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Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

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Re: Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

#21

Post by sengstrom »

Tesla may have been grandiose not only in this thinking - his underdog genius certainly has kept that alive.

Visualizing something you are thinking about (a problem you are trying to solve for instance) goes well beyond an obvious "image" of what is going on. As a coder you probably know what it feels to be in the zone when you are working on something that truly engages and challenges you - you have immediate access to all aspects of your project and your knowledge and experiences come effortlessly into play in figuring out the way forward.

Re: Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

#22

Post by luketych »

This is actually very interesting, I am glad this has been posted. As a kid, I would cover my eyes with my hands to create darkness, or sometimes put my face into a pillow or even do what Tesla did in putting a slight pressure onto my eyes with my fingers.

I would start to see shapes and just be thinking I could change the color and contort these shapes. Strangely, I never knew how I did it. If I tried too hard it would not work, I would have to let my mind run on its own, and give it a slight nudge every now and then consciously.

In college, when I was trying really hard to visualize a project I was working on I would do the same, I would put pressure on my eyes and try to make it as dark as possible so that I could see what I was trying to imagine, and it helped!

I had no idea others do this as well, this is very cool. Some forms of meditation will be very useful for this I think.

Re: Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

#23

Post by [deleted] »

zwegner wrote: post #20

Pretty cool--I've been interested in finding new ways to exercise my mind recently. I have pretty bad ADHD/laziness, so it's hard to commit to doing such things regularly, but I'm hoping that meditation as well as these sorts of exercises will help with that. Another fascinating set of exercises (that I became aware of reading an article on Ithkuil, an invented language, that was on here a little while ago) is "decon…

[deleted]

Re: Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

#24

Post by ztratar »

luketych wrote: post #22

This is actually very interesting, I am glad this has been posted. As a kid, I would cover my eyes with my hands to create darkness, or sometimes put my face into a pillow or even do what Tesla did in putting a slight pressure onto my eyes with my fingers. I would start to see shapes and just be thinking I could change the color and contort these shapes. Strangely, I never knew how I did it. If I tried too hard it wo…

Thanks!

Wow -- didn't realize so many people tried the eye pressure thing. If I did it and you did it just because we thought it was cool, I bet there are a lot more people out there.

Re: Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

#25

Post by waterlesscloud »

There's a long passage in the Patrick Suskind's novel _Perfume_ that is an extraordinarily evocative description of the main character building an imaginary palace of smells. He also imagines "constructing" new smells, similar to what's described here.

The books does an amazing job of evoking smells using only text. Highly recommended.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume_(novel)

Re: Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

#26

Post by luketych »

ztratar wrote: post #24
luketych wrote: post #22

This is actually very interesting, I am glad this has been posted. As a kid, I would cover my eyes with my hands to create darkness, or sometimes put my face into a pillow or even do what Tesla did in putting a slight pressure onto my eyes with my fingers. I would start to see shapes and just be thinking I could change the color and contort these shapes. Strangely, I never knew how I did it. If I tried too hard it wo…

Thanks! Wow -- didn't realize so many people tried the eye pressure thing. If I did it and you did it just because we thought it was cool, I bet there are a lot more people out there.

I'm curious, after looking at a computer screen for a little while and then closing your eyes do you ever see a rectangle that is the same proportions as the computer screen?

It doesn't have to be a screen even, it can be anything. I have noticed that I will have an almost exact replica "burned into" my vision when I close my eyes. I can then (somewhat) manipulate this image in my mind. I've kinda thought that these changes in light (from whatever we are looking at) creates the initial image and then this image can be manipulated in the mind. I think that the retina or the parts of the brain that are involved in visual imagery must somehow be involved in these visualizations we are seeing (not the after image). It would be inefficient to develop a new skill from scratch, a big part of our brain is already dedicated to sight and imagery, so I wonder if we can somehow make use of the visual cortex to enhance our ability to visualize things?

Need to find a way to hack into the subconscious..

Re: Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

#27

Post by ztratar »

zwegner wrote: post #20

Pretty cool--I've been interested in finding new ways to exercise my mind recently. I have pretty bad ADHD/laziness, so it's hard to commit to doing such things regularly, but I'm hoping that meditation as well as these sorts of exercises will help with that. Another fascinating set of exercises (that I became aware of reading an article on Ithkuil, an invented language, that was on here a little while ago) is "decon…

This "deconcentration of attention" website is fascinating. Have you attempted any of the exercises?

Re: Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

#28

Post by dsfasfasf »

zwegner wrote: post #20

Pretty cool--I've been interested in finding new ways to exercise my mind recently. I have pretty bad ADHD/laziness, so it's hard to commit to doing such things regularly, but I'm hoping that meditation as well as these sorts of exercises will help with that. Another fascinating set of exercises (that I became aware of reading an article on Ithkuil, an invented language, that was on here a little while ago) is "decon…

>>pretty bad ADHD/laziness

Is great that you at least admit that your problem is part laziness. I'm sure ADHD must be true for some people but I wonder if too many use it as an excuse for their failures.

Even I've wondered if maybe I suffer from ADHD since is really hard to keep my attention on a project past the prototype stage. That is, once the last 10% starts. All joking aside, it feels almost like pulling teeth when working on that last 10%. Don't really know how to fix it other than to just force myself to keep at it.

Re: Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

#29

Post by wilder »

luketych wrote: post #26
ztratar wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Wow -- didn't realize so many people tried the eye pressure thing. If I did it and you did it just because we thought it was cool, I bet there are a lot more people out there.

I'm curious, after looking at a computer screen for a little while and then closing your eyes do you ever see a rectangle that is the same proportions as the computer screen? It doesn't have to be a screen even, it can be anything. I have noticed that I will have an almost exact replica "burned into" my vision when I close my eyes. I can then (somewhat) manipulate this image in my mind. I've kinda thought that these…

FYI, the phenomenon you describe is an afterimage and happens to everybody (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterimage). You are correct that the visual cortex is involved in both phenomena but they are quite different. An after-image is still an "upstream" image on your retina, whereas a mental image is not. Whether the former can be used to increase facility with the latter I do not know. I haven't seen scientific evidence that imagery can be trained at all.

Despite all that it doesn't sound like a terrible place to start.

Re: Training like Tesla: An Experiment of the Mind

#30

Post by dsfasfasf »

wilder wrote: post #7

I have never been able to consciously visualize (meaning: think in visual mental images). All of my conscious thought is in the auditory mode, though I know what it would be like to visualize as it happens occasionally in a dream. I have always wished more than anything to have such experiences while fully conscious (to see my mother's face and so on). There has been a fairly longstanding debate in philosophy and psy…

Thank you for this. Even though I consider myself pretty average now you've made me feel like I have some secret power. It helps a lot when I visualize things. Also, writing ideas out in a narrative also helps. So, I guess I can do both. Genius Here!!! (Standing up, wide eyed, looking proud with an idiotic smile)

p.s. I don't actually believe that you cannot visualize images. Can you draw a stick human figure? Did it pop into your head when I mentioned stick human figure? There you go, you just visualized it.

p.s I guess inability to visualize something could be something similar to dyslexia?

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