"The liquid was just over a foot deep and heated to what I assume is body temperature.... Moving my limbs was about the only entertainment. Occasionally a shimmer of something passed across my eyes. Hallucinations, but nothing revelatory. Then, from beneath me, I heard a low rumble. Just the muffled clattering of the Victoria line. Once I recognised it, it proved a comforting sound.... I emerged with a feeling of almost artificial serenity, as if someone had dialled down the radio in my brain. I returned into the Vauxhall evening, to join my fellow earthlings."
Actually, it didn't seem strange at all. The article caught my eye — and grabbed the 3rd of my 3 free monthly reads in The Spectator — because I was just listening to an old Joe Rogan podcast where there was discussion of a sensory deprivation tank.
It's an especially interesting topic to me because many years ago when I was a law clerk in federal court I worked on a copyright case about the book "Altered States."
I loved the movie 'Altered States' but did not realize that Paddy Chayefsky wrote the novel. Chayefsky who also gave us 'Network' and other great screenplays. The movie version of his book wasn't great, but was interesting at that time. Seems to me that sensory deprivation tanks had a sort of 'coming out' around that time. I've never done it, but would like to. I guess I'd better get to it soon.
Reminds me of an episode of the original Hawaii 5-0. Whoa Fat had someone from 5-0 in the tank. I've been to the Dead Sea and put on a mask an ear plugs and it seemed pretty much what the author described.
Ah Altered States….super young and handsome William Hurt and my brown haired fantasy girl Blair Brown. That was Ken Russell? Like Tommy Ken Russell? Also great cinematography
I was a big fan of flotation-tank developer John C. Lilly, whose writing inspired "Altered States" (and also "Day of the Dolphin"). But his real life was even stranger than the movies -- after he had been combining sensory-deprivation sessions with psychedelic drugs for a while, he developed a serious belief that some sort of malevolent solid-state alien creatures were preparing to go to war with humans.
Still, I always wanted to try a flotation tank myself -- although the reviews for commercial urban spas suggest they don't always give you the purely peaceful experience you're looking for (the salted water can get in your nose and sting your eyes, and you still hear traffic noise). I imagine the top-of-the-line unit in Joe Rogan's mansion is a lot more comfortable.
Altered States was among a slew of movies made around the same time about the animal in man- Cat People, Wolfen, An American Werewolf in London, and The Howling etc. Altered States was extensively reviewed in either Newsweek or Time when it first came out, or both. I have only seen it the one time, about 2 or 3 years after it was released- was one of the first movies I ever saw after we got a satellite dish. I honestly don't remember much about it.
cubanbob: Wo Fat got McGarrett into the tank, and memorably said of his hallucinogenic thrashings, "He's chasing wahinis on Waikaki Beach." McGarrett wasn't doing that, of course, and came out of the sensory deprivation experience fully prepared to take on his nemesis.
I renovated a home built into a hillside once. The master bedroom was underground, completely surrounded by solid limestone. I never spent the night there, but tomblike silence and still, cool air made for utterly restful naps in that sensory-deprivation spot.
Our school “sports” department consisted of an isolation tank, ultimate frisbee, co-ed soccer, and hackeysack. And we had a tie-dye club.
A few canoes and a tennis court and a pool in which nobody seemed to be able to keep their clothes on.
This is what the hippies did to America. I never went near the isolation tank. People who choose to have isolation tanks are likely not cautious about cleaning them or themselves. Ringworm and red ants were bad enough surprises.
Gorgeous campus though. The old Ringling Estate. Pink marble mansions, stunning sunsets. Bizarre statuary. A crumbling circus training ring for elephants, with carny painted circus performers. A replica of David overlooking the museum next door, booty facing the water and franks and beans delighting the elderly tourists. A replica Shakespeare theater among palm trees. Banyans the size of houses. A dwarf garden of world leaders and circus performers — probably not called the dwarf garden anymore. And a rosebush maze. No two rose bushes were alike, and there were hundreds of them. We would sneak over the museum fence at night and wander the rose maze for hours. There’s the smell of the decline of Western Civilization right there: from beautifully tended rose mazes to filthy isolation tanks.
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9 comments:
Lieberman v. Estate of Chayefsky?
I loved the movie 'Altered States' but did not realize that Paddy Chayefsky wrote the novel. Chayefsky who also gave us 'Network' and other great screenplays. The movie version of his book wasn't great, but was interesting at that time. Seems to me that sensory deprivation tanks had a sort of 'coming out' around that time. I've never done it, but would like to. I guess I'd better get to it soon.
Altered states...$20/eighth...coming to a smoke shop near you.
So a blank tank is fun? For how long? Then what?
Reminds me of an episode of the original Hawaii 5-0. Whoa Fat had someone from 5-0 in the tank. I've been to the Dead Sea and put on a mask an ear plugs and it seemed pretty much what the author described.
Ah Altered States….super young and handsome William Hurt and my brown haired fantasy girl Blair Brown. That was Ken Russell? Like Tommy Ken Russell? Also great cinematography
I was a big fan of flotation-tank developer John C. Lilly, whose writing inspired "Altered States" (and also "Day of the Dolphin"). But his real life was even stranger than the movies -- after he had been combining sensory-deprivation sessions with psychedelic drugs for a while, he developed a serious belief that some sort of malevolent solid-state alien creatures were preparing to go to war with humans.
Still, I always wanted to try a flotation tank myself -- although the reviews for commercial urban spas suggest they don't always give you the purely peaceful experience you're looking for (the salted water can get in your nose and sting your eyes, and you still hear traffic noise). I imagine the top-of-the-line unit in Joe Rogan's mansion is a lot more comfortable.
Altered States was among a slew of movies made around the same time about the animal in man- Cat People, Wolfen, An American Werewolf in London, and The Howling etc. Altered States was extensively reviewed in either Newsweek or Time when it first came out, or both. I have only seen it the one time, about 2 or 3 years after it was released- was one of the first movies I ever saw after we got a satellite dish. I honestly don't remember much about it.
cubanbob: Wo Fat got McGarrett into the tank, and memorably said of his hallucinogenic thrashings, "He's chasing wahinis on Waikaki Beach." McGarrett wasn't doing that, of course, and came out of the sensory deprivation experience fully prepared to take on his nemesis.
I renovated a home built into a hillside once. The master bedroom was underground, completely surrounded by solid limestone. I never spent the night there, but tomblike silence and still, cool air made for utterly restful naps in that sensory-deprivation spot.
Our school “sports” department consisted of an isolation tank, ultimate frisbee, co-ed soccer, and hackeysack. And we had a tie-dye club.
A few canoes and a tennis court and a pool in which nobody seemed to be able to keep their clothes on.
This is what the hippies did to America. I never went near the isolation tank. People who choose to have isolation tanks are likely not cautious about cleaning them or themselves. Ringworm and red ants were bad enough surprises.
Gorgeous campus though. The old Ringling Estate. Pink marble mansions, stunning sunsets. Bizarre statuary. A crumbling circus training ring for elephants, with carny painted circus performers. A replica of David overlooking the museum next door, booty facing the water and franks and beans delighting the elderly tourists. A replica Shakespeare theater among palm trees. Banyans the size of houses. A dwarf garden of world leaders and circus performers — probably not called the dwarf garden anymore. And a rosebush maze. No two rose bushes were alike, and there were hundreds of them. We would sneak over the museum fence at night and wander the rose maze for hours. There’s the smell of the decline of Western Civilization right there: from beautifully tended rose mazes to filthy isolation tanks.
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