What are our connections to reality? And how do we sever them? One of the most effective ways to do such a thing, in my mind, is to read a book, play an engrossing video game, get caught up in a film, listen to a symphony, etc. etc. But that has its problems:

1. Mundane

2. Documentation may be lackluster

3. Can be really, really easy to lose your 'concentration' and return to reality.


So, we'll have to take an approach that deals with reality-connections piecemeal, rather than all at once.

The five senses, while a decent start, should only be a jumping-off point for this. But let's start there:

1. Sight: Complete and utter darkness is the most effective way to sever this connection. In my opinion, it's a much better method than a blindfold or something like that. You always know when there's light, no matter how effectively you block it. But closed windows + no light sources in the middle of the night is the most effective to sever all connections to sight and ensure that anything seen has zero connection to reality.

2. Taste: This one is interesting. How do we have no taste, or rather, not have any connection to reality with our taste. How can a taste be false? I think I've come up with a reasonable solution to this quandary. While the taste of a cheeseburger is always a cheeseburger, and the taste of imitation crab is imitation crab even if it sorta tastes like crab, there are two tastes that distinctly false:

A. False heat: Via capsaicin, mostly found in spicy peppers and the like. Your brain is fooled into believing something extremely hot is in your mouth, when in fact the reality is quite different. A gustatory illusion.

B. False cold: Probably doesn't come to mind as readily as heat from peppers, but this exists too: mint. Again, everything stays at the same temperature, but your mind experiences it as something very cold. This isn't extremely strong with, say, tic-tacs, and so we don't really interpret it like that. But stronger mints, like breath-strips or really strong peppermint does the trick.

3. Smell: Very closely tied together with taste, in my opinion less of another sense than some of the 'non-senses' (no pun intended) that aren't included in the traditional model of the five senses. It may be a cop-out, but my sense of smell has never been very strong. But I think this should thoroughly disorient my sense of smell: A good whiff by each nostril of peppermint oil. I remember peppermint oil being used in one of Terry Pratchett's novels to throw a werewolf's sense of smell off.

4. Hearing -- This is probably the sense we're most familiar with trying to sever from reality (along with sight). Of course, none of our senses can be severed completely from reality, and the same is true for hearing. So, there are two ways to deal with hearing. First, earplugs or noise-blocking headphones, or both. This effectively reduces the sound-level of most sounds, but it doesn't do a good job of blocking the sounds that we make ourselves -- we seem to have an intuitive ability to sense these. Another way to contribute to severing sound from reality is to play white noise or an equivalent loudly.

I'll get to touch in a moment. But first, some non-traditional 'senses' that have every right to be considered connections to reality:


5. Sense of acceleration and gravity- Your body is very, very good at this. The next time you're on a familiar bus route, or are being driven on a familiar route, close your eyes. It's not that you remember exactly how long it takes to get from place to place, because that varies, but you'll be able to tell exactly where you are. It's because you can sense every time, every time you speed up or brake. [Note: please don't do this if you are the driver ;) ]
This one's sorta tough to deal with. The best I can think of is not to be in motion in any significant way.

6. Sense of balance- We can easily sense when we are off balance, or when a surface we are standing on is tipping, etc. Easiest way to sever this from reality: spin around several times. I'm not going to relish doing this, as I don't enjoy the sensation. But it is very effective at destroying your sense of balance (can you stop the room, please? I'd like to get off).

7. Sense of location- This is what enables you to tell when you are in a small vs. a large room. I don't completely understand it, but it plays off of both sounds you hear and your inner ear. Spinning around combined with earplugs should effectively hurt this one, too.

8. Sense of pain- Pain is your body's way of telling you that something is going on that is not good for it. There are currently in development some extremely effective methods of inducing false pain, but I don't have the money, means, or guts to use any of these (and besides, they aren't designed for use over a long period of time). So no pain is probably a less distracting and more effective route than a constant annoyance-level pain.

9. Sense of temperature & touch- I'm combining these two because there's an effective way to try to eliminate some of the normal connections to reality that these create. Yes, I consider them two separate things. With apologies to those of you who are science-inclined, I think a reasonable rendering of the difference would be: Touch is the sensing of molecules you come in contact with. Temperature is the sensing of the overall speed at which those molecules are moving.

I don't know if there is really a way to get rid of a sense of touch, save from cutting off circulation, which, as far as I know, isn't possible or practical to do on a full-body scale. But here's what I think will effectively, if not sever these from reality, then create a new reality or overload the sensations: Complete or near-complete submergence in a warm bath. As a bonus, this allows the mind to relax and separate itself from the world.


So, how do I separate myself completely from reality? Sniff peppermint oil, pop in a mint or eat a pepper, spin around several times, put in some earplugs, shut off all the lights (at night), and submerge myself in a warm bath.

In effect, instead of a 'sensory deprivation chamber' type seclusion, I've tried to do one of two things: Where reasonable, shut down the sense (deprivation-style), but where not, or where that wouldn't represent a radical change, I've tried to OVERLOAD and DISCONNECT the sense.




Well, I did this, and it didn't lead to any particularly huge epiphanies, except for one thought that came to me, a Marx/Franklin/Voltaire/Nietschze-esque sorta thing: "If God had wanted Man to be happy, he would have existed."

But I do have some observations about the time I spent trying this that tactic:
-Peppermint oil can really knock out your sense of smell. No kidding.

-Trying to get in and out of a bathtub in the dark is a really good way to hurt yourself (I didn't.)

-Our body tries really, really hard to avoid losing contact with the world around it

-Near a window to the outside, it is really, really difficult to create total darkness

-If you stare into total darkness long enough, you'll realize that your brain is cutting down the area you're 'viewing.' Once you realize this, the blackness, even when it is completely dark, you 'see', will expand. This is a strange and wonderful sensation

-While I was very conscious of the space around me nearest to me, other places, like the ceiling, lost touch with reality- the ceiling seemed really high.

-Maybe it was just the bath, but being in total darkness was very relaxing/invigorating, if that's not a paradox.

My earplugs fell out soon after I got in the bath- and I didn't notice it for quite some time. Later, I felt one float by and managed to grab it. Pretty good, no?

Okay, it was a good run. I think it was a valid completion. But I was annoyed by the fact that it was really difficult to create complete darkness in the room. I got close- but after I recorded the video clip and my eyes adjusted, there was a bit of light. This was mostly due to the fact that there was a window to the outside. I kinda wanted to schplank this task, and while I didn't think I could come up with some huge epiphany or vision that might get the kind of votes a schplank usually gets, I wanted to go the extra mile.

So, as an addendum, I decided to try route two. A stone-lined shower stall covered by a thick cloth curtain, in a room with no window to the outside, with towels blocking the gap between the door and the already pitch-black hallway. Complete darkness + noise-blocking headphones. More of a sensory-deprivation approach.

What happened the second time

The 'expanding darkness' came faster this time, mostly because I was concentrating on it. This task isn't the first time it has happened to me, it can happen any time when you're focusing on the darkness in a very dark room, or when meditating, and so-forth. I don't think it's unique to me, but it may be. It is a very cool feeling -- almost like you can extend your vision beyond what you can normally see, because since everything is black, you can convince your body that you see beyond your normal peripheral vision.

I decided to question my internal self, something I've done before while meditating.
Where am I?
You are here.

That's where the line of questioning ended. As I was staring into the darkness- something clicked off. The darkness got darker. It was like a light-switch had been switched off. And it wasn't gradual. It was sudden enough that I felt a significant jolt of adrenaline. I looked around, and there was no light. There couldn't have been any before and nothing could have turned off. This freaked me out enough that I couldn't do much more and left it at that. What the hell happened? I don't know. I'm a skeptic and it's my first instinct to avoid any sort of paranormal explanation. What I would guess is that it's something like the 'hypnogogic jerk' that happens when we fall asleep. Something on a similar tack to that, but different.


I wasn't expecting that, and it was a little creepy. I wish I had more conclusions to draw about it, but I don't. Do you?

It's also interesting that I didn't have the same sorts of 'visions' or 'sights' that others have had while completing this task. Is it a lack of imagination on my part or just the way different bodies work?