The adverse reactions came from sensory deprivation.
For social isolation, reactions varied. Love that guy who just Gump-kept sailing.
How extreme isolation warps the mind
101–110 of 143 posts
Re: How extreme isolation warps the mind
#102It seems like the author's confusing two concepts here. He postulates about isolation from human contact, but all his examples are for isolation from sunlight or sensory deprivation. I don't disagree that there are connections between the two, but it doesn't feel like he jumped that gap. Edit: Seems like the whole article is based on the author's book. So maybe it was taken a little out of context?
The sailing articles sounded like social isolation and not sensory deprivation.
Re: How extreme isolation warps the mind
#103> Biologists believe that human emotions evolved because they aided co-operation ... fear, anger, anxiety and sadness
Mammals exhibit emotions such as fear and anger.
Re: How extreme isolation warps the mind
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
and the courts have upheld this treatment as legal Well, given his track record, what alternative is there?
Is that really that difficult? The alternative is, of course, not having him in solitary confinement for 27 years. It's not that difficult to allow some level of social interaction while still preventing violence.
It's not that difficult to allow some level of social interaction while still preventing violence.
I think the question is why society should bother to spend further resources on enabling this for him?
And probably far from an insignificant amount of resources in the context of the correctional system...
Re: How extreme isolation warps the mind
#105A psychological gem was dropped in the middle of the article: People in her circumstances have their world suddenly inverted, and there is nothing in the manner of their taking – no narrative of sacrifice, or enduring for a greater good – to help them derive meaning from it. They must somehow find meaning in their predicament – or mentally detach themselves from their day-to-day reality, which is a monumental task wh…
As a counterpoint, in "If This is a Man", Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi describes his inability to find meaning in his experiences, and a lack of triumph of the human spirit, in himself and other inmates.
As the title implies, the book claims that not only did the Nazi's attempt to dehumanize the concentration camp inmates, but that the succeeded. This was sufficiently confronting that the US title was changed to "Survival in Auschwitz"
EDIT: fixed typo
Re: How extreme isolation warps the mind
#106A guy on Texas Polunsky Death row, Thomas Bartlett Whitaker writes often for the blog Minutes Before Six on what life is like in constant solitary. http://minutesbeforesix.blogspot.ca/2010/07/how-to-go-to-lev...
Had no idea extreme solitary would cause prolonged vertigo
Re: How extreme isolation warps the mind
#107I've spent >6 months with my only human contact being over the Internet (yay, Sealand), and weeks-up-to-6 in similar settings (boats, hiding out in a villa in a foreign country, etc.). IRC-as-primary-social-contact was...interesting. But I don't think it was actually that unhealthy.
Sealand? Like, cryptopunk wetdream Sealand? Do tell.
Re: How extreme isolation warps the mind
#108"Since then, researchers have found that in darkness most people eventually adjust to a 48-hour cycle: 36 hours of activity followed by 12 hours of sleep. The reasons are still unclear" This statement was interesting to me. I wonder if it resonates with anyone else on HN. My BF who works from home a lot can spend days/hours at home splitting his time between working (programming) and playing video games. He has said…
36 hours of activity sounds very long, especially as a "natural" tendency, and in the dark. I remember seeing some references to a roughly 30 hour cycle, but I can't seem to find any references. Apparently there's also been some recent studies that suggest "most" have a pretty strong circadian rhythm around 24 hours. [1] quotes some summary text from wikipedia and provides a few links.
Having grown up in the Arctic, with polar night in winter, and polar day in summer, I've always been somewhat sceptical that we supposedly can't adapt to different cycles than what is common further south. But even if I frequently shift my days by having an extended cycle, and compared to many of my friends function longer and better on less sleep, if I am active I usually get quite tired after about 20 hours. If I do stay awake through that period, I can hit 36 or even 48 hours without making much of an effort -- but I have a hard time believing that that would be a "natural" cycle (36+12) for me -- or most people.
Now, if you're forced to be physically passive, and given some other stimuli, be that books, computer games -- what have you -- I could perhaps see a longer cycle as "normal".
For a different (animal) aspect, see [2].
[1] http://www.circadiansleepdisorders.org/info/cycle_length.php
Re: How extreme isolation warps the mind
#109Re: How extreme isolation warps the mind
#110A psychological gem was dropped in the middle of the article: People in her circumstances have their world suddenly inverted, and there is nothing in the manner of their taking – no narrative of sacrifice, or enduring for a greater good – to help them derive meaning from it. They must somehow find meaning in their predicament – or mentally detach themselves from their day-to-day reality, which is a monumental task wh…
As a counterpoint, in "If This is a Man", Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi describes his inability to find meaning in his experiences, and a lack of triumph of the human spirit, in himself and other inmates. As the title implies, the book claims that not only did the Nazi's attempt to dehumanize the concentration camp inmates, but that the succeeded. This was sufficiently confronting that the US title was changed to "Su…
In case anyone else is confused by the typo in the title -- it should be "If This Is a Man".