Eyes wide shut: Why closing your eyes intensifies psychedelic trips
Big Think -

You’ve likely heard the phrase “set and setting” when it comes to psychedelics: The quality of a trip depends on the mindset you have and the environment you’re in when you kick off a trip. But while it’s a common claim, there hasn’t been much research on the effects of set and setting on the psychedelic experience. To bridge that gap, a recent study systematically examined these kinds of effects, including those that result from keeping your eyes open or closed during an LSD experience. The...

In related news

  • On the Beat: maari Drops 'Eyes Wide Shut,' and a Farewell Show for Pete Sutherland

    Who doesn't love The Little Mermaid and sex lube? (That got your attention, didn't it?) University of Vermont sex educator Jenna Emerson is back with a new song to make us laugh while teaching such axioms as "Sex is better when it's wetter, take it from me." "Under the Sheets" is Emerson's latest The Little Mermaid-themed parody song, combining her two passions: comedy and sex ed. She debuted the project in 2020 with "I Want to Be a Sex Educator," a comedic riff on "Part of Your World."...
  • Caps shut out Bruins, close in on playoff bid

    John Carlson and Nic Dowd scored and Charlie Lindgren recorded a 16-save shutout as the Washington Capitals beat the visiting Boston Bruins 2-0 on Monday to remain in control of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. The game-winning goal, at 12:00 in the first period, was Carlson's 10th of the season and fifth in the past 13 games. Carlson has recorded points in three straight contests. Dowd added a late empty-netter for Washington (39-31-11, 89 points), which is tied on points with the...
  • GPT-4 performed close to the level of expert doctors in eye assessments

    As learning language models (LLMs) continue to advance, so do questions about how they can benefit society in areas such as the medical field. A recent study from the University of Cambridge's School of Clinical Medicine found that OpenAI's GPT-4 performed nearly as well in an ophthalmology assessment as experts in the field, the Financial Times first reported. In the study, published in PLOS Digital Health, researchers tested the LLM, its predecessor GPT-3.5, Google's PaLM 2 and Meta's LLaMA...