive the effects of getting high -- rather they are learned through social interaction as the user is taught how to identify and experience the effects of the drug. .
I always loved that one of the sections in the Critical Criminology paper was titled 'Howard Becker, Change Your Dealer!'
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:58 PM on May 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Back in the 1960's or so, when Critical Criminology was new thing, some British criminologists (maybe Jock Young or Geoff Pearson -- someone of that ilk) wrote a paper that addressed some aspects of Howard Becker's classic paper, 'Becoming a Marijuana User'. Becker's paper makes the argument that users don't immediately perceive the effects of getting high -- rather they are learned through social interaction as the user is taught how to identify and experience the effects of the drug. .
I always loved that one of the sections in the Critical Criminology paper was titled 'Howard Becker, Change Your Dealer!'
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:58 PM on May 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also found in Omni magazine, May 1981 (nee the Tri-Zonal Space Warper). I remember laboriously blackening-in a photocopy because the higher the contrast the more rapid the effects take hold.
I was trying to remember where I got that turntable-mountable cardboard thing that gave the same effect, waaaay back when. I remember it well.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:34 PM on May 3, 2015
I was trying to remember where I got that turntable-mountable cardboard thing that gave the same effect, waaaay back when. I remember it well.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:34 PM on May 3, 2015
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Trying to write this comment while everything is wavy is a little trippy.
posted by mayonnaises at 11:08 AM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]