dr_funkenstein Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 ricky18, you don't know the half of what the human brain can do. It's the most fascinating thing on the planet, and we are just beginning to learn how it works and what it is capable of. Seriously, the human mind is something amazing to ponder. Just as a starting point, consider this little-known phenomena: sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis, or more properly, sleep paralysis with hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations have been singled out as a particularly likely source of beliefs concerning not only alien abductions, but all manner of beliefs in alternative realities and otherworldly creatures. Sleep paralysis is a condition in which someone, most often lying in a supine position, about to drop off to sleep, or just upon waking from sleep realizes that s/he is unable to move, or speak, or cry out. This may last a few seconds or several moments, occasionally longer. People frequently report feeling a "presence" that is often described as malevolent, threatening, or evil. An intense sense of dread and terror is very common. The presence is likely to be vaguely felt or sensed just out of sight but thought to be watching or monitoring, often with intense interest, sometimes standing by, or sitting on, the bed. On some occasions the presence may attack, strangling and exerting crushing pressure on the chest. People also report auditory, visual, proprioceptive, and tactile hallucinations, as well as floating sensations and out-of-body experiences (Hufford, 1982). These various sensory experiences have been referred to collectively as hypnagogic and hypnopompic experiences (HHEs). It's fascinating stuff. The truth is, humans hallucinate much more frequently than you might suppose. And not due to mental illness - normal, sane people see/hear/experience them all the time. I myself have personally experienced sleep paralysis on two occasions. The first time it happened I had no idea what the phenomenon was, so you can imagine my fear when the following occurred: I was dozing off to sleep, lying on my stomach. My eyes were still barely open - I could see through a narrow slit in my eyes - and I was staring off to my right at the mirrored sliding doors of my wardrobe. As I was dozing, all of a sudden three things happened: 1. The room filled with a bright light. 2. A loud "white noise" type of hiss filled my ears. 3. As I tried to get up, I felt as if someone were sitting on my back, holding me down. I couldn't move. Then out of the narrow slit in my eyelids I saw a short humanoid figure running around the edge of my silhoutted against the bright light reflecting off the mirror. He appeared to be craning his head down to look me in the eye, and I got the impression he was trying to tell if I was conscious or not. Then I blacked out. Now understandably this experience was extremely distressing - however being the skeptical, rational person that I am I refused to jump to conclusions to do with aliens and anal probes. I did some researched and discovered the phenomenon known as sleep paralysis - and all the symptoms fit. The point is - the human mind is capable of very powerful hallucinations. Don't always trust what your senses - especially when you're in an emotionally charged situation with a charismatic person putting suggestions of demons in your head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All Gods Fail Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 The point is - the human mind is capable of very powerful hallucinations. Don't always trust what your senses - especially when you're in an emotionally charged situation with a charismatic person putting suggestions of demons in your head. Yow - that's intense shit, Dr. F.! Glad you kept it together and didn't let your experience drive you into la-la land. I have a milder form of SP - thankfully no visual hallucinations or physical sensations, but auditory. Usually, just as I'm falling asleep I'll hear verbal nonsense (voices saying things like 'Cake isn't squeaky' or something like that) and/or noises (loud bangs or crashes - sometimes getting me out of bed in a confused attempt to see what had fallen). It used to freak me out - I thought I was going schizo! Finally I went to see a doctor about it and that's when I learned about SP and it's variations. Apparently my case is somewhat rare. It doesn't bother me much anymore and I've learned to ignore it. At any rate, don't underestimate the high weirdness that the gray matter can produce! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JPD Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Yeah, this happened to me three or four times when I was a teenager, and I had no idea what it was or that it was common for many years after that. Each time it happened I was so sleepy that I was nearly asleep when my head hit the pillow. I always slept with music on, and I could hear the music and feel the sheets against my skin, but realized I could not move even a finger. And slowly this low gutteral chorus of moans, like the tibetan monks sub base chanting, would reverberate all around me and even vibrate the bed . I would begin to feel as though I was being pulled down through the bed into darkness as the sound got more and more intense and I got more and more panicky, until I could will myself to move one finger and then slowly peel myself out of it. After it was over, or course I was really freaked out, but I would tell myself that it was only a dream, and then be curious what would happen if I let myself go and be pulled into darkness. When it happened though, each time, I couldn't work up the balls to follow through with the experiment. I just panicked and tried to "save my soul". Very interesting phenomenon. I wonder why it's never happened to me as an adult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 My opinion on demons are as follows: If they were true, and for sure really existed, then how can it be explained that medication in form of pills and shots help people cast out the demons and they can get rid of the voices in their head? Shouldn't demons be spiritual beings, impervious to stomach contents, and independent of a persons digestive system? Is the stomach and the nutritional transport system in our body connected to the spiritual world somehow? Does the kind of particles we have in our body tell the demons to let us be or not? Or maybe the explanation there is that the field of medical science have a secret contract with the Devil, that the Devil have promised to let people be if they eat certain pills? Maybe they use witch doctors at the lab instead of microscope, EEG machines and X-rays? How come they can figure out a medication for a certain kind of demonpossession based on experiments in test tubes? As long as it can be treated with science, medicine and physics, then it is not supernatural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthenSun Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 As long as it can be treated with science, medicine and physics, then it is not supernatural. Yes, its just like crop circles. They look fantastic and you start to think that maybe these really are made by aliens. Then science gets involved and they find two old guys in an English pub who admit to making them with some rope and old boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 When I first heard about crop circles, I didn't know what to think. But then they had one circle that looked like Mandelbroth's fractal, that gave it all away, since why would aliens leave crop marks like that. If the aliens wanted to send a message, why couldn't they write in English letters instead of copying famous electronic "arts", or why not make a crop circle of Mickey Mouse? It's basically the same message. Some kind of "Zglarxh was here!" kind'a thing. I wonder what the message was from the aliens in this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_funkenstein Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Each time it happened I was so sleepy that I was nearly asleep when my head hit the pillow. Same with me. It's as if your brain wants so badly to go to sleep that it lapses into REM sleep while you're still conscious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffXL Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 My opinion on demons are as follows: If they were true, and for sure really existed, then how can it be explained that medication in form of pills and shots help people cast out the demons and they can get rid of the voices in their head? As long as it can be treated with science, medicine and physics, then it is not supernatural. Exactly! There are also nervous disorders that have been blamed on evil spirits. Does anyone remember the two Cathylic priests in Germany brought up on charges in the 1980s for trying to exorcise an epileptic rather than take her to a hospital? http://time-proxy.yaga.com/time/archive/pr...,919629,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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