I've noticed that the phenomena of 'flanging' (a perception that the world is breaking down into individual 'frames', like the frame rate of reality has slowed), seems to appear under the influence of a wide variety of drugs.

I've gotten flanging effects on DXM and cannabis, and my friend claims he's gotten it on high doses of psilocybin. I've read reports of it from people on other drugs as well, including PCP and LSD.

Do people know what I'm talking about? I'm really curious as to why drugs that have such different mechanisms of action (NMDAR antagonist, CBR agonist, 5-HTR agonist) would all create such a similar effect at high doses.

Two theories I've heard:

The time between each 'frame' correspond roughly the amount of time it takes to move a memory for short term to long term storage.

Or, that consciousness itself somehow has a frame rate that drugs slow.

Thoughts?

Blessings
~ND

I think I'm on the same page as you...maybe not.. I felt this was fairly dominant in the heavier of the DMT experiences I went on yesterday, very blissful.

As I was focusing on what was being shown to me and I started seeing 'between' frames of vision and subsequently splitting those frames laterally.

Then it was like something intended "watch this" and then it split 3 perfectly geometric frames. In my mind I thought "go back!" and it divided by half. The content of the frames very raw like all my filters for normal perception couldn't process the images - but thats not what It was about confusingly.

The way in which I percived it in a logical sense is more in line with your second point.
- that consciousness itself somehow has a frame rate that drugs slow.

Maybe the information is being shared with more of the whole.
Like an email sent from the CEO to what she thinks is relevant to only one or two employees, but actually sends it to the entire company.

When I first started smoking cannabis, I smoked too much on one occasion and my vision was strobing in ways you describe.

I've noticed strobing on DMT in instances where I've found myself "outside" the loop. Some unfortunate distraction like a dog barking, phone ringing, door slamming, etc...can toss my experience off track so that I can still see the visuals, but they're no longer happening "to me." It does not bring much satisfaction other than the intellectual opportunity it offers to see hyperspace from the vantage point of an outsider. What typically appear to be smoothly continuous loops or even "linear" experiences can reveal themselves to be running on a metronomic clock. If I remember correctly, the metronome isn't quite so steady but rather follows the irregular beat patterns of hyperspacial code.

Ive gotten this effect from alcohol and cannabis a handful of times. It usually doesn't last super long, and during that period I feel remarkably lucid yet physically dissociated.

I have also had this happen with DMT

Its a pretty interesting effect that I'd like to know more about

It's sort of a hard question to ask in institutional settings though, which is frustrating. I can't really walk up to one of my teachers and say: "hey, so there's this weird cognitive phenomena I've noticed whenever I, or someone else, takes a bunch of drugs. Let's explore that."

It's a totally valid and legitimate question, but anti-drug bias runs deep, even in more left-wing academic circles. The response I've usually gotten, the few times I've tried is: "well of course, you were tripping balls, no wonder you saw weird stuff."

No engagement with the deeper question.

Blessings
~ND

I get that effect sometimes on higher doses of LSD and Psilocybin, where it looks like I'm seeing things in frames that are skipping or slowed down. Usually it's more pronounced the longer I stare at something.

The explanation I've come up with is it's because those drugs increase fast involuntary eye movements (see attached paper), and compounded by the drug's increased "after image" effect where whatever you look at stays imprinted on your vision for a while.

So your eyes are skipping around like crazy and can't stay focused on a fixed point, but the afterimages are sort of dragging around with your eye movements making things appear discontinuous. That's my guess for what might be happening.

I've never had it on alcohol or cannabis, but it's interesting that alcohol is another one mentioned in the paper.

Or maybe it's just reality ripping at the seams