[HN Gopher] Attention as the management of electromagnetic field...
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       Attention as the management of electromagnetic field lines
        
       Author : stoniejohnson
       Score  : 35 points
       Date   : 2024-12-14 01:05 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (qualiacomputing.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (qualiacomputing.com)
        
       | bglazer wrote:
       | I'm having a really hard time making sense of the whole
       | enterprise of Qualia Computing/Qualia Research Institute. Like
       | this particular subject (the nature of conciousness!) is rife
       | with cranks, so they're starting at a disadvantage. They cite
       | some real research published in Nature Communications, that seems
       | at least somewhat related to their ideas, so that's promising.
       | But then they're really (really!) focused on DMT and other
       | hallucinogenic drugs. That's not crank-ish in and of itself,
       | there's plenty of real research to be done on altered mental
       | states. But, they _seem_ a bit too excited about the altered
       | states themselves. My general impression of the research focus
       | and the way they write is a bit too close to like the overly
       | excited tripping guy in your dorm room. Then the simulation is of
       | a standing wave on a square plate, which is plainly so far from
       | what 's happening in the brain that it's a bit baffling why this
       | would be considered relevant. Also the QRI page is really well
       | designed and organized, which is generally not a feature of
       | people who aren't thinking straight.
       | 
       | I'll concede that maybe I'm being too harsh and there's something
       | real but unconventional here. That said, the whole presentation
       | is like the perfect uncanny valley for real scientific inquiry.
       | Very unsettling.
        
         | api wrote:
         | It has a very Monroe Institute / Esalen at the peak of its
         | history when Terrence McKenna and Timothy Leary were around
         | vibe. Think of it as smart people with wide interests and often
         | heterodox views shooting the shit but with some funding and a
         | quasi-academic structure.
         | 
         | I don't know a ton about it but I've followed it for a while
         | and that's what it looks like to me.
         | 
         | We should have more of this. Much of what this kind of place
         | generates is kooky or art rather than science, but it's also
         | the kind of mountain stream that feeds into things like the
         | 1990s Santa Fe Institute that in turn helps give us modern
         | agent based simulation -- to pick one random example.
         | 
         | I also don't get the sense this place has been turned into a
         | vehicle to inject race science or other "heterodox" "just
         | asking questions" fashy on-ramp stuff into the discourse like
         | some other forums for free thinking.
        
       | MrMcCall wrote:
       | Some few years ago I did a YouTube dive into earthing/grounding
       | tech setups, but never created a grounded mat to use while
       | sleeping or programming. We don't use wifi for our computers
       | (chips removed from machines and cable modem's wifi turned off)
       | and spend very little time on cellphones in our residence, so we
       | experience very little locally-generated EMF radiation (AFAIK),
       | but I've not measured it for a very long time (I have a ~$200 EMF
       | and magnetic field measurement device).
       | 
       | I'm curious if anyone around here has tried grounding themself
       | while working or sleeping and noticed any difference. From a
       | naturalistic standpoint, it seems like a valid concept to test as
       | our pre-, say, 100ya bodies' environment had very low ambient EMF
       | radiation. Then, before the vulcanization of rubber, our
       | transportation when on foot, at least, was spent grounded to the
       | earth through leather (or other natural fabric) shoes (AFAIU).
       | 
       | Anyway, I do notice that going to a park and spending a chunk of
       | time leaning on a living tree or just plopping down on the ground
       | on our cotton blanket does seem to confer a pleasant bodily
       | result. Or maybe it's just Placebo. I don't _know_ yet.
       | 
       | From what I remember or understand, grounding oneself to the
       | Earth causes our body to be flooded with electrons from the
       | Earth's natural resevoir, but I'm no EE, so I would appreciate
       | some folks leveling me up by sharing their expertise with those
       | reading this.
       | 
       | Perhaps grounding oneself will help harmonize our internal
       | electical waves in a way that helps improve our concentration.
       | 
       | I'm also curious how grounding oneself would affect the
       | alkalization of our body. I'm sensitive to acidic foods such as
       | tomato paste or marinara or jalapeno. I'm no chemist, so I wonder
       | if there would be an effect in that dimension as well.
       | 
       | "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." --Unknown
       | 
       | Thanks in advance.
        
         | spangry wrote:
         | I tried this for a while using adhesive medical electrodes
         | attached to a grounding strap, in turn attached to an earthing
         | point in my house. I didn't notice any benefit or disbenefit,
         | but I wasn't paying particularly close attention. I'm still
         | open to the potential benefits of 'touching grass'.
        
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       (page generated 2024-12-17 23:00 UTC)