(2027)  Sun 8 Nov 92  1:23
By: Don Allen
To: All
Re: Mind FAQ - 2/3
St:                                                                  2026<>2028
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Q:  What is lucid dreaming, and how do you do it with a machine?

A:  A lucid dream is one in which you know that you are dreaming, and
therefore have full control over what happens to you in the dream, even
though you're still asleep.  People who are really "into" lucid dreaming
say that it puts your sleeping hours to work to enhance your creativity and
that it helps you get a feeling of control over your waking life to have
your sleeping life under control.  The Lucidity Institute pushes a roughly
thousand-dollar piece of hardware that looks like a slightly oversized set
of light and sound mind machine goggles and monitors you for REM state.
When it detects the onset of REM, it flashes a dim LED onto your eyelids.
The idea is that you'll see the light in front of you in your dream, and
remember that that's your cue that you're dreaming.

Q:  What do electrical stimulation mind machines do?

A:  Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation (TENS) is sort of like
"electrical accupuncture."  Small voltages are run across, for example, an
aching joint, to stimulate healing and endorphin release.  Cranial
Electro-Stimulation (CES) is the next major step: transmitting even smaller
voltages directly across your brain (via electrodes that clip onto your ear
lobes), to stimulate endorphin release and produce the same kind of
brain-wave entrainment as a light and sound mind machine.

Q:  What is a biocircuit?

A:  A biocircuit is made up of copper plates connected via copper wire to
copper plated handles.  You arrange them in specially designed "circuits"
and then lie down on them, holding onto the handles, and it somehow
"balances" your body's electrical fields.  Sounds silly to some of us, but
there were some double-blind studies which suggest that they may be able to
produce mind-altering effects.  They are also available in silver and in
silk, and some people claim different effects depending on the materials.

Q:  What do you mean by consciousness alteration software?

A:  It varies.  Some people stretch this category far enough to include
thinking aids like "idea processors" such as Idea Generator Plus,
Brainstormer, and The Thinking Machine, which offer up thinking strategies
and help you organize your brainstorming sessions, and non-linear
"hypertext" writing systems like HyperTies and Guide.  Then there's "shrink
in a box" software like the old classic Eliza, its modern, hipper
incarnation Racter, PC Guru, and Timothy Leary's (now mostly remaindered)
Mind Mirror.  But much closer to the idea of consciousness alteration
software is a little gem for both PCs and Macintoshes called Synchronicity,
which uses vaguely oriental art and digitized nature sounds to aid you in
meditation upon computer-generated I Ching oracles.

Q:  What are sensory deprivation tanks?

A:  Mostly the same old classic "flotation tanks" pioneered by Dr. Lilly
and publicized in the book and movie {Altered States}.  A flotation tank is
a light-sealed tank of body-temperature water, mixed with enough Epsom
salts to guarantee that you float in it.  After a prolonged period of
sensory deprivation, the "floater" experiences various states of
consciousness alteration.

Q:  You keep saying "consciousness alteration."  Does this have anything to
do with drugs?

A:  Not in the sense that you mean it, probably.  Some (I stress that,
SOME) researchers claim that they've seen a synergistic effect from mixing
light and sound mind machines with some of the experimental nootropics such
as Piracetam.

Q:  Are all of these things legal?

A:  HemiSynch, hypnotic, subliminal and so forth cassette tapes are
entirely legal, though the FDA is considering restricting the advertising
claims that they can make.  Light and sound machines are unregulated by the
FDA due to the fact that a crude form of this kind of hardware pre-existed
the FDA, and is therefore "grandfathered." Biocircuits are currently
unregulated.  TENS and CES are considered medical devices, and available
only by prescription.  And flotation tanks are perfectly legal, albeit
expensive.

Q:  Well, if the FDA can't regulate it, is it safe?

A:  Opinions on the list are sharply divided about this.  Some of the
oldest "mind spas" have confirmed that approximately three out of every ten
thousand sessions with a light and sound mind machine have produced mild
epileptic seizures ... but that almost all of those were in known
epileptics, the kind of people to whom strobe lights are dangerous, too,
and the others turned out to be in undiagnosed epileptics.  Some list users
believe that these machines may somehow "cause" epilepsy in previously
normal people or possibly worsen epilepsy for undiagnosed epileptics, but
these people have NO research or other evidence on their side.

It was once thought that people with migraine headaches should avoid light
and sound mind machines, on the theory that bright lights can trigger
migraine attacks.  In fact, the one real study so far ended up showing that
light and sound mind machines not only don't cause or trigger migraines,
but reduce or eliminate the pain of migraine attacks in 72% or more of
migraine sufferers.  (cf {The Futurist}, July-August 1991, p. 5)

Makers of TENS and CES electro-stimulation hardware recommend against using
their devices if you have a pacemaker or other built-in electronics, for
the fairly obvious reason that the current might interfere with your
existing circuitry.  Also, please remember that TENS and CES hardware are
supposed to be available in America only by prescription to persons under a
doctor's supervision.

Q:  How much will all of this stuff cost me?

A:  The cassette tapes and CDs are competitive with music tapes and CDs,
mostly, with prices ranging from around $10 to $40 for most of them, with
some multi-tape sets running up around $100 or so.  There are light and
sound machines available for under $150, but according to our reviewers,
they're trash.  The cheapest light and sound machine to get decent reviews
is the Shaman, from AlphaLabs, at $180, and better machines run from $300
to $700. Your basic copper biocircuit starts at $50.  TENS and CES hardware
runs from roughly $400 to $1000.  And even a cheap flotation tank will set
you back $4000, not counting all the Epsom salts you have to keep loading
into it.

On the other hand, you may be able to find alternatives to having to buy
some of this.  Michael Hutchison, whose 1981 tome {MegaBrain} kicked off
the current enthusiasm for such hardware, gives a travelling $150 seminar
in which participants get to experiment with various kinds of consciousness
hardware, and some cities have permanent "mind spas" where you can go in
and rent time on the hardware.


<<<< Cont >>>>

Don

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