- One of these things is not like the other. A meditation on Sesame Street, shotguns, and the irrationality of the NFA courtesy of L.S. and David Codrea.
- Seventeen signs you’re intelligent — even if it doesn’t feel like it. Hm. Twelve of the 17 fit me. Does that mean I’m only slightly above dimwitted?
- So much change. A delegation from the stodgy old American Legion has met with Trump in the cause of getting cannabis re-scheduled.
- Glorious it would be if psychedelics, aka entheogens, were next. (H/T S.)
- Five major reasons (beyond the obviously obvious) why F*c*b**k’s plan to limit fake news is a really, truly bad thing.
- Just to be clear on the impact of that (maybe) Russian hacking.
- Has anybody here ever tried a sensory-deprivation tank? I’ve always wanted to (though I think it would be scary). All the opportunities are in Civilization, though. I don’t go there.
- Finally, to challenge perceptions about life, here are some simple Taoist stories. (In another context entirely, Ellendra mentioned the author who produced these adaptations. I followed her name to these.)
Eh, don’t concern yourself. Only 7 of those items fit me – well, maybe 8, as I’d probably get a cat if I were living in different circumstance. Or not, as one of them just barely fits me. Is Business Insider a serious publication? I sorta thought they were. Maybe they’ve succumbed to the lure of the listicle.
Closest I’ve come to a sensory deprivation tank was watching the movie Altered States. Good flick. I’d give it a try, provided the opportunity (the tank, I mean – well the movie’s worth watching too).
Sorry to point this out, but many research studies have shown that native intelligence (g) cannot be increased by parenting or educational activities, no matter how beneficial they may be otherwise. Consult JayMan’s site for the details…..
jed — Business Insider is sometimes like the National Enquirer of online “journalism.” They’re occasionally interesting and good for brief newsbits — and listicles.
pyrrhus — Well, I don’t know about that, but even if by some theoretical measure “native intelligence” doesn’t increase, certainly parenting and education (plus no doubt other factors like nutrition and exercise) do a lot to determine how a person uses the brains he or she arrived in the world with.
Interesting list for the intelligence thing. Only 8.5 of those things fit me at all, most of the rest being seriously opposite. The 0.5 is the one about being left handed. I’m completely ambidextrous, for whatever that’s worth. 🙂 Seems to me that there is far too much dependence on correlation, even though the article keeps saying “more research is needed.” Never have been much of a fan of that kind of research. Draw a conclusion you’d like to reach, then talk to enough people until you convince yourself it’s true. …or needs more research – which means more money, more perks and more influence.
Did I ever mention that I was once involved rather deeply in an aspect of medical research? After that experience, it is very difficult for me to trust the method or conclusions of ANY modern research. So I have to say I’m biased…
I knew it. When I was in college in the late 70’s, my dorm roommate and the two guys next door would put down their books at 10:00 pm, go next door, light up the bong, listen to music on the awesome Ohm F speakers, then fry up some steaks, and go to bed at 2:00 am. They never scheduled a class before noon the next day….there was no point.
I, on the other hand, never smoked. I’d go next door to enjoy the increasingly bizarre conversation until I had to go to bed because I ALWAYS had 8:00 am classes. The boys would say, “Dude, we’re going to hold you down, put a bag over your head and pipe it in,” but that would have taken a level of activity they were incapable of after the first few hits.
My roommate went on to become a CPA, and the two guys next door became a doctor and a dentist, respectively. Me….I dropped out, stumbled into retail and haven’t been able to find my way out ever since.
I can only hope to offset my lack of intelligence enhancing drugs with my penchant for stacks of papers, catalogs, letters, ads, and other miscellaneous stuff in my office. When I clean the thing out once per year (my rule is that if I haven’t dug through a pile in one year, the entire pile goes into the garbage, untouched) I congratulate myself on ‘getting it together’, but little did I know that I am throwing out part of my brain.
Otherwise my lack of girth compensates for my lack of stature, but I’m forever going to be damaged by being born in the 50’s when breast feeding was damned near forbidden. I’m not even left handed. But I like cats, even though I have a dog.
I’m so confused.
Missed out on two: I’m right-handed, and I don’t worry. (Don’t have a cat at the moment, but have had and like cats.)
I strongly believe that my mother (PhD, Psych, 1942) was Mensa qualified. In a discussion over “The Bell Curve”, it seemed reasonable that you’re born with all the smarts you’ll ever have. They are maximized by early healthy diet and early familial influence on learning.
Intelligence… Of the 17 items there are 11 that I do. The way i am these days, I guess I’m just moderately dim witted as well. Then there are the days when I have done something or other, that makes me feel just too stupid to live.
Tsk, the tanks are only $30,000.
http://www.dudeiwantthat.com/search.asp?s=Sensory+deprivation
Of course you could try the hood, but even that seems a bit much just to try it out.
Jim B. — Oh, ONLY $30k! How good to know. I’ll have to rush out and buy one right after I fix the foundation on my house and have that surgery …
But OMG, that hood looks terrifying. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JUX733K//ref=cm_sw_su_dp?tag=livifree07-20
You’d really have to be into some VERY heavy B&D or SM. Or perhaps even serial killing.
“I’m so confused.”
Don’t worry, Ron Johnson. We love you, anyhow. 🙂
And look on the bright side: being confused is probably a sign that you’re alert and aware and therefore probably smarter than you think you are, even if you did fail to inhale enough dope in your youth.
Always fun to re-read my own comments. Does this cat fit me? Seems a bit tight in the shoulders, maybe I need two of them.
I’ll pass on the hood, but the pillow might be useful. I’ve considered building an enclosure around the head of my bed.
