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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

#81

Post by sandspar »

TimedToasts wrote: post #61
mastazi wrote: post #29

I used to spend weeks outdoors in the wilderness without ever entering a building (I would sleep in a small tent) and I used to have a similar range of sensations when coming back home and/or going into an enclosed building for the first time. This used to last maybe for a couple days. Two more things that I used to experience, which are not among the phenomena described in the article, is that I was hyper aware of h…

My wife informed me that I always comment on the hardness of the floor, regardless of where we are. (I will take off my footwear to stand on novel surfaces with my bare feet. Situationally, ofc.) Anyways, there's dozens of us!

Is there much variation in floors? I assume most people think floors are either hard or soft - maybe we're missing a whole facet of experience!

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

#82

Post by t-writescode »

laichzeit0 wrote: post #53
solfox wrote: post #34

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 th…

To “be” in a body. What is “in” your body? You could also say “wow it’s really weird to be a body”. The whole self thing seems to be the illusory part. Something like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_contour . You see that white triangle, you experience it, but looking deeper you realise it’s not really there at all. That seems to be what we call “self”, as if it’s a real thing, but it’s not. These experi…

Your perspective locks in on a worldview where spirit / soul and body are intertwined and impossible to separate. There are positions that treat spirit and body as separate things, and I suspect the person you're speaking to has that perspective.

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

#83

Post by Razengan »

I've found positive forms of this or similar sensations/realizations after heavy/frequent travel too:

You know how, right now, you could think of a familiar street or neighborhood in your town/city, and you'd know exactly how it must be like at this minute?

Like, "I should go to the cafe", or the mall, or the square, or Bob's house

and you already know what the vibe is there at any given time

After traveling to several different countries back-to-back and living for about a month in each, I have this weird thing now, that I could be sitting in Singapore, and feel like I could step outside my hotel and be in Tokyo, Japan..

I know how Shibuya or Akihabara is right now at this very moment, or Delhi, India, like those cities are right outside my door, even though I'm tens of thousands of kilometers away.

The world becomes one continuous blur. And it's only recently in human history that ordinary people can get to travel so easily. What's amazing is how the richest and most powerful people among us, who have seen it all and can go anywhere anytime, seem to be so dour and mean and short-sighted.. :')

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

#84

Post by doodlebugging »

I have to admit that I did read all of that even though it felt like something that was written by or with the assistance of an AI. A little repetitious in places, making or trying to make the same point as if it becomes true if you repeat it often enough.

True or not, it would make a great premise for an astronaut or space travel movie, to see everything transpire from a detached perspective. That's all I got right now.

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

#86

Post by avhception »

sibeliuss wrote: post #71

Absolutely terrible AI writing. Do not read.

I wanted to read it, the topic is super fascinating. But it's almost time for work, and I will have to sift through a lot of Claude's jabbering for the better part of the day. I just couldn't stand it, I found myself starting to skip ahead more and more, not actually reading. Sad.

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

#87

Post by Herodotus38 »

DAlperin wrote: post #39
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…

Thanks for also confirming my suspicions. I did find a Frontiers paper but it also seemed very vague about what they were proposing

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10....

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

#88

Post by bflesch »

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…

I wonder if there are technical factors for this such as 24/7 exposure to LED flickering or engine vibrations.

Also withdrawal from your social circle might be a factor, your body has time to wind down if you're not interacting with a certain set of people a day.

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

#89

Post by hack1312 »

DAlperin wrote: post #42

Moving this out of a subthread, but I can't find any sources corroborating the the phenomenon described in this article. 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…

Something that seems similar that doesn’t appear to be complete bunk is the Overview Effect[0]. It even has a corresponding video[1] (14 years old so definitely not made with AI)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect

[1] https://youtu.be/CHMIfOecrlo

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