Is there an activity that'll allow me to see another universe instead of my own surroundings?

[ac05]

Is there an activity where I won't be seeing my own surroundings, but rather another universe/world/reality instead?

[Glazer]

Television

[PlainJain]

I'll have what the OP is having.

[Derleth]

Originally Posted by ac05

another universe/world/reality

If you can provide a suitably lame definition for this, there might be. Taking it at face value, no, and it isn't even clear what it would mean: If you can see something, it's a real part of this reality to the extent it affects your perceptions, even if it's only a hallucination, a dream, or your imagination.

[TimeWinder]

Sure: dreaming. Or reading. Or hallucinogens. In no case is the "other universe" real -- there's no evidence that such alternate reality universes (in the sense you're asking about) exist at all. Even if another real universe co-existed with ours, and you could somehow see into it, you'd be 99.9999999% likely to just be seeing empty space (assuming it's matter/space ratio is the same as ours).

[Siam Sam]

Repeat after me: LSD.

[Gary T]

Suicide.

[manila]

Salvia Divinorum. Shorter lasting than LSD so if you don't like the next universe you can soon try another one!

[Gagundathar]

It can be argued (and has been quite well by others here and elsewhere) that we not only do not experience (or 'see' as you said) our surroundings completely, but we are inherently incapable of doing so.

Most of the time, when you perceive the world, you place yourself within the scene you're watching. You move and your perspective changes. The world appears to have reliable rules that make sense because you have become accustomed to them. You feel like now you might actually understand something useful about people of the opposite sex. Life appears to be good.

But, until you encounter another being and communicate with them about the world that you perceive to be true, you can't verify the validity of your own reality. A world made up of just a single mind is a trap both sterile and long-lastingly torturous. All heaven and hell, right there at your fingertips. Nothing but what you concieve could be true to you, but that nothing that you failed to realize could easily take your world and turn it upside down.

The world of any being's sensorium is limited by the functionality of the interface between data and mind. Some people have learned to recognize this, and some people have not yet done do.

------------------------------------------------------------

Or, alternatively, your question might be about whether you might be able to see another universe by which I must assume for the sake of this exposition to mean another time-space continuum. Given that, I believe that my colleagues and I at the Mystical College of Interdimensional Transmogrifications can meet your requirements quite well. MCIT is my alma mater, after all. Go GREYS!

We all look forward to meeting you as soon as you have met with the monetary requirements as laid out in the attached documents.

GtI, Fglargernthal Solicitor

[Gatopescado]

Originally Posted by Siam Sam

Repeat after me: LSD.

With a PCP chaser.

[rogerbox]

Reading something good and speculative.

[cmyk]

Rural Arkansas?

[ac05]

Originally Posted by Derleth

If you can provide a suitably lame definition for this, there might be. Taking it at face value, no, and it isn't even clear what it would mean: If you can see something, it's a real part of this reality to the extent it affects your perceptions, even if it's only a hallucination, a dream, or your imagination.

What I mean is: is there anything other than hallucinations and dreams that'll allow me to see A FANTASY ENVIRONMENT (A FANTASY WORLD) AROUND ME?

[panache45]

Lobotomy.

[rogerbox]

Originally Posted by ac05

What I mean is: is there anything other than hallucinations and dreams that'll allow me to see A FANTASY ENVIRONMENT (A FANTASY WORLD) AROUND ME?

I've heard of people having visual hallucinations from sensory deprivation chambers.

[Staggerlee]

Originally Posted by ac05

What I mean is: is there anything other than hallucinations and dreams that'll allow me to see A FANTASY ENVIRONMENT (A FANTASY WORLD) AROUND ME?

Well I could slip on my French maid's outfit, but it really doesn't fit that well.

[Yllaria]

Are you asking about virtual reality or holosuite technology?

[ac05]

Originally Posted by Yllaria

Are you asking about virtual reality or holosuite technology?

What do you mean by "holosuite technology"? I've never heard of that before.

[Der Trihs]

In theory I understand that another universe could impinge on our own, and you could see it that way. Assuming that such an event isn't so violent that it kills us all before we can observe it that is.

Originally Posted by ac05

What do you mean by "holosuite technology"? I've never heard of that before.

It's a Star Trek term.

[jz78817]

Originally Posted by ac05

What I mean is: is there anything other than hallucinations and dreams that'll allow me to see A FANTASY ENVIRONMENT (A FANTASY WORLD) AROUND ME?

No.

[Snerky Snerk]

I think I recall reading an article in The New Scientist about a woman (IIRC) who had a leprechaun following her around everywhere. She wasn't 'crazy', because she knew he wasn't real, and he wasn't causing any trouble - he just followed her around. I won't bother trying to find any cites or further info for that unless it is of any interest to you. I don't remember what it was that caused him to appear, but the little dude was a hallucination, just not a drug induced one.

Is the easy answer just to tell you to go to Disneyland?

[DrFidelius]

Attend science fiction or comic book conventions, preferably dressed as a character. Become a rabid fan of a given sports franchise. Immerse yourself in a detail-obsessive hobby such as stamp or butterfly collecting (extra points if you specialize in stamps with pictures of butterflies).
Or (my personal favourite due to budgetary constraints) sleep and practice dreaming.

[Shakes]

Originally Posted by Snerky Snerk

I think I recall reading an article in The New Scientist about a woman (IIRC) who had a leprechaun following her around everywhere. She wasn't 'crazy', because she knew he wasn't real, and he wasn't causing any trouble - he just followed her around. I won't bother trying to find any cites or further info for that unless it is of any interest to you. I don't remember what it was that caused him to appear, but the little dude was a hallucination, just not a drug induced one.