I read this the day after a Mensa meeting, and out of the 17 it’s 8 yes, 8 hell no, and I don’t remember how Mom fed me.
In my experience, a high percentage of Mensans are nonconformist and interesting. They tend to be average in business success, and very few are wealthy. They are also a skewed sample of the top 2% in intelligence, in that they are social enough to join the organization.
I can prove the Russian links didn’t influence my vote, since I had already early-voted. I think of Hillary Clinton in Shakespearian terms. “Why do I vote against thee? Let me count the ways.”
I’ve spent many hours in the tank. It’s always been in a center, most of which had a Samadhi Classic. If you have an opportunity to try it, make sure to ask for at least 90 minutes, and don’t let them talk you into piping music in, which completely defeats the purpose.
I’d like to try an anechoic chamber.
When I was a teenager I was given some golf clubs, they were right handed and I was left handed so I learnt to be right handed; maybe I should have given up golf instead, however anyone who views my office might think I’m Albert Einstein with the mess it is always in.
Dana — Why am I not surprised that you, of all people, have been “in the tank”? I can’t imagine why anybody would want sensory deprivation plus music. But definitely if anybody asks, I’ll say no music, please.
You can keep the anechoic chamber, too. No thanks.
I actually do have to make at least one and possibly three or four trips to civilization early in 2017. I’ll have to see if there are any “floatation” facilities where I’m headed.
Wow, it looks as if Civilization has a fair few options and at tempting prices:
http://floathq.com/
http://mudramassage.net/floatation (Samadhi tanks at this one)
You know, I’d forgotten that this experience was invented by John C. Lilly, the dolphin man.
I enjoy the input from my senses way too much to ever want to try deprivation. I gotta admit, though, that sometimes the enjoyment occurs after the aspirin kicks in. 😀
LOL, I don’t know where you got that hood from my link, it’s more of a pillow with a overhanging cover than anything else. As a matter of fact, I wonder how…. or why you got that link. Hmm????
“Repose, tranquillity, stillness, inaction — these are the levels of the universe, the ultimate perfection of the Tao.” – Chuang Tzu
Quoted in The Book of Floating. (p.36)
I lived a 3 bedroom Sensory Deprivation Tank, before the divorce.
Jim B — I saw the pillow with overhanging cover. But along with it are a series of links. One is to that creepy BDSM hood. (No, I was not off in search of bondage gear; it just followed the word “hood.” The Internet: filled with strange little corners.)
Dana — Although I thought the levels of the universe were chaos, creation, catastrophe, and cruelty, I’m fascinated to know that multiple books exist on the subject of float tanks. I also learned that there’s a place to float that’s even nearer and less costly than the ones I linked earlier. I’m going to buy myself a float experience as post-Christmas gift.
larryarnold,
Elizabeth is dissappointed.
Just being a prig.
Don’t think I could tolerate complete sensory deprivation for even a moment, and have no desire to try it. I have more than a little claustrophobia. Sensory deprivation might be fine as a relaxation tool… if voluntary. But one of the most cruel and oppressive prisoner tortures used routinely is just that – one or more versions of sensory deprivation, usually over long periods of time… solitary confinement being only the outer layer.
Can’t figure out why anyone would do that to themselves voluntarily! But, to each his or her own. 🙂
ML — Yep, voluntary makes all the difference. Plus, I imagine, the way the deprivation is delivered: floating in warm salt water vs having a leather BDSM hood locked around your face. And solitary confinement is considered a hellish punishment that can drive people insane — while hermits gratefully embrace it. All depends.
I’m claustrophobic, too, but the FAQs at flotation centers always address that by saying the experience is more like floating in space than being confined. We shall see.
Agreed, ML. The prisoner issue is the first thing I thought of.
““Repose, tranquillity, stillness, inaction — these are the levels of the universe, the ultimate perfection of the Tao.” – Chuang Tzu”
Ultimate perfection? It sounds more like death. I much prefer “perfect” sensory-ness: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching — and all the more so since my eyes are going bad, and there are foods I can no longer enjoy due to allergies.
Inaction will kill you _ultimately_, and even pain tells you you are still alive.
I fit 13 of the 17 signs, with one more I feel unable to accurately judge (whether I have to try hard or not).
I enjoyed the Taoist stories.
I’ve done the sensory deprivation tank a few times. It was either 60 or 90 minutes each time. No music – a Dana wrote, it defeats the purpose.
Nothing scary at all; the door is right there and easy to open. For me the bigger concern was the yuck factor. The solution they use to keep you floating is contains a heavy dose of minerals and salts and is expensive, so they reuse it – a lot. Everyone must take a shower before and after, but still…
Once you’re inside, floating comfortably high in the body-temperature bath, it’s just another way to mediate. Fewer distractions, easier to focus on your breathing or heart rate or just clear your mind. I found that the time went surprisingly quickly.
A friend tells me the 3 or 4 hour floats are more likely to bring the hallucinations and mind-altering states.
Here’s the kind of float I’s like;
https://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/rogue/files/FloatGuide04.pdf
Mind expanding for me, don’t ya know!
“For me the bigger concern was the yuck factor.”
S — I worry about that as I consider trying my first experience in the tank. At first I foolishly ASS-U-MEd that they’d empty and clean the tank between each use. But with 800 pounds of epsom salt? Silly me. They talk about filtration and about hydrogen peroxide sanitation and such and I must assume a tank is at least as clean as a neighbor’s hot tub and probably cleaner than a public swimming pool (probably doesn’t have any kids peeing in it). But yes, there’s still some “yuck” there.
OTOH, I’ve also heard that the time goes by quickly, as you say. Now that I’ve discovered that there are tanks that aren’t in Civilization, I’m going to do this and will report on my experience.