First heard about it on a comedy website http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-real-ways-to-get-high-straight-out-of-science-fiction/ (It's number 3) and then read a bit more about it on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment Basically it boils down to sitting in a room with ping pong balls on your eyes and putting on headphones playing static and you'll start seeing things. Going to try it out tonight (honestly I'm not expecting much if anything) and I was wondering what yall think about it or if any of you have ever heard about it/done it.
So it's a stripped down version of sensory deprivation. It may or may not work...Though I guarantee you if you were to go into a real sensory deprivation chamber you'd have some serious hallucinations. Speaking of sensory deprivation: You should watch It is a science fiction movie based on the true studies done by John C Lily in the 60s/70s where he took mind boggling amounts of Ketamine inside a sensory deprivation chamber (no external stimulation, you cant see - pitch black, you can't hear, you cant really feel since your floating in water, you are FORCED to trip all in your own head..)
Did this four about an hour last night with a pad of paper nearby, and after a while I started to feel like I did when I did salvia, no idea why. When I was on salvia I didn't so much see things as I felt things, and it was exactly like that. Couldn't make sense of a lot of what I saw but I wrote down "ships moving like fish under the ocean, a giant tiger, an image of someone, a golden garbage can in the sky, and an enourmous hourglass." Definately was not expecting these kind of results, especially after my failures to see anything with salvia (up to 40x and no open eye visuals) Thanks for the info Madrid. Now I have to check out that movie, and now I definately have to get baked off my ass and find a sensory deprivation chamber
Hmm.. I read more about it. Now I have to find me some ping pong balls. How did you keep them from rolling off your eye lids?
I just kinda stuck em around my eye, they stayed alright, but if I looked out of the corners I could still see my room. Taping them down would probably have fixed that but I don't have any tape. For white noise I set my zune to a static radio station and put in some earbuds.
I love that movie but this is one thing I never got - ive been in a sensory deprivation chamber for an hour and didnt hallucinate. It was a strong experience but no hallucinations, and hallucinations are not considered a common thing by anyone who uses them, recreationally or in science.
Really? all I've heard is the opposite of that.. I mean that's even the entire point of this thread (the ganzfeld experiment), that sensory deprivation commonly causes hallucinations When you went in (and may I ask how did you arrange such an opportunity?) you didn't see, feel, hear, taste, smell, or dream anything that wasn't there?
Nope, I didn't. Have you looked into the mechanics of this experiment? Sensory deprivation means sensory deprivation - no sensory input. Wearing headphones with static is not sensory deprivation, this seems to be something different, something to do with possible visual deprivation/pressing on the eyeballs combined with a jumbling or altering of the usual firing of signals in the brain due to the loud static. I don't think this works on the concept of sensory deprivation - not for the most part of it anyway. Sensory deprivation chamber is the older scientific name for isolation tanks. Lots of metro cities have facilities where you can pay and use an isolation tank for session, usually for recreational (its a refreshing, cleansing experience, removes fatigue and whatnot. also has some muscle rehabilitation benefits) or spiritual (it works very well with prayer and meditation) purposes. Theres one in Chicago that I went to and did a session. A sensory deprivation experience is essentially an induced deep meditation of sorts. In meditation, one seeks to cut onesself off from all sensory inputs one by one. To disregard and not pay active attention to the senses. Then the mind turns inward, away from the senses and the outside world and inward, and here starts a kind of meditative state. A sensory deprivation chamber does the same thing by boring your mind from its usual alertness and attention paid to the physical senses, turning itself inward at some point during the experience.
the theory though, even though it's stated that it's about sensory deprivation and your body responding to it by creating something that doesn't exist sensory-wise, is that you have white noise playing. It IS supposed to be about sensory deprivation but the one thing everyone's missing is this: The white noise, though going against "sensory deprivation" is there to imitate the very similar noise that is heard for the entire 9-month period while you're growing inside the womb. White noise is shown to work on infants that cannot sleep (by putting the volume to approximately their vocal crying level), and it is also shown to provide a "level of comfort" to your brain in general while at rest that you can't really achieve other than by sleeping. In essence you're dreaming while you're awake. Complete non-sense running through your brain being conjured up visually, or "mentally-visually". It works better on some than others, but if you can truly relax and do proper procedure on this, it's really quite fascinating to perform. Preferably use a red light or a fast spectrum of light, or soft white light. Tape the pingpong balls down to the face, don't allow yourself to see outside the ping pong balls at all. Do this for about a half hour, evenly lit room, and on some earbuds that have a frequency spectrum of (I think) 20hz-20,000hz or something like that.
Actually to make a correct Ganzfeld experiment you need two things, white or pink noise (look on youtube or on google, then just loop the sound track.) 1 Ping-Pong (table tenis) ball cut in half with a razor blade so you don't leave jagged edges on the ball halves. Use a tiny tiny bit of tape around the edges or smooth the edges with sand paper so they are smooth not sharp. Place one HALF of the ball over an eye and tape it into place, then place the second HALF of the ball over the second eye and tape it into place, make sure you have the white noise play-looping before taping the balls over your eyes or you will have to have someone else start the audio for you. While listening to the white noise make sure you use earbuds or closed ear earphones/headset. If you use a headset make sure you mute the microphone so you don't hear outside noise. Now you could take enough tokes so you are almost hallucinating , then place the ping-pong balls halves over your eyes and place the headphones on your head playing the white noise. Most people get a rushing rollercoaster feeling from heavy marijuana use, just relax you are OK, your not moving, its all in your mind. After 10-30minutes you should start seeing whats called "hypnogogic imagery" what is otherwise referred to as hallucinations. Some people get hallucinations after 5 minutes, some after 30minutes, it all depends on your level of relaxation prior to starting or your willingness to "LET GO" and take the breaks off. You should trip some serious balls, just make sure you are someplace safe, and with a friend who can help you if you need to stop. Taking the headphones/pingpong balls off should halt any nasty hallucinations, most are quite entertaining. Almost like a lucid dream that you can do anything in. If you are prone to sleep walking or other dangerous or violent behaviors while sleeping you should avoid hallucinogenics or anything that causes these effects. This also goes for anyone with schizophrenia, or other severe mental disability, especially borderline personality disorders.