gib65

Sorry, I got mixed up here. Is the "person" the doctors at the hospital and those who protect you are the voices/faces - or is it the other way around?

The long term effects of pot are not that well known, but the few studies have been done show the following: Pot will impair one's ability to retain short-term memories such that they can become long-term memories. People who are high on pot do significantly worse on memory tasks than those who are not. However, this is the effect while high. If one is not a heavy user (i.e. one smokes pot once in a very long time), then memory will return to normal after about a day or so. If one has been a heavy user for a long period of time (several years on almost a daily basis), memory will still improve but over a much longer period of time (several weeks, sometimes more than a month). It is also noteworthy to say that the studies that show this aren't perfectly conclusive as to whether or not this memory improvement (for heavy users) fully reaches normal levels, but it does seem to come close. Pot can also take a psychological toll on users. You're lucky, Mike, that you don't get paranoid on pot. I can't say the same for myself - whereas most people tend to "chill" on pot, others, like myself, have a tendency to get paranoid about almost anything. I've never hallucinated on pot though and I've never heard of anyone else doing so either. Also, pot will amplify emotions and impression. It will also make you highly suggestible to your own self-talk. So if you're prone to low self-esteem and have a bad self-image, then smoking pot can exacerbate these things. Also, I've often wondered while high on pot if I was repressing childhood traumas - being in the suggestible state I was in, it was very difficult for me to tell if I was recalling true childhood memories or just making it up. These are just some things to think about. I only report them based on the literature and my own experiences with the drug. Ultimately, you have to decide if this applies to you or not. After all, you might be right when you said that pot is a better substitute for alcohol. And if it alleviates your depression, this is another plus. But I would strongly implore that you don't rely on drugs to fix your problems. You want to keep working on your depression. You want to get to a point where you don't need the drugs in order to be happy. I don't shun the occasional use of light drugs for recreational purposes, but this doesn't seem like one of those occasions.

Well, I wish there was some insight I could give you that would help you out, but when it comes to things like this, I have to admit I have next to no experience. I would say that I don't think it's absolutely necessary to understand what this thing was in order to get out of the rut you're currently in. I think what you need right now is a good solid foundation of friends, people you can confide in and have a good time with - even just one will do. Psychological well being usually comes more easily after that. From what you've been saying throughout this thread, you seem to have your down periods and up periods, which tells me it's possible for you to go up from here without fully understanding the dark entity or recovering repressed childhood memories. So I wouldn't worry too much about these things. You can always deal with them later (preferably when you've gained a better sense of security and confidence). My suggestion is that you focus on your social life. Try to get out more. You should call up Jason and Blaire. Are they still talking to you? Were they the ones who didn't want to have anything to do with you after you told them you were depressed? Even if they are, I can't see a friendship that lasts 8 years to be severed suddenly just because you're moody. Let them know that you don't want to talk about issues or the incident with the entity - you just want to go out and have a good time. It's just my suggestion, but do you think they'd go for that? EDIT: Do less drugs. Marijuana can exacerbate an already tarnished self-image.

Well, that I can't explain. If it was just that your friend was so unlike this entity and you couldn't imagine him being like that, then I'd still harp on the fact that people can be like this, and that while some might find it next to impossible to hide something like this, others have no problem doing this. But if you're saying that you got "pulled in" and found yourself in "another place" and that your friends all agreed that there was a manevolent entity "in the room", then I have no other label for this than "supernatural" (although we should be careful with that term). That's where I'm just as much in the dark as you are. I have a few more questions: What did your friend whom this entity was associated with think of the whole thing? How many were there again? Was it you and two friends, one of which was the one associated with the entity? Are these the same friends who distanced themselves from you when you told them how depressed you were?

I just read it too. Sounds like it could be the opening scene for a sci-fi action movie. Very cool! As a short story though, are you trying to make any political statements? As in, it might be better to be blissfully ignorant than enlightened but paranoid?

Has anyone heard the "Code Monkey" song? Check it out: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/lyrics/code-monkey

Not impossible, it's just that I've never experienced that except while on drugs. I don't doubt that you experienced what you said you experienced. I'm willing to go along with the view that empaths are people who can "read" other people's emotions and personalities - whether that's psychic reading or just hypersensitivity to subliminal cues. If we can be granted this much, then here's a down to earth take on what the "entity" might have been: It wasn't a supernatural phenomenon - like a demon or evil spirit. It was just the person's personality. Even though it may have seemed demonic or non-human, this doesn't mean it wasn't human. If you take a look at history, or even the news today, you'll see that the world is rife with "evil" people. Take a look at Hitler. I've heard the view carried by some super-religious people that Hitler was really the Devil come to Earth to bring about Armageddon. To me, this view is silly, but it does say something about our understanding of other human beings and the concept of evil. It says that the range of human personalities spans far beyond what we are capable of imagining or willing to accept. In other words, Hitler was evil but still a human being. It's just that we find it incredibly difficult to grasp how a human being could do such evil things and carry such uncompassionate regards towards others - willing to slaughter millions of people as if they were cattle. We find this so difficult, that we tend to wonder if it's possible for a human being to do this at all - that, maybe, just maybe, Hitler wasn't human, but something worse, something like a "dark entity". I don't know how others feel about that, but to me, it seems way more reasonable to assume that human personalities simply can be that extreme - we're quite a diverse species. Does this make sense? Do you think this person you were reading was just really very "dark" deep down inside? I don't mean to insult him if he was/is a friend, but it is a question you should contemplate. And before you answer it, consider this a perspective you could take, one that might make you feel more comfortable with this event and maybe bring closure to it. After all, it's one of those situations where you'll never know the truth for sure.

