> "Her dramatic eye movements are self-stimulating her brain hemispheres, a technique called bi-lateral stimulation. By panning her eyes back and forth she is unknowingly using this technique to synthesize her brain hemisphere's memory and logic functions connecting complex ideas and accessing enormous amount of information."
That summary seems to be wrong as the technique helps with processing emotional information and not with connecting complex ideas. At least that's what I remember and what the wiki article says as well. It's been a while since I read about it.
I know that it is a well researched and established method for treatment of Parkinsons (short term and midterm results have been empirically solid) and also used to treat PTSD.
According to Scientific American, The journal Brain and Cognition found a correlation with moving your eyes from side to side with increased creativity and improved memory. [1]
The idea is to think of something emotional that you may be struggling with and keep it in your mind while following the images on the screen. Whether or not the eye movement actually triggers the brain to reconfigure itself, or whether it's simply keeping the emotion "in focus" that brings the changes remains TBD, I think.
Am I on the Daily Mail by mistake? Lots of opinions there bereft of supporting observation or the merest smidgeon of reason to go along or not with the opinion ventured.
I was in a drug store recently and the cold medicines that used to say full-strength or maximum-strength now say "extreme". They are also going to run out of adjectives.
Since there seems to be a lot of Ayn Rand articles lately, you might be interested in the excellent 3 part series by Adam Curtis called "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace".
It includes a segment on Ayn Rand, including segments from that interview, but also lots of really interesting interviews with silicon valley folks from the 90s, to high-freq stock market trading and "ecosystems".
i have a lot of friends who are recovering meth addicts and so when i first read ayn rand's atlas shrugged and came across john galt's ridiculous 60 page monologue (and no, i did not elect to read it word for word, you are a fucking moron if you do), my first suspicion, not knowing anything about her background yet, was that this sounded like someone high on amphetamines. sure enough, with a little research, i found that she was on benzos the entire time she was writing atlas shrugged. once i saw this interview with the shifty eyes i was convinced. she's tweaked out of her mind. to be clear, i think atlas shrugged is a significant work of art, but i also think parts of it are just the ramblings of someone high on speed, and i'll be damned if i'm going to read all of it.
Sorry to be pedantic, but benzos are not amphetamines and have almost the opposite behavioral effects. They're sedative and would make it much harder to write anything at all.
Yes, incorrect "slang". Not from the 60's, it's actually very 21st century. Benzos almost universally refers to Benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin, etc...). Doctors even say Benzos, it's a legitimate abbreviation.
I've also heard "bennies" used to refer to diphenhydramine (Benadryl — hence the term). This is used off-label as a sleeping pill in low dosage (causes dependence), as a sex enhancer in medium doses, and as a recreational deliriant in high doses. It's not particularly good for you.
Figured it was worth leaving this here in case some SV person tries to find amphetamines on the street by looking for "bennies" and gets the wrong stuff.
Is Benadryl at normal doses bad for you? I occasionally take one to combat insomnia. I'd stop if I found out this wasn't a benign thing to do.
As an aside: I've heard on Reddit that taking Benadryl to hallucinate results in a guaranteed nightmare trip. You're exclusively subjected to frightening and disturbing imagery such as giant spiders and shadows monsters.
Diphenhydramine isn't great for your liver, but occasionally taking a 25-50mg dose shouldn't be an issue unless you have preexisting issues(not a doctor, this isn't medical advice, etc.)
As far as spiders, monsters, and whatnot, http://erowid.org has good write ups in the experiences section for it.
I've also heard them called "bennies", but you're probably not getting OTC benadryl off the street, so I can't see there being much confusion.
She used "diet" pills, i.e. amphetamines, prescribed by her doctor most of her life. It wasn't uncommon at the time. Even Paul Erdos the mathematician used amphetamines to boost creativity/productiveness, I am sure there were many others.
i have nothing against drug use for creativity. heck the beatles must have taken speed for their "all night" recording sessions. but they didn't take their 12 hour recordings, put it on an album and call it art. they gave us the finished product. i only wish ayn rand and her publisher and editor extended her fans the same courtesy. not a huge deal; i'm just making a point that doesn't seem obvious to most people. that woman was high as fuck.
