found this rabbit hole while researching stuff from the 1700s.
TLDR this guy named Mesmer did some weird stuff with magnets trying to treat rich peoples illnesses. accidently found a way to induce a state called of mind "Somnobalisum" (a state similar to sleepwalking)
the word mesmerism comes from this guy. Anyway he was shut down a group of scientists (including Benjamin franklin) and the French revolution happened.
Fast forward to the 1800s and mad doctors found a way to induce somnobalisum without magnets. They called it hypnosis.
First step is to induce a tranced state. (shutting off the conscious mind bringing forth the subconscious, akin to a deep meditative state)
Then the second step is to induce somnobalisum by hypnotising the subconscious mind like you did with the conscious mind.
Think inception but instead of dreams its level of consciousness.
the person is now in a state of somnobalisum. they will have no memory of the event and can be influenced to do an number of different things.
over the years they did a number of experiments on people and got some interesting results
Somethings you'd expect - they could make them fall into a deep sleep, in a therapeutic setting they could influence a persons habits or help them access regressed memories.
some stuff you might not expect would be that this can be used instead of anesthesiology. meaning a real hypnotist can put you in such a deep state that you can be operated on...raw. im talking limb removal with no pain. its called Hypnotic analgesia. people have been getting this done for over 150 years.
https://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=86437 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/sussex/7355569.stm https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/hypnotist-puts-himself-trance-surgeon-2232873
that's not all, weirdly enough a person in a state of somnoblasim will often perform a familiar physical tasks or actions with much more ease and accuracy compared to a normal state of mind.
and they score significantly higher on "psychic tests". Actually all psychic research seems to be just a branch of hypnotism. Project stargate anyone?
thoughts?
Oh no, this is something absolutely different. You'd know it in a second if you'd experienced it.
EDIT: I should mention the specific name for this phenomenon, except it does not have one (at least one of which I have ever heard). That's how suppressed this all is, further demonstration of a Big Secret.
I meant to reply earlier, but man I've had this happen to me twice. Both times were later at night driving, and the craziest part to me is that when you "come to", it all seems so nonchalant.
One of them was a solid 30-40 minutes of driving. It's much worse in retrospect than when it actually happens.
It's funny you mentioned you took it nonchalantly, because that's exactly what I did too. Never made much of it and never mentioned it to anyone for years. Then by chance I happened to read a sci-fi novel called Blindsight. Skim that section because there's some pretty freaky stuff about consciousness.
One of the points that comes out in the book is that consciousness is way overrated. The crew in the novel figures out the aliens they go out to meet in deep space are not consciousness. With a lot of background material, the author illustrates the point that you don't have to be conscious to do any of the normal things, from drive a car to build and fly an interstellar spacecraft. We all just incorrectly assume you do.
That's when I thought back and went, "Aw shit, this guy is totally right. Reality just got a lot weirder."
I was going to add (with an LOL of course) that the fact that it is worse in retrospect is kinda a Catch-22.
Like, should I find it reassuring that it has happened twice and I've been perfectly fine, or should I find that even more horrifying because it drops your guard?
AND, perhaps, that's a big bit of it. I know for certain that one time it happened was after playing pool, and there's no doubt that pool requires a certain level of zen. And maybe zen is just more being able to ALLOW your motor system to take the reins. So you are putting yourself "at risk" for such an occurrence.
I wouldn't really hesitate to hazard a guess that you were probably doing something zen-like before you had your driving episodes. But of course, you can find the zen in almost anything if you put your mind to it. It probably helps more if what you are doing involves attention and fine motor control, at least similar to the level that driving would involve. And I know that when I feel more zen-like, my general focus on visual input is far stronger than normal, as in I don't even focus my eyes directly on things that much, and peripheral vision becomes clearer and more noticeable.
Very coincidental you mention a sharpening of the visual sense.
Just this morning I was listening to a years old podcast where a few individuals were talking about experiences on psychedelic drugs, particularly DMT. One of them mentioned that in South America, as a hunting aid some tribes chew on a certain vine because it heightens visual acuity and acts as an appetite suppressant, and--get this--big cats in the area do it too.
Then as regards sports, the other funny thing I would mention is this: have you ever seen someone--maybe a hockey goalie--playing with uncanny reaction speed and precision, in an almost preternatural way, and then the commentators will say something like, "This guy's unconscious! He's playing completely out of his head!" I always found that a very strange phraseology, but I think they're saying more than they know.
As far as I can tell so far, it all traces back to states of mind as reflected in brain waves--alpha, theta, whatever. I've never sorted it out, and when you go looking, no researchers have either. All of which leads me to believe that, no, They really don't want anyone to sort it out.