Josie Kins
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Upcoming Video Script!
🕑 Added 2021-01-07 00:51:51 +0000 UTCSo after 3 years of refining the Subjective Effect Index and building up a large community of talented replicators. I think I'm finally ready to start exporting our documentation into other mediums such as YouTube. This is going to start with a short form documentary which summarizes the most common visual effects that can occur under the influence of psychedelics, with accompanying custom made replications from some extremely talented community members.
I'm really hoping this video will be able to serve as an educational tool that helps inspire and motivate people to learn more about the concept of subjective effect documentation. So because I want to keep you guys in the loop, if you're interested, here's the first draft of the videos script, which I will begin recording tonight.
INTRODUCTION
Hey there! It's josie here,
In this video I'm going to attempt to break down the visual effects of the psychedelic experience into simple and easy to understand descriptions.
This will be in accordance with the terminology laid out within our comprehensive Subjective Effect Index and will be done without resorting to metaphors, analogies, or personal trip reports.
To give you a better sense of the experience, each description will also be accompanied by relevant image and video replications.
However, please keep in mind that It's not really possible for me to go into full detail regarding every visual psychedelic effect component within a single video.
So if you're interested in learning more about the specific phenomenology of our documentation, then I'd seriously recommend looking up their dedicated articles on effectindex.com.
It's also worth noting that these descriptions aren't really specific to any one particular substance. Instead, they are applicable to the effects which commonly occur in various forms under the influence of almost any psychedelic compound.
This includes, but is not limited to, both classical and research chemical psychedelics, such as the one's listed I've listed here.
[LSD, Psilocybin mushrooms, DMT, Ayahuasca, Mescaline, 5-MeO-MiPT, 2C-B, LSA, AL-LAD, ALD-52, 1P-LSD, 2C-B-Fly, 2C-C, 2C-D, 2C-E, 2C-P, 4-AcO-DMT, 4-HO-MET, 4-HO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DMT, DPT, and DOC.]
I'm going to split this video up into 4 broad categories of visual effect, starting with the simpler categories and working my way up towards more complex experiences as the video progresses.
Ok so here we go,
Category 1 - VISUAL AMPLIFICATIONS
Visual amplifications are defined as any subjective effect that increases, enhances, or intensifies a facet of a person's sense of sight, without fundamentally altering it or adding any entirely new content. This category of effect is extremely common at lighter dosages and is often one of the first visual effects that a person will notice when undergoing a psychedelic experience. Some examples of this effect category commonly include:
COLOUR ENHANCEMENT
Colour enhancement is a perceived intensification of the brightness and vividness of colours within the external environment. During this experience, reds may seem “redder”, greens may seem “greener", and all colours will likely appear much more distinct, complex, and visually intense than they comparatively would during everyday sober living.
INCREASED PAREIDOLIA
Increased pareidolia is an enhancement of a person's ability and tendency to recognize patterns such as faces and objects within vague stimuli such as textures and objects.
Pareidolia is a perfectly normal function of human perception that occurs during everyday sobriety. However, during this experience, it can be vastly more pronounced than it would ever be during a sober state. For example, remarkably detailed images may appear embedded in scenery, everyday objects may look like faces, and clouds may appear as fantastical objects, all without any visual alterations actually taking place.
ACUITY ENHANCEMENT
Acuity enhancement is a heightening of the clearness and clarity of vision. This results in the visual details of the external environment becoming sharpened, to the point where the edges of objects are perceived as extremely focused, clear, and well defined. The experience of acuity enhancement can be likened to bringing a camera or projector lens that was slightly blurry into focus. It is often described as seeing the world in "high definition" or in "greater detail".
It's worth noting here that despite its simplicity, Acuity Enhancement is inherently difficult to properly capture within a traditional screen based replication. It is because of this that we have taken to creating these side by side comparison images, so that you can draw contrast between the two states and at least get an idea of this experience.
Category 2 - VISUAL DISTORTIONS
Visual distortions are defined as any subjective effect which alters and changes the perception or appearance of pre-existing visual data, without adding any entirely new content. They are extremely common at light to moderate dosages and are often one of the first visual effects that a person will notice when undergoing a psychedelic experience. Some examples of this effect category commonly include:
COLOUR SHIFTING
Colour shifting is when objects within the environment fluidly shift and change their colour through a continuously repeating cycle. For example, moss on a rock could visibly shift from green, to red, to blue, to any other colour, and then back to green again in the style of a smooth and seamless animated loop. This effect is often particularly strong and likely to occur if the objects original colour was bright or out of place.
