For nearly a century, people in distant parts of the world have reported a bizarre experience after eating certain wild mushrooms: seeing dozens or even hundreds of tiny, colorful humans moving through the real world. Now, scientists have identified a mushroom species, Lanmaoa asiatica, responsible for these extraordinary hallucinations in China and the Philippines.
I could have sworn I read something similar a few weeks ago …
I mean, we absolutely could test this experimentally, depending on the nature of these hypothetical beings.
For example, you could give multiple participants these mushrooms. Bring them into a sealed room one by one. Ask them to report the number of tiny beings around them. Ask them to politely ask the tiny beings to remain where they are.
Imagine if you cycled ten participants through, and each told you there were precisely 11 little humans in the room. With simple methods like this, you could apply statistical hypothesis testing to the results and see if the success rates differs significantly from chance. You absolutely could do real science on this. Science is perfectly capable of testing certain kinds of supernatural claims. Science would have a very hard time trying to determine what happens after death, if anything. But invisible tiny people inhabiting our reality, that we can miraculously see if we do one very specific thing? That’s absolutely testable using the scientific method.
Yes, use scientific method or Sagan’s baloney detection kit! Maybe a study that checks brainwaves to see what areas are active during the experiment and see what happens, measurable things in the tests and in the control group to study it.
Lilliputian hallucinations refer to the perception of small beings, often resembling tiny humans or animals, that appear to interact with the real world. These hallucinations can occur from this shroom, certain neurological disorders and alcohol withdrawal. Lilliputian.
What if each person hallucinates a number of tiny people per square meter so everyone would see equally amount because of the inherent size of the room? What’s the next step to determine they’re real? Different sized rooms?
I mean, we absolutely could test this experimentally, depending on the nature of these hypothetical beings.
For example, you could give multiple participants these mushrooms. Bring them into a sealed room one by one. Ask them to report the number of tiny beings around them. Ask them to politely ask the tiny beings to remain where they are.
Imagine if you cycled ten participants through, and each told you there were precisely 11 little humans in the room. With simple methods like this, you could apply statistical hypothesis testing to the results and see if the success rates differs significantly from chance. You absolutely could do real science on this. Science is perfectly capable of testing certain kinds of supernatural claims. Science would have a very hard time trying to determine what happens after death, if anything. But invisible tiny people inhabiting our reality, that we can miraculously see if we do one very specific thing? That’s absolutely testable using the scientific method.
Yes, use scientific method or Sagan’s baloney detection kit! Maybe a study that checks brainwaves to see what areas are active during the experiment and see what happens, measurable things in the tests and in the control group to study it.
That’s exactly what the Lilliputians want you to think
That’s what big Lilliputian wants you to think! Don’t be gullible!
What if each person hallucinates a number of tiny people per square meter so everyone would see equally amount because of the inherent size of the room? What’s the next step to determine they’re real? Different sized rooms?
we can cross that bridge when we come to it…