You're welcome. I think, more than anything else, this is the crux of the problem of people's reactions to the things you tell them. We live in a society where everyone's supposed to be happy, so we never prepare ourselves for what to do or say when someone comes out saying they're depressed. It catches people off guard, and they don't know how to react, and it generally makes them feel uncomfortable. So it isn't necessarily that they dislike you - it's most likely that, knowing now that you're depressed, they don't know how to treat you or talk to you, and that can make them feel uncomfortable. Yes' date=' I'm familiar with this. For me, I think it's something hardwired in my brain, like low levels of seritonin or something like that. I've actually come to this conclusion only about a month ago (before I had assumed it was just an old habit of thinking negative that was tough to kill). So now I'm contemplating an anti-depressant - I mean, hey, if it's hardwired or a permanent chemical imbalance, meds might be the way to go. I'm not too keen on meds, mind you, but if it works, it works! This may sound like a stupid question - and even derogatory (but it isn't meant to be) - but we're you guys on any substances at the time? It's just that I've had my fair share of encounters with "dark entities" but it was always when I was high on something - and yes, it did leave a lasting impression on me that was really hard to come to terms with.

Yes, if you wouldn't mind.

If nociceptors are the name given to pain receptors, what's the name given to pleasure receptors?

So, then, would fetal alcohol syndrome be an example of a genetic mutation that occurs sometime during development - or is it a genetic mutation at all?

If a gene mutates in an offspring, will that mutation be permanent? Suppose you had a sheep that was born with two heads. If that sheep was to have offspring of his own, would those offspring have at least a 1 in 4 chance of inhereting an extra head? Of course, evolution wouldn't work if mutations weren't permanent from one generation to the next, but I'm wondering if this is only true for some mutations, while others get "restored" back to the original DNA configuration after one generation.

If headaches are caused by dehydration, why doesn't a tall glass of water do the trick?

Why are matricies used in the math behind quantum mechanics unlike the regular numbers and variables that are used in the other sciences? I know this is a loaded question and I'm probably not going to understand the answer, but please try me.

It sounds like you're not even considering that there may not be such a thing as the paranormal. If you want the "real" thing, it has to exist to begin with.

Everyone knows that the eyes invert incoming light so that the image projected on the retina is an up-side-down version of what's out there. I've also been told that the brain corrects for this so that we don't see the world as up-side-down. But what does it mean to say that the brain "corrects for this". Does it mean... 1) that the brain interprets the incoming signals as right-side-up so that we don't feel like we're standing on the ceiling, or... 2) that there is a physical correction somewhere between the retina and area V1 (back of the brain), like the nerve fibres cross over somewhere along the optic nerve so that whatever light hits the top of the retina comes in at the bottom of area V1. Note the difference: 1) says that the real world is actual what we would consider "up-side-down" but the brain just makes the perceived world feel right-side-up. 2) says that the real world and the perceptual world are exactly the same. Which is it? If it's 2), then where/how does the brain make the correction?

Well, we certainly stay clear of them. We generally feel that so long as we're sheltered and protected from them - by inner city life, housing, defenses like guns, etc. - there is no reason to hide (although this might constitute a sort of "hiding" itself). If dangerous animals could systematically and strategically find us and hunt us down, we might be more inclined to put up some kind of pretense that made it look like we didn't exist. I'd prefer to leave the word "supernatural" out of this' date=' as I conceive of these beings as animals no less than any other known creature. Hiding or camouflaging is a very feasible [b']and natural[/b] survival tactic that thousands of species use all the time.

Maybe that guy's buddy was the first to notice that objects that are farther away are not only higher up in our visual field, but smaller. I mean, when you see someone close up and someone else of the same height behind him, your brain tells you they are the same size even though the one who's farther away takes up less space on your retina. So maybe it required a keen observer, like some of the renaissance artists, to notice that objects that are farther away need to be drawn smaller. When they openly professed this, it must have been an "oh yeah" moment for everyone. So I guess we need someone like that to point out the "hidden beings" amount us... *** Twilight Zone Music ***

1) Dogs aren't a threat to us. 2) Wanting to hide is one thing' date=' but are we intelligent enough to be [i']able[/i] to hide from dogs? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, the "more intelligent beings" I'm talking about would be. Interesting idea, Phi, but I'm not so sure. Unfortunately, evolution gave us 3D vision long before medieval Europe came about (or is this fortunate ?). Evolution bestowed us with the right kind of neural wiring to see the world in 3D long before our ancenstors ventured into Europe. But I completely agree with you that vision is a perpetually evolving thing. Perhaps in another million years or so, we will just begin noticing these "camouflaged" beings. Are they? What's "pan-dimensional"?

Don't feel stupid. It was just how you felt at the time.

I've had experiences like this where my self-esteme goes an a rollercoster ride (still do). Sometimes I feel absolutely wonderful, other times I feel like crap. I've been to see a psychiatrists about emotional problems before, and I usually feel stupid about it going in because the most recent episode or incident usually happens two weeks before, and at the time of see her I didn't feel bad anymore and so I didn't feel like I had any "real" problems. Do you go to university or college of any sort? At the U of C, the university I went to, part of my tuition went towards health services, and so I was able to book appointments with the psychiatrist for free whenever I wanted. You should see if that's available to you - it wouldn't hurt.

Neurons obviously conduct electricity, but are they the only cells in the body that do this? Do other cells conduct electricity?