High-Powered Tools of Inner Exploration and Neuroscience, Part 1 of 2: The Basics

Matt and I were seated front and side at an overflowing event at the University of Washington; a researcher talking about a truly extraordinary piece of technology: Imagine if you had a device that could allow you to turn down your mental chatter and just allow yourself to experience the world more clearly in some ways.
` Your everyday assumptions could become visible. You would notice details about yourself and the world around you that you never noticed before. You'd find that you can see beyond your ordinary habitual, repetitive thoughts and emotions. It is possible for perception to expand so far beyond ordinary consciousness that dissolving and rearranging one's conceptual boundaries is universally accepted as among the most meaningful events in one's life.

This was a very large room, yet not enough chairs for everyone!

` Your own mind becomes seemingly transparent, and closing your eyes reveals an inner world of thoughts and impressive-looking computer graphics in real-time. These graphics can be scenes or simulations that you create for your own use. They also could be something else entirely, such as four-dimensional fractal geometry.
` Which you can see, because you're not viewing it with your eyes, you're experiencing it in your mind. It is like 'turning on' a whole new set of senses, as though you were using cybernetic implants to explore a virtual world. Concentrating on this inner reality, and turning up the intensity of the device allows one to sit back and have the most otherworldly experiences that seem to defy time and space.

As something of this magnitude should be, this device's importance from neurology to psychotherapy is compared to the telescope in astronomy, or the microscope in medicine and biology. Mathematicians, engineers, scientists, artists, musicians, and philosophers begin crediting a number of their achievements through abilities and perception they gained from the use of this 'mind-scope'. Culture changes dramatically and visibly from this tool's influence.

What some of you may not realize is, this "advanced technology" exists today.

If you haven't guessed, these possible states of mind are explored every day, via the use of psychedelic substances. They have been throughout recorded history, and long before.

The researcher speaking that evening was Albert Garcia-Romeu, from Johns-Hopkins University School of Medicine. His subject is the serotonin 2A receptor agonist known as psilocybin (SILL-o-SY-bin), a psychedelic alkaloid found in hundreds of species of mushrooms worldwide.
` In years past, I'd thought that these fungi made people "go crazy", but in general, psychedelic use seems to improve mental health (Johansen and Krebs, 2015) and reduce the risk of suicide (Peter Hendricks 2014).
` As Johansen and Krebs state: "We failed to find evidence that psychedelic use is an independent risk factor for mental health problems. Psychedelics are not known to harm the brain or other body organs or to cause addiction or compulsive use; serious adverse events involving psychedelics are extremely rare. Overall, it is difficult to see how prohibition of psychedelics can be justified as a public health measure."
` I will explain in this article and Part 2 how they can be used to help break addictive habits, from alcoholism to obsessive compulsive disorder. This is part of how they can be used to catalyze remarkably rapid and profound healing, which is the entire subject of Part 2.

So close, yet so far...

If I had one more day, I'd publish this 'Big Post' that I'm keeping "secret" except to the people who I've been telling to go to my blog for the past three months to read it. It's fundamental in understanding how I could recover from being tortured and the entire extravaganza of gaslighting, and how you too can have unbelievably amazing mental powers and perceptions!

I thought I was going to have one more day, but instead I am leaving tomorrow morning. I suppose I would have gotten it done if I hadn't gone to the Skeptic's Meetup, which was about how your gut flora affect your brain.

` It was interesting, and worth it especially because I spoke up about putting on my own presentation, perhaps in August or September. It will be based on my Big Article Parts 1 and 2, and so will a lot of my videos, and comics. It's that Big. I just have to get it finished first, then I can base all the things on it.

I won't be bringing a laptop with me, just because I doubt I could find a way to prop myself up in front of it in such a way that I could type. It's extremely difficult as it is where I am, and I doubt I will have the energy. So, it will be a few days before I can get back to finishing this post.

` It's literally almost done, I just spent the past week figuring out how to make Part 1 work as a piece on its own. I just need to finish a few paragraphs and then proofread it, but I won't get a chance to even resume work until NEXT WEEK!! ARRGH!!!!!

So, I would finish it tomorrow, and I thought I would have until tomorrow, but I don't, so I can't. As interesting as it is to see how long I can keep this up, it's getting to be a bit much. It seems I'd have done it if I didn't run out of energy just trying to keep myself propped up in front of the laptop. It seems to me that if I just had something which held my body in a position where it didn't hurt, I would be considerably more energetic.

` And my podcast, Skeptophany, for which this blog is named, is still out of my ability to access the files. It has been over a year. So as soon as I'm finished with the Big Article, I'm fixing my laptop or something so that I can access my drives that the files are on. Assuming some catastrophe doesn't befall me.

As for the carbon fiber trekking poles, the pain and pressure on the right side of my body was gone after a couple of DAYS! I'm a lot more energetic and move so much more quickly when I'm on a walk. It's helped me to gain control of my body in front of the computer, which has helped me type a lot. It hasn't been enough, but it's been so helpful.

` This evening after getting back from the Meetup, I found that my center of balance is now so close toward the center that I can use both poles! I don't fall over to the left, after about a week of using just the right one. While I'm away, I'll have to experiment with them!

So, if I get back in one piece, this blog and videos are going to continue. If not, I hope you don't forget about me altogether. I have hours more videos, hours of podcast material, and so much more to make. I have so much to say to the world, how long will I have?

` Well, my body can't support me in front of the laptop anymore, I must go to bed. I want to do nothing but write all about this subject, it's one of my life's greatest passions, but I'm going to have to put it on hold. Again. It's really burning in my mind. Driving me up the wall.

My life will change after it is published, much as it did after the Gaslighting Extravaganza video was published. I hope the police decide to investigate.

Sedum Madness, Psycho-Physical Therapy, and Chemical Mind Control...

I've been attempting to finish a key blog article for months, and my own brain/body are working against me once more. It's no biggie, I'm getting back on track for the nth time. So, what else have I been doing all this time besides not feeling well?
` There are now seventeen stepping stones out on the front retaining wall flower bed. Before my last post, there were zero. Here's one of them, just to the right of the first ice plant to start blooming this year. It's metallic red, and some of the others will bloom metallic purple, orange, and/or yellow.

All the other plants here are different types of sedum.

So, this isn't my 'Big Article', but it is An Article Greatly Swollen With Photos That I Just Took Yesterday!

What's going on with my health, and what's with all the succulents? I will answer those questions here in an amusing fashion, and with several more colorful photos: