Friday, August 22, 2008

Welcome to a New Reality (Cliff Pickover)

People afflicted with Charles Bonnet Syndrome see beings from another world. Many scientists would call these beings hallucinations. Others call this syndrome a portal to a parallel reality.

People with Charles Bonnet Syndrome (or "Bonnet-people") are otherwise mentally sound. The beings appear when the Bonnet-people's vision deteriorates as a result of eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration -- or when patients have had both eyes removed. Charles Bonnet Syndrome is more common in older people with a high level of education.

Bonnet-people report that they see apparitions resembling distorted faces, costumed figures, ghosts, and little people.






A few years ago I experienced an unexplained, if harmless, "retinal occlusion" -- essentially a spontaneous bruising of the retina. As the vision in the afflicted eye worsened due to the burst capillaries, I began seeing intricate patterns, especially in low ambient light. I've since identified the patterns as "entopic" images, thought by some to have served as the basis for early cave art.)

Although I never saw any "beings," I could sometimes make out suggestive detail of both biological and mechanical objects, and even interact with them through what, at the time, seemed to be a sort of telepathy. (I never thought what I was experiencing was anything but a subjective phenomenon, but that didn't make it any less interesting.)

Here's an account of one such Bonnet-like encounter:

In front of my face, at reading distance, there appeared to be multiple rows of compressed text, each word encapsulated in an ellipse. Each row moved rapidly from the right to the left -- too fast for me to make out any sort of narrative, but acutely responsive, so that I could visually choose a specific word-balloon and have it persist for a moment before vanishing -- instantly replaced by a stream of words with similar connotations. It was like looking into the mind of a language database or some futuristic heads-up display word processor. It also had the feel of a timed quiz or test of some sort; I can see something like it eventually becoming a high-bandwidth Web application.


I can't help but be vaguely reminded of Philip K. Dick's experience with the "phosphene activity" that inspired the eye-fooling body-suits of "A Scanner Darkly."

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

In my [Philip K. Dick's] novel A Scanner Darkly, published in 1977, I ripped off Fat's account of his eight hours of lurid phosphene activity.

Anonymous said...

Ahhh ... this explains a lot of my observations during the onset of diabetic retinopathy in 2002.

Of course, having read enough scifi to know what happens to those who admit that they can see the invaders, I kept my mouth shut.

Rob Bryanton said...

What a great entry! I had never heard of the Bonnet-people before. I've posted a link to this blog entry in the "Altered States" section of the Imagining the Tenth Dimension forum.

This is a topic that's near and dear to my heart - the idea that disorders of the mind and tricks of vision might be giving us glimpses into other underlying realities. My song "From the Corner of My Eye" is about this idea as well, here's a link to some videos and the lyrics for that song:

http://imaginingthetenthdimension.blogspot.com/2008/02/song-18-of-26-from-corner-of-my-eye.html

My compliments!

Rob Bryanton

Anonymous said...

зеленый лазер
электрошокер
товары мини камеры
товары народного потребления

steel building said...

Goodness, there is so much effective info above!

paging systems said...

I believe one and all should look at this.

Unknown said...

This is often very good. We watch this in turn subject matter so we are astounded. We are attracted to one of these methods. Solitary appreciate going up on your guidelines, and treasure doing with this. Please keep modifying. They are remarkably valua… master agen bola, agen bola online terpercaya, situs agen bola online

Unknown said...


good article, thankyou, :)
Obat Ambeien Tradisional Buat Ibu Yang Menyusui
Obat Ambeien Tradisional Khusus Buat Ibu Menyusui
Obat Ambeien Tradisional Aman Buat Ibu Menyusui
Beli Obat Ambeien Tradisional Buat Ibu Menyusui
obat ambeien alami buat ibu menyusui
obat ambeien yang alami buat ibu menyusui
obat ambeien alami buat ibu yang menyusui
obat ambeien alami buat ibu sedang menyusui

Unknown said...

Mengobati Kutil di Kemaluan _ Kutil kelamin merupakan salah satu penyakit gangguan kelamin berupa benjolan kecil yang terdapat dalam kulit kelamin. Kutil kelamin juga salah satu penyakit menular seksual (PMS) Cara Mengobati Kutil di Kemaluan

Obat Kanker Payudara Stadium 4 _ Ada banyak jenis kanker payudara, ada banyak jenis pilihan pengobatan. Namun tidak setiap pengobatan akan sama diberikan untuk setiap pasien. Disini beberapa daftar pilihan pengobatan kanker payudara stadium 4 yang tersedia Beli Obat Kanker Payudara Stadium 4

Obat Wasir _ Wasir bisa pula disebabkan oleh tugas yang menuntut duduk terlampaui lama, tidak jarang mengangkat beban terlampaui berat, kegemukan, pertalian sex lewat anus, infeksi anal atau rektal, Obat Penyakit Wasir

Kutil di Kemaluan _ Pada pria, kutil dapat tumbuh di bagian batang dan ujung penis, anus, serta kantung zakar. Sedangkan pada wanita, kutil kelamin dapat tumbuh pada bagian dinding vagina, Menghilangkan Kutil di Kemaluan

obat kanker _ Di masa sekarang ini, terbukti bahwa penyakit kanker menjadi salah satu pembunuh terbanyak bagi manusia. Obat Kanker Tradisional

Obat Wasir Berdarah _ Pengobatan medis memiliki kelebihan dapat mengatasi masalah wasir dengan cepat melalui pemberian obat-obatan ataupun operasi. Obat Wasir Berdarah Ampuh

Kemaluan Keluar Nanah tapi Tidak Sakit _ Kemaluan Keluar Nanah Tapi Tidak Sakit Kencing nanah (Gonore) adalah penyakit menular seksual (PMS). Kencing nanah disebabkan oleh Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Solusi Kemaluan Keluar Nanah tapi Tidak Sakit

Obat Sipilis Resep Dokter _ Penyakit sipilis ditularkan melalui hubungan seksual. Berpindah dari satu orang ke orang lain yang melakukan kontak seksual, Obat Sipilis Manjur Resep Dokter