I just saw a performance from a stand-up comedian. His last routine was to tell the story of Cinderella as a dyslexic. The act sounded like organized gibberish (which it was) which was funny but I couldn't help but feel for the comedian who certainly heard that way some of the time. It must have been hell to memorize. It was a very strange experience as I haven't been diagnosed with dyslexia but exhibit 9 out of the characteristics listed under the heading dyslexia (go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslexia to take the test). Most dyslexics will exhibit about 10 of the behaviors.
My awareness of dyslexia has come about in adulthood. However, if I read the signs, I can trace its onset back to childhood through seemingly haphazard difficulties - not academic as much as motor.
These days, I notice it when reading words (incorrectly), taking down phone numbers (incorrectly) or having a high tolerance of pain.
I amuse myself with "revolting" doors and other misreadings. My theory is that my brain is bored and is overstimulating itself as the environment is too "flat". I don't seem to perceive the complexities of the world around me and so I create my own palette as a way to stimulate my brain.
I read somewhere of an experiment where people were put in an environment without stimuli (floating in the dark with white noise as background sound). At first, the subjects slept. After they awoke, they would start hallucinating. The experiment was terminated because the results were scary and unexpected. The conclusion was that the brain needed to be stimulated and would stimulate itself if nothing external was forthcoming.
What think you?
English Cucumbers
10 months ago
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5 comments:
I don't know if "floating in the dark with white noise in the background" is exactly an environment without stimuli. "Floating" is an unstable activity itself and white noise can be as noisy as any other noise if you are exposed to it for a lengthy period...
I think in our time, brains are usually over-stimulated and just can't be accustomed to a quiet environment.
It's interesting to see that a lot of ancient meditation methods try to teach the student to learn to empty their minds to reach the higher stage of spirituality...
The experiment where the subjects were floating in the dark dates back to the 1950s-60s (I haven't looked for the reference because I don't remember much about it except the hallucinations). I can't see that overstimulation is a "natural" state. On the contrary, I think the brain would get accustomed much more easily to a quiet or barren environment and discern its complexity. I think whatthe experiment did was try and neutralize all ordinary sensations and that was too tough. I will look up the experiment.
Dr. John C. Lilly (...) studied sensory deprivation in 1956 by immersing volunteers in a tank of lukewarm water. The subjects had to wear particular type of face mask enabling them to see only blurred light.
Under total silence and lack of any stimulation the subjects were unable to concentrate, and in some cases developed mental disturbances. The maximum time a volunteer could tolerate these conditions was only three hours. The volunteers reported feelings of unreality and tremendous loss of identification.
They did not know where they were, or who they were, or what was happening to them. Due to this enormous mental pressure most of them abandoned the experiment.
(John C. Lilly, "Mental Effects of Reduction of Ordinary Levels of
Physical Stimuli on Intact Healthy Persons," Psychological Research Report 5, 1966, pp. 1-9)
Sounds like something CIA would have found useful in the 50's....
Maybe the experiment was funded by them :-)
It might have been. Similar experiences were done at that time that had the same overtones. : (
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