Build Your Own Ganzfeld Goggles

To experiment with the Ganzfeld effect, you need to create a suitable Ganzfeld (or more if you aim for multi-modal Ganzfeld). One way to make a visual Ganzfeld are so-called “Ganzfeld goggles” and a bright light.

To build Ganzfeld goggles, you need ping-pong balls, some sandpaper, a sharp knife (for example those which are used to cut mats), a pencil, and about half an hour of time.
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Wrong: The 10% Brain Capacity Myth

Sometimes you might see a claim like “you only use 10% of your mental potential/brain capacity/brain power/etc.”, and usually that sentence is followed by description like “…and now we show how to tap into the other 90%”, followed with an imaginative, quick, effortless way how you “tap into” that untamed reservoir of turbo-charged neurons.

So what’s wrong with that?

The 10% brainpower claim is a myth – there is no evidence supporting such a claim. Snopes has a good article about it, it’s worth a read.

Improve Your Memory with the Loci System

If you think you have a bad memory, it might be that you’re just using your memory inefficiently. The root of the problem might actually not be a built-in genetic inability to memorize things, but rather problems in the recall phase when you are frantically digging your memory to find the thing(s) you stored earlier. Therefore improving recall should do wonders to remembering things.

Mayan city Tikal

You can make a normal memorizing task become an assisted recall task by linking the memorizeable information with something you already know well. One such technique is the Loci system. It is an old mnemonic link technique dating back all the way to around the year 500 BC (yes, that’s more than 2500 years old!). It uses well-known locations as cues to aid memory recall. It can be used when trying to remember lists (e.g. shopping lists, lists of foreign words) or other linked information (e.g. presentation speeches, food recipes).
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Multimodal Ganzfeld Gives Mild Hallucinations

What is a Ganzfeld effect? The Ganzfeld (German for “complete/full field”) effect happens when the sensory system is steadily overloaded with a uniform signal. For example, a uniform, steady and all-encompassing soft light to the eyes will cause a “loss of vision”. This happens because, essentially, there is no change in the signal going to the brain, so the brain stops processing the signal.

Ganzfeld experimenter

The Ganzfeld is interesting because it is a simple, yet effective tool which provides a mild form of sensory deprivation. And sensory deprivation is interesting because the effects include hallucinations, relaxation and time distortion – it’s like turning on the screen saver in your brains.
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Introduction

This blog asserts the following:

  1. The brain is a kind of a computer,
  2. and given suitable techniques and methods,
  3. it can be programmed by you.

This blog investigates the different techniques and methods which help you alter the “programming” within your brain, thus allowing you to explore and better utilize your mind and consciousness.