Hallucinatory Neurophysics [the mathematics of visual hallucinations and NDE's]

Preposterous Universe blog ^ | February 4, 2005 | Sean Carroll

[snarks_when_bored]

Friday, February 04, 2005

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Hallucinatory Neurophysics

Everyone knows what it's like to experience the hallucinations that accompany certain kinds of drug use (among other mind-altering contexts) -- if not from direct experience, at least from depictions in movies and literature. We've seen the colorful, swirling patterns, or the illusory tunnels stretching before us. It turns out that hallucinations are by no means random; there are certain recurrent patterns reported by people who experience them. These patterns were studied by Heinrich Kluever in the 1920's and 30's, and classified into four different structures: spirals, spokes, honeycombs, and cobwebs. Subsequent work has suggested more complicated hybrid forms, such as that portrayed here, but the basic types seem to be robust.

Here's the good part: the appearance of these particular hallucinations can be explained by physics!

[snip]

So, the next time you have a near-death experience, and see a tunnel stretching before you leading to a beckoning light, it's not Jesus calling you into the afterlife. It's just some characteristic jiggling of the neurons in your weakened brain. Which, to my mind, is much more interesting.

[Right Wing Professor]

This is why I never go out without my tinfoil helmet.

[1john2 3and4]

Strawman: hold out a falsehood that many Christians believe. Disprove the falsehood, therefore, disprove Christianity! It's all so simple!

The dead sleep:
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know not anything....for they have no memory. There is no knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest. Completely consistent with:

The dead in Christ shall rise (at His 2nd coming.)

[RadioAstronomer]

Cool! Thanks for the ping. :-)

[P.O.E.]

To paraphrase Albert Einstein:

"God does not play Spirograph"