text ❖ living in an era with gps takes all the fun out of it

[doitrockapella]

Carmen Sandiego shared a photo. 7/15 near *̸̗͈͔̺̙̥͐̏͐͊̅̀̇͊͌͞/̴̛̼̦͍̟̑̀̆͋͜*̵̠̣͍̓̏̋̌̑̌̐͜͜͝ͅ|̸̻̪̰͔̇͗̊̃͋͊͢͝͠*̸̢̧͓̦̫̞͖͌̈́́̎̇͞͡͝|̘̤̩͙͇̯̱͊̔͐̚̚*̡̧̜̹̗̆̿̂̄̃̀͠͠͠ͅ\̴̨͉̱̼̜̭̀͑̇̇͆̔͜͠*̢͓̯͕̩̙̬̏̽͂̃̅̃̂͡

The structure above was built in the 7th century BCE by two legendary architects, Trophonios and Agamedes. Is it: A. The Palace of Knossos on Crete B. The Temple of Apollo at Delphi C. The Pillars of Hercules D. The Colosseum of Rome Trivia aside, color me curious: what's the most unusual place or thing you've seen thus far in your "hallucinomemories"? That you're willing to tell someone about, of course — I'm not seeking to pressure anyone into revealing secrets they wouldn't be willing to share with the class. (Or, I suppose, if you're playing along with those bingo cards we were given and need to share something with a stranger, responding to something like this would certainly qualify, wouldn't it?)

Comments

[anguinous]

Laurent Duvere
I'm a little late for the geography quiz, but I'm curious. Is it so common to hallucinate other places? I can't say I have.

[ A lie, but one he doesn't fully realise he's telling yet.]

[doitrockapella]

Most people seem to think that's the case, if the answers I've been getting are any indication.

[anguinous]

Does that include yourself?

[ 'Most people' doesn't have to include her, after all. ]

[doitrockapella]

I'm afraid I can't say either way. As yet I don't have experience with hallucinomemories to draw on, to begin with.

[Which is...halfway a lie. She wouldn't be asking about the Temple of Apollo if something hadn't put it in her head, but one vision doesn't inherently constitute "experience" — or so she'll maintain, as a way of surreptitiously getting around the question on her own principles.]

I haven't been on this app very long, however, which I'm told may have something to do with it.

[anguinous]

Is social media commonly thought to induce hallucinations?

[doitrockapella]

I'm sure some would say that's just one of its many detrimental effects on the youth of today.

But no, it's up in the air as to whether or not it actually induces the hallucinations, or whether there's simply a strong correlation between the users of this particular app and the people who are experiencing them.

[anguinous]

It's also hard to extract enough relevant information to find patterns when those touched by symptoms are so disparate, and in discussing it with each other produce something akin to the WebMD effect. Reading about a problem can produce phantom symptoms. Once there are enough people who believe they are influenced they can draw others into groupthink. Under these circumstances, it's difficult to gauge much accurately -- and of course correlation does not imply causation.

[ Does he sound sceptical? He is sceptical. It's very easy to be a sceptic on the internet. ]

[doitrockapella]

All the more reason to attempt a series of controlled experiments that would ensure a much higher percentage of scientific validity, wouldn't you say?

I admit I've been entertaining similar ideas myself.

[anguinous]

What kind of experiments?

[ Go on, you've got him curious. ]

[doitrockapella]

First, take a survey of as many recipients of hallucinomemories as you can find. Next, examine the results and look for themes in the memories — identifying memories that there's a higher probability that any given "dreamer" will potentially have experienced in their previous life.

Then, take a sample of people who have yet to experience a hallucinomemory, and expose them to a trigger similar in nature to the common experience. See if that resonates with any of them — and if so, in what capacity.

[anguinous]

Ambitious. Yet how do you confirm any 'hallucinomemories' are real?

[ A major sticking point for Laurent. How do you know who is telling the truth here, and who is exaggerating or adding to their stories, or simply making them up to feel included? ]

[doitrockapella]

At the risk of turning that back around on you, how do you confirm that they aren't?

[anguinous]

I have no method, but that amounts to the same thing -- we cannot prove how much of this is true, which makes the quality of the data dubious.