altered experiences

Today my philosophy professor with some connections talked about sensory isolation chambers that are designed for sensory deprivation that has a deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses.

Scientists estimate that up to 90% of the brain's normal workload is caused by the effects of routine environmental stimulation the combined effects of gravity, temperature, touch, light and sound on the muscles, nervous system and sense organs of the body. The float tank screens out these external physical stimuli, creating a pure state of "sensory" relaxation.

In my undergraduate study my hostel had girls who were deaf and i often wondered how they were not able to listen to sounds like the mellifluous chirping of birds, the gushing of ocean waves, music. Even th very thought of such a think made a bead of sweat trickle down my brow and i shuddered by the mere thought of me being in their shoes. Also it was interesting to see two such people have a conversation they talked they smiled they shared everything often just by expressions, their eyes did a lot of work as well.

I remember vividly of another instance where i saw a young child about the age of five who was blind and i couldn't help myself from crying seeing the plight of the young one. The blind have a world which is a black void that is endless and dimensionless with no color what so ever. Even today if i think about a life in which i cannot see anything i dont know if i could survive , if i dint know what red is like, i dint know how my mother looks, how beautiful it is to see someone smiling, what a tear is like, or see any expressions, landscapes, the rainbow, flowers, the very thought kills me and makes me remorse. Linking this thought to the isolation chamber where you are deprived of sight, sound, smell, touch , taste and even gravity i wonder what would be my state of mind. Initially my thoughts would go crazy not knowing what to think and how to react. They would go hay-wire and i would reach a state of delirium or the silence could expand into seemingly infinite dimensions — vast as a galaxy.

On some level I will feel the storm of thought pulling my feelings and shifting my moods, often toward the negative and then you would need to gain control over the errant mind. Also the mind begins to unfold in all kinds of unexpected and fascinating ways. This is often when a lot of great ideas can come to you that could be radical to your life.

For now i really don't know how this will actually affect me but i do hope i get a chance to do this once in my lifetime and see the potential in me and try to thrive with it. Well that's just hope.

Ps: It is the same feeling that some people gain by lsd but that should not be tried.