DRIFTING
Drifting is the experience of the texture, shape, and general structure of objects and scenery appearing progressively warped, melted, and morphed across themselves. These alterations gradually increase in intensity as a person stares, but are usually temporary and typically will reset to their normal appearance the moment a person double takes.
At lower levels, drifting will manifest as a subtle bending or morphing of the textures, scenery, and objects within a person's external environment. At higher levels, however, drifting becomes powerful enough to drastically alter and transform these things to such an extent that they may even become unrecognizable.
This effect can be broken down into 4 approximate subtypes.
- Flowing - This is a style of visual drifting that seems to occur almost exclusively on textures. It results in said textures appearing to flow like a river in a seamless looped animation. It is particularly common on wood grain and the fur of animals.
- Morphing - This is a style of visual drifting that is completely disorganised in both ryhthm and direction. It results in objects and scenery appearing to progressively morph and warp in their size, shape, and configuration.
- Breathing - This is a style of visual drifting that results in objects and scenery appearing to steadily contract inwards and expand outwards, in a rhythm that is similar to the lungs of a living organism
- Melting - This is a style of visual drifting that can result in objects and scenery appearing to fluidly droop and lose their structural integrity in a manner which is often likened to that of the process of melting.
RECURSION
Recursion is a visual distortion that alters the appearance of one's external environment by repeating specific sections of itself across itself in a self-similar fashion. It results in the appearance of fractal-like scenes that often zoom into or away from the original image. This effect typically occurs spontaneously when a person is staring at a single point. It also rarely sustains itself for more than several seconds.
SYMMETRICAL TEXTURE REPETITION
Symmetrical texture repetition is the perception of textures becoming mirrored repeatedly over their own surface in an intricate and symmetrical fashion that is consistent across itself. This maintains the same level of detail no matter how closely one attempts to look at the distortion and tends to remain most prominent within one's peripheral vision. It usually manifests itself in rough textures, such as grass, carpets, tree bark, and asphalt.
TEXTURE LIQUIDATION
Texture liquidation is the experience of the texture, shape, and general structure of objects and scenery appearing as progressively simplified, smudged and stylized. This is in such a way that one's external environment begins to take on a general appearance that is often likened to that of a painting or cartoon.
TRACERS
Tracers are the experience of visual trails of varying lengths and opacity being left behind moving objects in a manner that is similar to those found in long exposure photography. They will usually manifest as the same colour of the moving object producing it but can also sometimes be a randomly selected colour of their own. A relatively consistent way to reproduce this visual effect is to simply move one's hand in front of their face or throw an object while under the influence of a moderate dosage of a psychedelic compound.
At lower levels, tracers typically manifest as partially transparent trails that disappear quickly and drag closely behind moving objects. At higher levels, however, tracers become mostly solid in appearance and almost completely opaque with increasingly distinct edges. They also become slower to fade from a person’s vision and can remain in the air for up to several seconds.
Category 3 - GEOMETRIC PATTERNS
Geometric patterns are defined as any subjective effect that introduces complex arrays of shapes and patterns to one's field of vision. This category of effect is extremely common at moderate to heavy dosages of psychedelic compounds.
ENVIRONMENTAL PATTERNING
Environmental patterning is the experience of certain textures or objects, such as carpets, clouds, and dense vegetation, shape shifting into increasingly complex geometric patterns that are clearly comprised of the original material which they are manifesting from. These structures can be symmetrical in nature, but often include form constants, fractals, and disorganised geometric patterns.
GEOMETRY
Geometry is the experience of a person's field of vision becoming partially or completely encompassed by fast-moving, colourful, and incomprehensibly complex geometric patterns, form constants, shapes, fractals, symbols, and colours. It's this particular effect that has likely had the biggest influence on the aesthetics which we have come to associate with psychedelic and visionary artwork.
So geometry is rarely motionless and is generally extremely fast-moving and self-changing in its shape and style. During this process, geometry will naturally drift across the visual field while fluidly transitioning through many distinct states and forms.
At lower levels, it will display itself as a translucent sheen that is overlaid across the person's open and closed eye vision. It will also be seen as embedded within textures and surfaces throughout the external environment.
At higher levels, however, the geometry will become increasingly complex and all-encompassing until it has begun to block out and replace the external world. At this point, the visual perception of a person's environment begins to be replaced by geometry, with objects and scenery either transforming into complex geometric structures or simply being blocked out and covered by them.