I think most people just don’t care about the personal life of a creator when evaluating its content. Even deplorable people can have good ideas. Why reject the ideas because of the source.
clarification: i read the whole book (and fountainhead), both of which i enjoyed; i stopped reading galt's monologue 20 pages in. it's like when your friend starts rambling while he's high; i love u man but bro i'm going to sleep. see u later
When I was in High School I wanted to like her books so badly. At the time, I was very much a libertarian and I had heard so many good things about them from that crowd.
Her writing style just isn't very good. It seems like hours and hours of fictional context to set up a big political rant that is supposed to be self-evidently correct within said context.
I only finished Anthem for required reading. I really didn't like it. The Rush album based on it (2112) is sooo much better.
So I’m a fucking moron if I read something in its entirely that you didn’t actually completely read? Got it. And benzos aren’t amphetamines. They are in the neighborhood of being the opposite.
When I read the title, I expected something connected to Matt Ruff's novel "Sewers, Gas & Electric" http://www.bymattruff.com/my-novels/sewer-gas-electric/ which features Ayn Rand trapped in a hurricane lamp as one of the characters.
a really wacky, fun, and occasionally high-brow read. I really didnt expect to like it as much as I did.
(I also immediately thought it was going to be the lamp from that book)
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 85.8 ms ] threadIs this satire?
I know that it is a well researched and established method for treatment of Parkinsons (short term and midterm results have been empirically solid) and also used to treat PTSD.
1. http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/boost-your...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_a...
The World Health Organization recommends it as treatment for PTSD.
You can practice it right now on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlfQIRJEsYk
The idea is to think of something emotional that you may be struggling with and keep it in your mind while following the images on the screen. Whether or not the eye movement actually triggers the brain to reconfigure itself, or whether it's simply keeping the emotion "in focus" that brings the changes remains TBD, I think.
Why do you say that?
edit: thank you to all those who responded. No thanks to the person who hit the downvote link.
Contemporary means happening right about now.
I was in a drug store recently and the cold medicines that used to say full-strength or maximum-strength now say "extreme". They are also going to run out of adjectives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygE01sOhzz0
It includes a segment on Ayn Rand, including segments from that interview, but also lots of really interesting interviews with silicon valley folks from the 90s, to high-freq stock market trading and "ecosystems".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Watched_Over_by_Machines_o...
she was on benzedrine, then dexedrine and dexamyl
http://randwatch.blogspot.com/2011/03/was-ayn-rand-drug-addi...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine
[1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine
[2]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Benzedrine
Figured it was worth leaving this here in case some SV person tries to find amphetamines on the street by looking for "bennies" and gets the wrong stuff.
As an aside: I've heard on Reddit that taking Benadryl to hallucinate results in a guaranteed nightmare trip. You're exclusively subjected to frightening and disturbing imagery such as giant spiders and shadows monsters.
Here's the thread: https://m.reddit.com/r/Drugs/comments/1fmizz/how_to_trip_saf...
Not sure I understand the appeal.
As far as spiders, monsters, and whatnot, http://erowid.org has good write ups in the experiences section for it.
I've also heard them called "bennies", but you're probably not getting OTC benadryl off the street, so I can't see there being much confusion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Benzedrine
Straight after the speech:
I had to laugh at that. Those were pretty much my thoughts exactly, too...Her writing style just isn't very good. It seems like hours and hours of fictional context to set up a big political rant that is supposed to be self-evidently correct within said context.
I only finished Anthem for required reading. I really didn't like it. The Rush album based on it (2112) is sooo much better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine
Please provide links to your easily found research. Thanks. Also, many great authors artists are/were on drugs. I don’t see how that’s relevant.