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"The brain only has limited energy at its disposal and it appears that it must choose between two different functional states - awake and aware or asleep and cl

by dbecker 13y ago

"The brain only has limited energy at its disposal and it appears that it must choose between two different functional states - awake and aware or asleep and cleaning up," Sure sounds like part of the wake-sleep algorithm, which is impressive given that the wake-sleep algorithm was named in the mid-90s.

samstave 13y ago
What about meditation? Does mediation allow for "asleep" like cleanup activities whilst in the "awake" state?
- pstuart 13y ago
  That might be more akin to reducing bus contention.
dsrguru 13y ago
> "The brain ... must choose between two different functional states - awake and aware or asleep and cleaning up" As any lucid dreamer can tell you, there's also a third option--asleep and aware.
- nikatwork 13y ago
  Not to mention hypnagogic / sleep paralysis - mind awake, body asleep.
  - jotm 13y ago
    Except both of these are rare occurences that last a short while - it would probably be very detrimental to have lucid dreams or sleep paralysis every night for months/years.
    - nikatwork 13y ago
      Oh I find sleep paralysis very unrestful. The point is though, there are more mental states than "awake/asleep". And let me tell you, sleep paralysis is not always rare...
      - legitsource 13y ago
        I'm narcoleptic. Sleep paralysis happens pretty often to me and it still causes me distress almost every time until I "boot up" enough to realize what is going on. Hypnagogic hallucinations (at least that I remember) are quite a bit rarer and much more terrifying, since my brain pretty much dreams up the worst possible scenarios possible (burning building, demons, reapers, Sasquatch, being dead in a morgue drawer, and even evil leprechauns have made appearances).
        nikatwork 13y ago
        Don't forget the alien strobe lights. Sorry now you are gonna see that too. In all seriousness, wiggle your big toe. For some reason your fine motor controls are probably still online, and it will break you out of the hypnagogic state. Kill bill wasn't lying. But... if you wanna real trip, try to remain calm, still and breathe deeply through the hallucinations and keep in mind that nothing can hurt you (I like to repeat the mantra, "there is nothing to fear but fear itself"). You will reach a state of blissful calm. Congratulations, you just achieved a meditative state that people strive for years to reach. From there you can have out of body experiences, transcendental meditation, etc. Seriously it's some spooky business.
        legitsource 13y ago
        For some odd reason, I don't really see flashing lights or anything extraterrestrial. I don't know why. And wiggling my toes or fingers doesn't seem to ever work for me, but my phone buzzing or someone touching me breaks me out almost instantly. As for the calm, "astral projecting" thing, I used to do some things like that and really enjoyed it, until I ended up "seeing" some jackal-headed monstrosity battling shadow people and something that looked like smoke with diamond shaped blazing yellow eyes.

by dbecker 13y ago

samstave 13y ago

What about meditation? Does mediation allow for "asleep" like cleanup activities whilst in the "awake" state?

pstuart 13y ago
That might be more akin to reducing bus contention.

dsrguru 13y ago

> "The brain ... must choose between two different functional states - awake and aware or asleep and cleaning up" As any lucid dreamer can tell you, there's also a third option--asleep and aware.

nikatwork 13y ago
Not to mention hypnagogic / sleep paralysis - mind awake, body asleep.
- jotm 13y ago
  Except both of these are rare occurences that last a short while - it would probably be very detrimental to have lucid dreams or sleep paralysis every night for months/years.
  - nikatwork 13y ago
    Oh I find sleep paralysis very unrestful. The point is though, there are more mental states than "awake/asleep". And let me tell you, sleep paralysis is not always rare...
    - legitsource 13y ago
      I'm narcoleptic. Sleep paralysis happens pretty often to me and it still causes me distress almost every time until I "boot up" enough to realize what is going on. Hypnagogic hallucinations (at least that I remember) are quite a bit rarer and much more terrifying, since my brain pretty much dreams up the worst possible scenarios possible (burning building, demons, reapers, Sasquatch, being dead in a morgue drawer, and even evil leprechauns have made appearances).
      - nikatwork 13y ago
        Don't forget the alien strobe lights. Sorry now you are gonna see that too. In all seriousness, wiggle your big toe. For some reason your fine motor controls are probably still online, and it will break you out of the hypnagogic state. Kill bill wasn't lying. But... if you wanna real trip, try to remain calm, still and breathe deeply through the hallucinations and keep in mind that nothing can hurt you (I like to repeat the mantra, "there is nothing to fear but fear itself"). You will reach a state of blissful calm. Congratulations, you just achieved a meditative state that people strive for years to reach. From there you can have out of body experiences, transcendental meditation, etc. Seriously it's some spooky business.
        legitsource 13y ago
        For some odd reason, I don't really see flashing lights or anything extraterrestrial. I don't know why. And wiggling my toes or fingers doesn't seem to ever work for me, but my phone buzzing or someone touching me breaks me out almost instantly. As for the calm, "astral projecting" thing, I used to do some things like that and really enjoyed it, until I ended up "seeing" some jackal-headed monstrosity battling shadow people and something that looked like smoke with diamond shaped blazing yellow eyes.