From: malcolm@wrs.com (Malcolm Humes)
Subject: Re: Dream Machines; Whole-Brain Synchronizers
Organization: Wind River Systems, Inc.
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 17:24:29 GMT

georgec@eng.umd.edu (George B. Clark) writes:
>"Dream Machines" is a term that collectively describes those appliances
>that induce "whole-brain synchronization." Typically, the person wears
>a pair of headphones and a pair of glasses. The headphones are synchronized
>to emit sounds concurrently with lights that are flashed into the eyes
>by LEDs mounted on the glasses.

>Less elaborate whole-brain synchronicity may instead involve only "high-
>tech" audio cassette recordings you listen to through a regular home
>cassette recorder.

The idea behind this is "entrainment" which is supposedly a proven thing 
that two items in proximity will assume the same frequency, or something 
like that. The idea is that if you play a low frequency into your brain 
that mathes that of an alpha state that your brain frequencies will
assume or match that frequency. The more expensive machines let you
program a series of different frequencies or something that starts at a
high frequency and takes you down to a real low meditation or dream state
and other variations. The cassettes aren't really very high tech, they 
mostly just use tones, and some combine those with subliminals and guided
meditation things.  

>Thanks for any published data, references, personal experiences, or
>product evaluations you may wish to share. Tell me if they are a
>worthwhile purchase, or would I be wasting my money.

There is a Mind Machines mailing list called MIND-L. Subscribe by emailing
to mind-l-request@asylum.sf.ca.us. The ftp archives are at asylum.sf.ca.us
available via anonymous ftp services. The list is pretty slow these days but
there are archives and an excelent FAQ file. The list has also proven to
be a nice place for people to rally for group buys. I got one recently
for wholesale pricing this way. It's a Mind Gear PR-2, which lists for
$340-$350 but we got five people together for a direct purchase at $220
each. I admit I am/was a little skeptical about some of the claims and the
manual and all the mail order catalogs I've seen tend to be a little too
new agey and loose in their choice of wording. But I figured it would be
a worthwhile investment at wholesale prices, especially if it is able to 
help relax. 

Initially I've had mixed results. I was a little surprised that the manual
suggests you put on some "relaxing music" as background. It would seem 
difficult to determine if the machine is relaxing you or the music that
you've already decided is "relaxing" is doing the job. But it makes some
sense I suppose. Part of why I wanted to try this device was because I have
already achieved some very pleasant states through more conventional means
of meditation. I have a hard time disciplining myself to meditate and thought
having a device to block out the world would assist me. But I guess it's partly 
my nature to be undisciplined so I still don't meditate much more than before
and have only used it about once or twice a week in the two months or so I've
had it. My girlfriend uses it almost daily and claims much more intense visuals
and mind effects from using it. A handfull of friends tried it and most of them
have all enjoyed it and expressed interest in trying it again. A couple of
them commented that the visuals had been very nice. Two friends who tried it
stopped in mid session. They both said that they had enjoyed it but that it
was almost too intense. Both said that they had felt themselves leaving or 
going somewhere else and that they were afraid they might not be able to 
come back. It seemed odd that both had such strong and similar reactions to 
it. I almost suspect it had something to do with them both being pretty 
strongly christian - one of them is in studying to become a catholic priest. 

Whether or not the devices work is debatable on various levels. It seems 
possible that the "entrainment" might actually just be percieved and just a
placebo effect since the person using such a machine does so with some 
expectations and preconceptions. The visual effects aren't exactly what I'd
call hallucinations. I've seen a variety of patterns and some other stuff. 
On one occasion I did have a near hallucinatory effect - a sensation that
the patterns I was seeing were expanding and contracting in a balloon-like way
with my breathing. My gut feeling is that the machine can take you to places 
that your mind can reach through other means (like meditation) and I'm not
sure it'll take you there any faster or easier than any other method. Whether
it's worth it or not is a personal judgement. It was worth it for me, so far. 
Ideally you might want to try one before buying. There are some places where
you can rent access. Mind Spas. Also there are some people setting up booths
at conventions, from techie to trekky.  
  
I think the book you mentioned could have been the _Megabrain report_ or maybe
_Does The Buddha Wear a Walkman?_ 

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