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Astronauts describe persistent 'observer' sensation after 6 month missions

spacedaily.com

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Re: Astronauts describe persistent 'observer' sensation after 6 month missions

#31

Post by lanstin »

mstank wrote: post #7
CoolestBeans wrote: post #4

Being an astronaut seems cognitively expensive. Your time is regimented down to the minute. Your space is regimented down to the inch. The things you bring up and down, including yourself, is measured to the pound. I would imagine you have to constantly be evaluating, assessing, and thinking critically about everything you do all the time. And then to suddenly not have to do that and just live in the moment has to be…

Your comment lead me down a rabbit hole of space micromanagement. OSTPV (onboard short-term planner viewer) is the software they use to basically schedule every minute of your space flight. Basically every day someone from earth decides what you do, when you eat, when you exercise and will make changes in realtime. Great read here with a video of someone using the actual software: https://blogs.esa.int/iriss/2015/09/…

Skylab third (longest) mission the astronauts went on strike at one point. Just started ding solar research till NASA put in some flexibility.

Re: Astronauts describe persistent 'observer' sensation after 6 month missions

#32

Post by devmor »

moralestapia wrote: post #25
an0malous wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The observer effect, depersonalization and derealization sound a lot like how many mystical traditions describe awakening of Self-realization

The awakening of self-realization sounds a lot like how many modern scholars describe the observer effect, depersonalization and derealization.

I think you all might be using the wrong terminology here. The Observer Effect is a part of quantum physics. I was shocked to learn there was a psychological phenomenon by the same name and went to read up on it, but there doesn't seem to be such a thing and I'm not really sure what you're referencing.

Is there another name you might know this by? Disassociation is the only thing I can find that sounds similar.

Re: Astronauts describe persistent 'observer' sensation after 6 month missions

#33

Post by bentcorner »

moron4hire wrote: post #22
labrador wrote: post #3

I spent months underwater on a US submarine and felt the same thing. Later the Navy pdoc labelled it dissociation, which is in the DSM. Common Types and Symptoms Depersonalization: Feeling detached from your own body, mind, or actions, like watching yourself in a movie. Derealization: Feeling that the outside world is fake, dreamlike, or foggy. Dissociative Amnesia: Forgetting important personal information or blocks…

Back around 2015, I did an experiment where I spent most of my working day in VR (mostly spent iterating on some interaction space designs in TiltBrush). I had many of those feelings directly after. It actually felt uncomfortable to be around people. It felt like everyone was too close and were about to clip though me at any second.

I spent about an hour in a VR entertainment space, where you donned a headset and played a game designed for a large play-space.

It was incredibly fun, but afterwards driving my car home I felt like the driving experience wasn't "real", and I had to put more conscious effort into my driving than usual to remain a safe driver. It took a few hours to wear away.

(This was a very distinct experience from what I have felt when binging a VR game like Half-Life: Alyx at home, where I get urges to teleport-move around my house and my hand-perception is off).

Re: Astronauts describe persistent 'observer' sensation after 6 month missions

#34

Post by solfox »

I get this sometimes when I wake up at night and once or twice when looking in the mirror. A persistent notion that "wow, this is really weird to be in a body, what a weird experience!" It used to be a little scary, but as I've gotten older I've come to like it. I think it's funny that we call this state "dissociation", when, frankly, not one of us knows what the heck any of "this" is anyway. Is it "real"? What if the dissociative state is actually more like a temporary loss of the illusion of life?

Re: Astronauts describe persistent 'observer' sensation after 6 month missions

#35

Post by IncreasePosts »

lanstin wrote: post #28
Aboutplants wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve always thought the same thing with regards to early explorers. Being on a ship, sailing into the complete unknown, for months. How would you not go insane?

Wow, I would sign up instantly for such a voyage to Mars. I am probably too old but knowing why you are engaged in a heroic task makes one happy to tolerate all kinds of problems. Sure they might get a bit twitchy but gonna stay basically glued.

Have you ever undertaken a similar heroic task to have this wisdom or are you just assuming?

Re: Astronauts describe persistent 'observer' sensation after 6 month missions

#38

Post by r1chard007 »

devmor wrote: post #32
moralestapia wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The awakening of self-realization sounds a lot like how many modern scholars describe the observer effect, depersonalization and derealization.

I think you all might be using the wrong terminology here. The Observer Effect is a part of quantum physics. I was shocked to learn there was a psychological phenomenon by the same name and went to read up on it, but there doesn't seem to be such a thing and I'm not really sure what you're referencing. Is there another name you might know this by? Disassociation is the only thing I can find that sounds similar.

Overview effect

Re: Astronauts describe persistent 'observer' sensation after 6 month missions

#39

Post by DAlperin »

Herodotus38 wrote: post #21

I was reading the article trying to find a source cited where I could see where the depersonalization symptoms are better described but didn’t find it. Anybody have a better link to primary sources?

I can't either. In fact a lot of the literature from NASA seems to explicitly contradict the claims in the article[0][1]. Obviously not dispositive, but this article reads to me at least partially like AI confabulation. Perhaps my Google-fu is lacking here but I had Claude do a search as well for good measure and couldn't find any supporting evidence that way either.

[0] https://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/Evidence/reports/BMed.... [1] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-30583-2_...

Re: Astronauts describe persistent 'observer' sensation after 6 month missions

#40

Post by jibal »

devmor wrote: post #32
moralestapia wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The awakening of self-realization sounds a lot like how many modern scholars describe the observer effect, depersonalization and derealization.

I think you all might be using the wrong terminology here. The Observer Effect is a part of quantum physics. I was shocked to learn there was a psychological phenomenon by the same name and went to read up on it, but there doesn't seem to be such a thing and I'm not really sure what you're referencing. Is there another name you might know this by? Disassociation is the only thing I can find that sounds similar.

No one but you capitalized it. They are referring to what TFA describes ... it uses the phrase "observer sensation" rather than "observer effect", but it is an effect.
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