At these greater levels of intensity, geometry can also often become structured and organized in a manner that presents genuine information to the person experiencing them, far beyond the perception of meaningless (though complex) shapes and colours. These geometric representations often feel as though they depict extraordinarily detailed and innately understandable information about specific concepts and neurological processes that occur within the brain. Unfortunately, however, this particular aspect of high level psychedelic geometry is impossible to replicate via any traditional means.
Category 4 - Hallucinatory States
Hallucinatory states are any subjective effect which changes the perception or appearance of pre-existing visual data by overriding it with entirely new content, in a manner which is similar to that of dreams. This category of visual effect is most common at strong to heavy dosages of psychedelic compounds. Some examples of this effect category commonly include:
INTERNAL HALLUCINATIONS
An internal hallucination is the perception of a visual hallucination that primarily occurs within an imagined inner environment, or on the back of the users eyelids. This is in stark contrast to external hallucinations, which display themselves seamlessly into the external environment as if they were physically present. While external hallucinations can happen during a psychedelic experience, they are quite uncommon and usually more associated with deliriant hallucinogens, rather than traditional psychedelics.
From an aesthetic standpoint, It is also worth noting that psychedelic hallucinations are generally comprised of condensed ever shifting geometry, giving them a unique and incredibly complex visual style which is commonly portrayed within visionary artwork.
At lower levels, internal hallucinations begin with closed eye imagery which does not take up the entirety of one's visual field and is distinct from its background. These can be described as spontaneous moving or still images of scenes, concepts, places, or anything one could imagine. The imagery is manifested in varying levels of realism ranging from ill-defined and cartoon-like to wholly realistic. They also rarely hold their form for more than a few seconds before fading or shifting into another image.
At higher levels, however, internal hallucinations become increasingly elaborate as they eventually become all-encompassing, fully-fledged 3D scenes that surround the person in a manner similar to that of dreams. This can create the feeling that one has "broken-through" into another reality. The things that occur within this perceived alternate reality can be anything, but fall under common archetypes such as contact with autonomous entities, alongside a wide variety of imagined landscapes, and scenarios.
AUTONOMOUS ENTITIES
An autonomous entity is the experience of perceived contact with hallucinated beings that appear to be sentient and autonomous in their behaviour. These entities will frequently act as the inhabitants of a perceived independent reality.
In terms of their behaviour, while many entities seem largely unaware of a person’s presence, they are often precognizant of a person's appearance into their supposed realm and usually choose to interact with them in various ways. These interactions can vary wildly and seems to depend heavily on the person's current emotional state. For example, while many entities will act as loving beings, teachers, or healers. In certain contexts, however, they are equally as capable of acting as indifferent and uncaring, or even as malicious tormentors.
Following a similar theme to that of general internal hallucinations, entities under the influence of psychedelics will also usually appear as if they are comprised of condensed psychedelic geometry. They can also take any form, but certain archetypes are definitely present and commonly include the following examples:
Humans, aliens, elves, animals, giant spheres, insectoids, beings of light, anthropomorphic beings, plants, cartoons, robotic machines, gods and demigods, bio-mechanical intelligences, demons, indescribable monstrosities, spirits, angels, shamans, fantastical or mythological beasts, glitch creatures and many more.
TRANSFORMATIONS
Transformations are the experience of a perceived visual metamorphosis that specific parts of one's external environment undergo as they shapeshift into other objects. For example, people who experience this effect will often report seeing parts of their environment shifting into completely different things. These transformations have a huge variety of potential artistic styles and differing levels of detail, realism, and animation.
At lower levels, the process of transformation can require some minimal amount of focus and concentration to sustain. Losing concentration for an instant can cause this image to fade away or shift into another image. Holding the eyes still will usually increase the intensity of the progressive transformation. However, this becomes completely unnecessary at higher levels.
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Ok, so at this point we have now individually summarized just some of the more common visual effects that can occur during a typical psychedelic experience. To give you a better sense of how these individual effects can commonly interact with one another, we will now show you a short collection of replications which include numerous visual effects occurring simultaneously.
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If you've made it this far into the video, thanks so much for watching! I just want to thank all of the replicators and artists that helped create the content used within this video. If you liked what you saw, please go check their social media handles within the links in the description below. If you could also like this video and subscribe to the channel, that would be pretty neat too but no worries if not.
Thanks again for watching, and have a lovely day.
