I have a friend who says that sometimes when he zones out he will momentarily notice that things are altered. He has said he has looked at stuff and it changed and when he realized it was off it become normal again almost like realizing you are dreaming and immediately waking up. He has never done any hallucinogenic drugs. Is there something wrong with him or is nothing actually what it appears to be?
2006-12-15 14:41:11 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
only on fridays
*checks calendar*
...nice
it is not that nothing is what it appears to be..
it is that: everything is what appears.
2006-12-15 14:45:02 · answer #1 · answered by ỉη ץ٥ڵ 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think that everything we sense is somewhat distorted. That doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't a real world around us.It just means that our senses only provide approximations of the world.
Meanwhile, we make up the parts of the data we don't have by interpolation. And this interpolation is not horribly accurate.
For example, there was this experiment once where they sat a volunteer down and projected a red lazor pointer up on the wall. Then, they turned it off and like 20ms later or something, they projected a red lazor pointer on the wall a meter or so away from the first one. They asked the person what they saw, and they said they saw a red light start at one point, and then move across the wall until it got to the other point. So, then, they did the same thing except they made the first light red and the second one green. The person reported that they saw a red light move across the wall, and as it did it turned green. They asked where it turned green,and the person pointed about halfway inbetween the two points.
Now, consider that the person did not know the green light was goign to appear in advance. So, after seeing the green light, they went back and altered their memory to believe that there was a point in the middle where it change colors. This shows that we don't even necessarily percieve things in the order that they happen.
In terms of your friend though, he is probably trying to sound cooler than he is. His coolness is not real. It is just an illusion...
2006-12-16 02:17:42 · answer #2 · answered by justfriends4n0w 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To answer your first question, no, this is not all an illusion. Illusion by definition is a distortion of sensory perception. Our brain is trained to interpret and organize sensory input such as vision. How the brain interprets the inputs is beyond our control. Sure there are visual illusions such as kanizsa triangle, and many others, but those are obvious illusion to the rest of us. If your friend is noticing that things are altered momentarily and others don't seem to see the same alterations in those things, then there is a high probability that he has a visual perception disorder. If his perception disorder is bothering him, or endangering him in anyway then it might be wise to see it as a problem, and get some help. Otherwise it may be something he might not mess with. Illusions are sometimes cool... check out these on this website: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Illusion.html
2006-12-16 00:00:39 · answer #3 · answered by mike_online_now 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nothing is what it appears to be at all.
He is having an amazing experience.
Sometimes we get a glimpse behind the veil and it is like looking backstage and seeing that what we normally call reality is really an illusion.
I had the experience where everything desolved for a few seconds and there was nothing but a golden mist. I had to laugh and laugh when I realized that all this, the stuff that I am surrounded with all the time, is not even real.
Hard to believe, but true. He must have attained enlightenement ( from buddhism) somehow, maybe in a previous lifetime, to have this experience. He is truely blessed.
Tell him to read the book The Way of Zen to help him understand it.
2006-12-15 22:47:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The past is just an abstract thought - it has already happened. It can only be thought of as an illusion in your mind. The future is also an abstract thought - it hasn't happened yet. It can only be thought of as an illusion in your mind. The present is an infinitely small time connecting the future to the past. Being infinitely small makes it an abstract thought - also an illusion in your mind. So, the thing we all think of as reality is all just an illusion, isn't it?
2006-12-16 00:07:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
completly normal...when you zone out or stay fixated on one thing it can become distorted or altered. Your eyes are not even looking and grasping what is infront of it so your brain goes into it's own mode .. kinda like a screensaver comes up when you havn't done anything on your computer
2006-12-15 22:51:16 · answer #6 · answered by Age 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Actually the past birth memories lie latent in the brain. for some people in rare cases these memories awaken and they find themselves in a different environment. When they come out of it they feel as if they have come out of a dream.
2006-12-16 00:19:11 · answer #7 · answered by Brahmanda 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe he needs vision correction.... probably eye sight starting to go bad, and his brain/eye connectionis playing tricks on him!
Sorry this answer isn't all spiritual like!
2006-12-15 23:03:26 · answer #8 · answered by ? 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am of the notion that everything is exactly what you want it to be.
And you don't need to do drugs to hallucinate.
2006-12-15 22:53:36 · answer #9 · answered by socialdeevolution 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Something is wrong with him, or you/his interpretation.
2006-12-15 23:09:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