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Do our brains change when we travel in outer space?

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"In February, 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell experienced the little understood phenomenon sometimes called the “Overview Effect”. He describes being completely engulfed by a profound sense of universal connectedness. Without warning, he says, a feeing of bliss, timelessness, and connectedness began to overwhelm him. He describes becoming instantly and profoundly aware that each of his constituent atoms were connected to the fragile planet he saw in the window and to every other atom in the Universe. He described experiencing an intense awareness that Earth, with its humans, other animal species, and systems were all one synergistic whole. He says the feeling that rushed over him was a sense of interconnected euphoria. He was not the first—nor the last—to experience this strange “cosmic connection”.

Rusty Schweikart experienced it on March 6th 1969 during a spacewalk outside his Apollo 9 vehicle: “When you go around the Earth in an hour and a half, you begin to recognize that your identity is with that whole thing. That makes a change…it comes through to you so powerfully that you’re the sensing element for Man.” Schweikart, similar to what Mitchell experienced, describes intuitively sensing that everything is profoundly connected.

Their experiences, along with dozens of other similar experiences described by other astronauts, intrigue scientists who study the brain. This “Overview Effect”, or acute awareness of all matter as synergistically connected, sounds somewhat similar to certain religious experiences described by Buddhist monks, for example. Where does it come from and why?..."

By Rebecca Sato
Enjoy_Cannabis

37 responses // Do our brains change when we travel in outer space?

  • Thats pretty cool, I have never heard about this before!
    Sage09
    1 response to this
  • Wow! That is very interesting.
    kwade001
    1 response to this
  • I've heard astronauts speak of this as a philosophical epiphany, but there might be a biological element that is tampered with while in space. Might be something worth studying.
    H3ADLINE
  • Well I think of this as a change in perspective. You live your whole life on the Earth and never really realize the whole idea of the Earth as a whole. When you see it in person, the Earth as a whole, I can imagine that it would cause a serge of emotions and new ideas.
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    Greg_Bunker
  • this IS very interesting, now all the kids are going to go to space and get high
    Alanisnotcool
    1 response to this
  • I think it harkens back to the significance of spacefaring technology. When we sent the first images of and Earth from the perspective of another world, the entire world took pause. Space has been a great unifying force becuase it reminds us of just how small our quibbles are compared to our commonalities, based upon the entire world which we share.
    ocanada
  • Wow, all one synergistic whole

    I hope we can all try this state of mind.
    Angry_Patriot89
  • Thats wild, i had read before that there are effects on the brain from zero gravity, but I have never heard it described this way. Would i love to try that out.
    Not_Doody
  • makes me want to go to space even more
    BetterWatching
  • Fascinating stuff that's for sure
    Enjoy_Cannabis
  • String theory?
    Adumbration
  • It comes from being in awe.
    J_Jammer
  • It was actually mentioned on Babylon 5 that one thing that all space-faring races have in common is they all have some form of Swedish meatballs, although I am not sure if that will change our brains..
    dankitti
  • Sounds more like a realization of just how insignificant we really are. I imagine that descriptions of the vastness of space barely stack up to seeing it firsthand.
    VigorousAlloy
    1 response to this
  • I'm a space nut. My grandpa is from a small Indiana town that produced two famous astronauts, one of the first Gus Grissom, and the head of the ISS and several shuttle missions, Kenneth Bowersox. I think looking up at the bright night sky in that town, far away from offending smokestacks of my home city Indianapolis inspired curiousity. The sight of the Earth from space must have made all of that curiosity worthwhile and then some.
    ocanada
    2 responses to this
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_circuit_model_of_con...
    80% of astronauts have reported experiences similar to this "Overview Effect"

    This was already studied by Timothy Leary and he incorporated it into his model of neurological circuits in the brain. Based on his research it comes from imprinting new patterns of synaptic firing from opening up new areas of the brain.

    The Neurosomatic Circuit is the first of the right-brain, "higher" circuits which are usually inactive in most humans. It allows one to see things in multi-dimensional space instead of the 4 dimensions of Euclidean space-time, and is there to aid in the future exploration of outer space.
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    Argon18
    2 responses to this
  • I hope for the day we can all experience this. There have only been 154 manned space missions in North America. Its still such a rare occurance for us as a species, as a people.
    ocanada
  • We need to realize that space exploration is one of the most profound activities of humans as a whole. It is based in deep biological drive to grow and explore, the earth can only sustain us for so long. This is the brain telling us that every person that exist living on one spaceship earth is crazy, "don't put all your eggs in one basket".
    twggyy
  • well we all CAN experience this at home, its called lsd or spirituality, however one chooses to transcend into that realm.
    Thargor19
  • Perhaps after they find out how to induce the Overview Effect with a pill humanity can stand together at last and evolve to the next level.
    Stradius
  • Its very simple.
    When you find yourself out there, you find out the only thing protecting you from the emptyness of space, the radiation of the sun, the comic radiation, the lack of air, the lack of warmth, the lack of comfort.... is our mother earth.

    The spaceship you are on is only a tool, for you to see that you belong to this one blue planet.

    All of the suddem you can see us all as one. One world, One heart. Just like Bob Marley said.
    Juas
  • well it makes sense in some way i guess, we still know very little on the effect of zerogee on the human brain
    damartin90
  • Its like seeing the forest for the trees.

    When you are in the forest all you see are the trees around you, but when you are outside looking in then you see the vast forest and the wonder of that can give you a euphoric feeling.

    I always feel more synchronicity or connectedness when I am immersed in Nature. I especially feel this euphoric feeling when I am in the midst of flower gardens in full bloom. Gazing at a flower can give me euphoric feelings. I don't need drugs or pills to give me that.

    Happiness is an inside job.
    jubal
    1 response to this
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBo8t0B5NhM
    Someday public space travel will be a reality and if you're fortunate enough you can experience the “Overview Effect” for yourselve's
    Enjoy_Cannabis
  • Enjoy_Cannabis, thanks for the post!

    "Overview Effect!" What a fascinating concept. I would like to add that our brains change when we travel outside our native countries as well. :-)
    Hawkmang
    1 response to this
  • I remember watching this thing a long time ago on Popular Mechanics for Kids, when an astronaut said that in space your head actually enlarges because space acts as vacuum stretching your body.
    Bravura
  • You know I can relate to that. Its like when you go overseas as in the military and live and work among the people of the the country you suddenly get this sense of the world become smaller now and not so hard to comprehend where people are really just trying to make each day they have on this planet the best it can be.
    tmaster

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