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By Ben, on June 22nd, 2010%
A couple weeks ago I was flipping through the local paper and an innocent little classified ad caught my eye:
OK, so maybe that wasn’t really the classified ad I saw, but if it was, I would’ve called them too!
For real:
Instead I saw an ad placed by the Rhine Research Institute at Duke University in Durham, NC, seeking volunteers for an on-going ESP/Psi study going on. After making contact with them, I was able to volunteer in the study, which was a real interesting experience to be a part of and I thought it’d be fun to share with you!
Wait – Duke University . . . → Read More: I Was Part of an ESP Experiment at Duke Last Week
By Ben, on December 15th, 2008%
This is amazing.
Japanese scientists claim they have developed a technique that visually records ones thoughts and dreams onto a computer monitor.
The technique is done by analyzing changes in blood flow in the region of the brain where vision is processed, called the visual cortex.
A spokesman for Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan, says that “by applying this technology, it may become possible to record and replay subjective images that people perceive like dreams.”
These are big words, with enormous implications!
So much that I thought immediately, “No… this is certainly a hoax.”
But such is not the case.
However, the research is not as . . . → Read More: Japanese scientists developing software that can record images from your dreams
By Ben, on August 20th, 2008%
I’ve been fascinated with the thought of floating around in an isolation tank ever since I first saw the film Altered States ten years ago.
Um – what is an isolation tank, you ask?
“An isolation tank is a lightless, soundproof tank in which subjects float in salty water at skin temperature. They were first used by John C. Lilly in 1954 in order to test the effects of sensory deprivation. Such tanks are now also used for meditation and relaxation and in alternative medicine. Isolation tanks were originally called sensory deprivation tanks. Other synonyms for isolation tank include float tank, floating tank, . . . → Read More: Isolation Tanks and the Potential For Lucid, Trippy, Self Transformative Experiences
By Ben, on July 3rd, 2008%
This page will be updated regularly with links to FREE online books, journals, and newsletters related to dreams and lucid dreaming, entheogens/psychedelics, and brain/consciousness/mind stuff..
You’ll find entire books released in PDF format for download and viewing (and printing), or books published online that you can read over the web. I’ve also included links to journals and newsletters that you can read for free online.
If a link is broken or if you have something to suggest I add, please email me.
Enjoy!
-Ben
PS Recommended items are highlighted in bold.
Last Updated: July 3, 2008
Newsletters and Journals
LDE: The Lucid Dream Exchange Newsletter (requires free Yahoo . . . → Read More: Free Online Books, Journals, and Newsletters on Dreams, Lucid Dreaming, and Psychedelics
By Ben, on July 3rd, 2008%
This page will be updated regularly with links to FREE podcasts, radio shows, and other audio downloads (interviews, lectures, etc) related to dreams and lucid dreaming, entheogens/psychedelics, and brain/consciousness/mind stuff.
If a link is broken or if you have something to suggest I add, please email me.
Enjoy!
-Ben
PS The best part of this is many of these are mp3s, meaning you can download them and listen to them anywhere from your iPod or mp3 player. Yeah!
Last Updated: July 3, 2008.
Steve Pavlina Podcasts on Lucid Dreaming & Consciousness
from Steve Pavlina: Personal Development for Smart People
Steve Pavlina has 20 awesome podcasts available . . . → Read More: Free Podcasts, Radio Shows, Lectures, and Interviews – for Lucid Dreamers and Psychonauts
By Ben, on November 7th, 2007%
Official ALTERED STATES movie trailer:
Plot Summary: A scientist takes drugs inside a sensory deprivation chamber, has crazy intense psychedelic trips, then genetically regresses into a primordial pre-human, ultimately regressing into the void of existence itself.
The story revolves around a young scientist named Eddie Jessup, whose interest in his work overshadows everything else, including not only his marriage to but even his own well-being.
I read that the actors experimented with ketamine while making this film. I thought this was strange but awesome of them. Later on I discovered why they did it; ALTERED STATES is based on the life and . . . → Read More: What happens when you combine mindblowing psychedelics with a sensory deprivation tank? A look at the film ALTERED STATES.
