Praxis. wrote:But why aren't they an ordinary part of our perception? What is it about the mechanism of action of psychedelics that gives us the opportunity to think and 'see' in fractals, as opposed to other substances?
...First off, psychedelic drugs act upon different areas and receptors located in your brain than most other drugs. Some drugs actually offer better
reality-based focus and clarity (like
Focalin and
Modafinil).
I saw a great deal of fractal-based imagery on mega-doses of LSD. Since I have yet to try DMT I can't accurately state in this regard. However, I don't consider the crazy imagery you see on hallucinogens as really having anything to do with your eyes. True, you can look at things that appear to melt, fractalize and look really cool (like "liquid music" ) but it's really just a specific part of your brain producing what is tantamount to a
psychotic episode in Psychology terms. When this is combined with open-eyed data and audio data, then you have your brain, ears and eyes all fighting for control over the data.
This is why you can suddenly look at someone's face and it appears fairly normal for a second or so, but then melts into unintelligible abstract forms the longer you stare at their face. The initial optical data gets quickly processed in a different area of the brain and the "raw" optical data becomes no longer relevant.
LSD Example: Listening to Pink Floyd's
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (Parts 6 through 9) with your eyes open in a passively-lit room with lots of interesting colors and shapes to look at will produce a very enjoyable
"sensory overload" experience. ...But turn off the music and close your eyes and you'll have an equally powerful mind-blowing experience, but far more "spiritual and internal" within its scope.
I consider the fractals and drug-induced hallucinations we see as kind of like opening up your laptop computer and looking at all of the intricate wiring, microchips and circuit boards. It's all hidden inside your computer because
"seeing all of this crap" is not the intended purpose of your computer.
-Birdman
"You going to pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?"