Close your eyes.
Or don't. I'm not the boss of you.
But really, if you closed your eyes, you might see something like this.
Dark orange-red.
Now cover your eyes with your hands.
No light means just plain black, right?
But if you're paying attention, what you're actually seeing is this.
Eigengrau. German for "inherent gray".
Keep your eyes closed and you'll probably notice some colors.
This static, noise, snow, whatever you want to call it goes by the name closed-eye hallucination or visualization. CEVs for short.
They're thought to be a form of phosphene, which can be induced by various types of stimulation between the retina and the visual cortex,
like mechanical or electrochemical stimulation.
Now, CEVs are relatively common.
Subtle levels of snow are almost always present.
It can be small flecks of color (level 1) or some static with light and dark flashes (level 2).
Sometimes through meditation, deep concentration, or with the aid of some hallucinatory substances,
you might reach level three: patterns, motion, and colors.
Beyond that, you might see physical objects that aren't actually there,
or you might even have something akin to waking dreams.
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Now, one interesting thing about closed-eye hallucinations is that you don't necessarily have to have your eyes closed to see them.
See, when there's a high level of stimulus: patterns, colors, motion, and other things in the visual field,
your brain ignores the noise.
But with enough concentration at a flat colored object, you may be able to induce visual snow with your eyes open.
What the visual snow or CEVs or eigengrau are not are visual phenomena like afterimages—
when you look at an object and then look at something plain—
floaters—deposits within the eye's fluid, called the vitreous humor—
or anything else physically obstructing eyesight, like the film created by tears.
I should say though, that while, yes, these things are common,
if you find your vision actually impaired, please go see a doctor about it.
OK, let's say you're interested in seeing how far you can go with minimal effort and without the help of substances.
What can you do?
One actually very easy way is to enter a hypnagogic state.
That word might not mean anything to you, but it's basically the state of falling asleep.
In 1926, a psychologist named Heinrich Kluver studied the effects of the drug mescaline (also known as peyote) on users.
They reported recurring geometric patterns that he called "form constants" and categorized into four groups:
tunnels, spirals, lattices, and cobwebs.
In 1988, David Lewis-Williams incorporated form constants into his Three Stages of Trance model, specifically the first stage,
which can be experienced without the aid of drugs, but with altered state of consciousness, including—
you guessed it!—the hypnagogic state.
It's not hard to achieve, but might take some practice.
So, tonight, while you're falling asleep, allow your eyes to relax and unfocus.
The random colored dots might start to collect.
They might pulse a little, they might dance a little.
As you keep drifting away, let the patterns emerge.
Congratulations. This is the third level of CEVs.
Another fun thing that might happen during the hypnagogic state is what's called the Tetris effect.
You ever spend a day playing Tetris and then dream about it at night?
Or maybe you started a new job and in bed all you see are spreadsheets?
Maybe you went on a boat, went rock climbing, or rode on roller coasters and while lying in bed you have the sensation that your body is moving.
There isn't a lot of research yet on why this happens, but researchers think it's connected to procedural memory—
the memory of performing tasks without real thought or effort.
A study published in the year 2000 showed that those with anterograde amnesia—the inability to form new longterm memories—
still experienced the Tetris effect, despite not remembering playing the game at all.
Again, research is ongoing, but it goes to show that the human brain is made up of a lot more pieces than we understand.
Anyway, if you've had your eyes closed this entire time, go ahead and open them again.
And maybe you'll be seeing the world a little differently.
Thanks for falling down that rabbit hole with me.
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