By Ben, on August 5th, 2007%
I recently came across this article titled “Brain Electrodes Help Man Speak Again” at Forbes.
In sum, this guy has been a vegetable for 6 years until doctors stimulated his brain with electrodes. Now, he’s able to talk, express emotion, watch movies, and eat on his own without a tube.
Basically…
it sounds like he’s become a person again.
What does it say about who we are when a brain-dead man comes back to life after having parts of his brain electrically stimulated?
Isn’t this pretty strong evidence towards a materialistic understanding of personal identity and the self?
What does this mean then when I ask:
Are you . . . → Read More: Brain Electrodes Help Man Speak Again
By Ben, on August 5th, 2007%
This is a great 7 minute video connecting dreams, near death experiences, and out of body experiences.
It comes from Penn & Teller’s popular show, kindly known as Bullshit.
(That should give you a hint about what sort of opinion they have about NDE and OBE.)
If that puts you off, at least check it out the centrifuge test experiment videos! It looks like something from Clockwork Orange or maybe some secret CIA torture research. WTF!
Too bad Penn’s voice is annoying and he always sounds like an asshole, even those times when he might be right.
Best quote from the video:
“Near Death Experiences are just . . . → Read More: Skeptics Penn and Teller on Near Death Experiences, Dreams, Out of Body Experiences
By Ben, on July 28th, 2007%
This is a fascinating 6 minute video into the research of Michael Persinger, inventor of the “God Helmet.” His research into out of body experiences, alien abductions, ghosts, and other “paranormal” phenomenon is predicated on the idea that these experience take place in the brain i.e. they’re an illusion and do not take place in physical reality.
To this end, he has invented a technique to stimulate the temporal lobes of the brain via magnetic pulses. The resulting device is known as the “God Helmet”, and in his lab people wearing it have experienced all sorts of wild and paranormal sensations . . . → Read More: Wearing the God-Helmet for Out of Body Experiences and Alien Abductions
By Ben, on July 26th, 2007%
Will virtual reality mean the death of lucid dreaming?
Recently I saw the movie eXistenZ by David Cronenburg. It’s about a fully-encompassing virtual reality game, where of course, something screwy happens and you begin to question what’s real and what’s not.
To play, you have to surgically install a “bio-port” at the base of the spine that the game plugs into. Conceivably, the game interacts with the brain via the nervous system via the spine. Users then “plug in” and are transported into full-scale virtual world in which they can interact with others and the environment, just like they would in the real . . . → Read More: The Death of Lucid Dreaming
By Ben, on July 24th, 2007%
Earlier this month I wrote about the Expectation Fulfilment Theory of Dreaming by Joe Griffin. In my post I posed some hypothetical interview questions that I’d like to ask Joe Griffin. Much to my delight, he’s responded to them!
And so I present to you a very short but interesting interview with Joe Griffin.
Is there a relationship between the mechanism behind dreams and the mechanism behind individual psychedelic experiences? Could the content of the “trip” be determined in the same way our dreams are i.e. from the days un-fulfilled emotional arousals to the nervous system?
There is an undoubted influence arising from . . . → Read More: Joe Griffin Responds To My Questions on the Expectation Fulfilment Theory of Dreaming
By Ben, on July 16th, 2007%
I found something really wild tonight.
I guess it’s old news since the patent is from 2003, but I see that Stephen LaBerge, the most famous lucid dream researcher and lucid dream author in the world, has a patent on “substances that enhance recall and lucidity during dreaming.”
Patent number 20040266659, to be exact.
Here’s a summary of his patent, in his own words:
“This invention relates to the field of Lucid Dreaming and the enhancement of dream recall and dream lucidity through memory enhancing drugs, including the class of substances that comprise Acetylcholine Esterase inhibitors (AChEls). Lucid dreaming involves dreaming while knowing that you . . . → Read More: Did you know Stephen LaBerge has a patent on substances that cause Lucid Dreaming?
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