For a long time there has been great interest in crossing the limits of the human being and numerous inventions have been created to try to achieve this. Medicine and other branches of health have been interested in this and have produced devices that seek to reorganize the human body, in addition to other sectors such as the automotive industry, which has created cars with the ability to exceed extreme speeds. However, some of these attempts may pose a risk to people.
There is a methodology that seeks to alter the senses of the human body to achieve novel sensations that can generate significant deterioration in the body and impact its general functioning. In this Psychology-Online article, we will talk to you about the Ganzfeld effect: what it is, origin, what it is for and consequences.
What is the Ganzfeld effect
The Ganzfeld effect is a methodology used within the field of parapsychology that aims to perception of paranormal sensations from the isolation of certain senses of the human being. In other words, the Ganzfeld effect consists of a technique that assumes that humans could perceive extrasensory stimuli by canceling them, such as sight and hearing.
Origin of the Ganzfeld effect
To address the origin of the Ganzfeld effect, we must consider some historical events that occurred over time.
The beginnings of experiments from parapsychology begin around the 1930s, from research by Wolfgang Metzger, German psychologist. Based on his observations, Metzger considered that people are capable of perceiving elements that are not present in reality by blocking some fields of reality.
Around the 1970s, an American psychologist named Charles Honorton He was interested in investigating telepathy as a superhuman ability. To do this, he carried out experiments using the Ganzfeld method.
After a long period of time, Honorton’s research was refuted, since the results of experiments that presented visions and/or extrasensory hearings were considered to be influenced by other variables. For this reason, it was concluded that telepathy was not possible.
What is the Ganzfeld effect for?
As we have mentioned previously, the Ganzfeld effect is carried out with the intention of corroborating whether the human being has the ability to perceive objects and/or sounds that are not part of the perceptual field.
In other words, the Ganzfeld effect serves to investigate the existence of telepathy and other supernatural abilities of people. These qualities include the area of brain functioning linked to the thoughts, emotions and behaviors that a person experiences in response to the stimuli they perceive.
How the Ganzfeld effect is put into practice and its risks
There are a series of steps that must be completed to carry out the Ganzfeld effect, in order for the study to have considerable validity.
First of all, the person You must cover your eyes and put on headphones to remove possible distracting sounds and objects. In general terms, the place of the experiment should be away from external stimuli that may interfere.
In second place, white noise plays through headphones. After a short period of time, another person, located opposite, will try to telepathically send some images that he observes at that moment.
Finally, the person who performed the Ganzfeld effect must corroborate whether they actually perceived extrasensory signals.
Consequences of the Ganzfeld effect
Beyond the procedure used, it is necessary to warn of the risks involved in putting this methodology into practice. Below we will talk about some of the most relevant consequences of the Ganzfeld effect.
auditory hallucinations
If the Ganzfeld effect is repeated frequently, they may occur. At a general level, this can occur as a consequence of the human body having the ability to get used to lack of stimuli that come from abroad.
While it is true that this may not happen in all people, there is a possibility of auditory hallucinations occurring. The perception of sounds that are not located in reality can occur when the brain tries to find perceptible sounds while listening to white noise.
visual hallucinations
The vision of objects that do not belong to reality is another risk factor for the Ganzfeld effect. As in auditory hallucinations, in this type of hallucinations the brain tries to compensate for the information it does not receive from the environment with the figures that appear. However, these distortions of reality do not occur in all cases.
On the other hand, the intensity of hallucinations can vary depending on the personal characteristics of each individual, such as age, sex or hereditary diseases, among others.
Disturbance of perception
The frequency of the Ganzfeld effect could interfere with the degree of perception of each sense of the human body.
It should be noted that these adverse effects are hypotheses made from real cases and not universal truths.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Ganzfeld effect: what it is, origin, what it is for and consequenceswe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- Dalton, K. (2016). The anomalous transfer of information in Ganzfeld. Argentine Magazine of Paranormal Psychology, 10 (1), 1-11.
- Nájar Sualdea, S. (2017). Perceptual distortions. Claustrophobia through Art, Architecture and Cinema. Polytechnic University of Madrid.