Is the easy answer just to tell you to go to Disneyland?

One of my favorite fringe theories (Which I know wouldn't stand up to scrutiny) is that people with ‎Schizophrenia are stuck between two realities. Ours and some other reality. And it's the being able to observe both is what drives them crazy.

If you could find a way to push them completely into either one, they would be fine. Because who knows, maybe in that other world it's perfectly normal to have your own personal leprechaun following you around.

[Siam Sam]

Audition for Barney & Friends?

[DrFidelius]

Originally Posted by ac05

Is there an activity where I won't be seeing my own surroundings, but rather another universe/world/reality instead?

Wait - you're a film major, aren't you? You were fishing for a "Go to the movies" answer, right?

[Darth Panda]

Try staying up for like 40 hours playing video games and then fall asleep - in my experience, you're almost guaranteed to dream about it.

[AaronX]

The most serious and original answer I can think of is augmented reality. Or maybe geocaching. So you want to look at, say, a coffee shop, and see it's really a spaceship repair station?

[kayaker]

Mushrooms.

[Lanzy]

Brain damage? You have to be careful though as it might turn the brain off altogether.

[Leo Bloom]

Schizophrenia.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

[moderating]
I'm not sure quite where to put this, but it definitely isn't General Questions. I've moved it from GQ to MPSIMS.
[/moderating]

[rogerbox]

Originally Posted by kayaker

Mushrooms.

Mushrooms might cause small visual abberations but seeing another universe? Not in my experience.

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by rogerbox

Mushrooms might cause small visual abberations but seeing another universe? Not in my experience.

Depends on the specific 'shroom, your own "imagination", dose, and other drugs concurrently in the system. But I understand your point.

[tdn]

Originally Posted by DrFidelius

Wait - you're a film major, aren't you? You were fishing for a "Go to the movies" answer, right?

Whether he was fishing for that or not, it's probably the best answer to the question. We've all had the experience of being so immersed in a movie that we forget that we're sitting in a theatre.

It can take you to all sorts of fantastical worlds, it's relatively healthy (if you avoid the popcorn), it's pretty inexpensive, it's reliable and easily accessible, and it enables millionaires to give other millionaires gold statues.

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by AaronX

The most serious and original answer I can think of is augmented reality. Or maybe geocaching. So you want to look at, say, a coffee shop, and see it's really a spaceship repair station?

I think that's probably as close to a right answer as can be. Augmented reality could introduce illusory beings into your environment, or could map certain easily-recognisable objects as something else (say, change phone boxes into space rockets).

But any such system can't change so much as to put the user at risk - if it converts your reality into one where there are no cars visible, you'll get squished trying to cross the road.

[Zjestika]

Why?

[Ethilrist]

Find a golden ticket. It'll take you to a land of pure imagination.

[drewtwo99]

The Oculus Rift, coming out later this year I think, will be a VR system with head tracking and 3D full-field-of-view immersion. You'll be able to play some video games as if you were actually inside the game in many ways!

[PatriotGrrrl]

There are quite good virtual world servers - I recommend InWorldz.com. You could wear a head mounted display if you have one, but even on a flat computer screen, they are quite immersive.

If you like the concept, but aren't sure how to get started, I'll be glad to show you (or any dopers) around. It's free (if you like it you will probably buy extra content, but you don't have to).

[ac05]

Originally Posted by Zjestika

Why?

Because I'm bored. Best way to escape boredom is to escape reality. It's called escapism.

[ac05]

Originally Posted by AaronX

The most serious and original answer I can think of is augmented reality. Or maybe geocaching. So you want to look at, say, a coffee shop, and see it's really a spaceship repair station?

Close. Let's say I'm in the Sahara Desert, and all I see around me is a sandy surface (the ground, in other words), the clear blue sky, and the sun. Instead of a sandy surface, I want to see, for lack of a better example, a surface made from Munchkin bodies. Instead of a blue sky, I want to see maybe a green sky. Instead of a sun, I want to see (once again, for lack of a better example) a flying Bigfoot like creature. More like another world, or a fantasy world.

Originally Posted by drewtwo99

The Oculus Rift, coming out later this year I think, will be a VR system with head tracking and 3D full-field-of-view immersion. You'll be able to play some video games as if you were actually inside the game in many ways!

Full-field-of-view is the experience I'm looking for!

[Ranchoth]

Originally Posted by ac05

Because I'm bored. Best way to escape boredom is to escape reality. It's called escapism.

It's called a book.

[Eleusis]

Originally Posted by Darth Panda

Try staying up for like 40 hours playing video games and then fall asleep - in my experience, you're almost guaranteed to dream about it.

A good four or five hours on LSD playing Road Rash on a Sega Genesis, did that to me in 1992.

I think I probably had the same dream of being on a motorcycle, accelerating to stupid ridiculous 200mph+ speeds, and then crashing horrendously, maybe 100 times in one night.

Kinda sucked.

[Eleusis]

Grrr missed the 5 minute window....


ETA: of course, I was playing a motorcycle game named Road Rash. If you were tripping and playing a game with green skies and Munchkin bodies, then who knows? I know you said without drugs, but maybe the drugs aren't the other universe, maybe it's in the subsequent dreams. So maybe they still count. Heh.

[gnoitall]

Which is good.

But the tagline worries me.

Originally Posted by Threadspotting

Calgon, take me away!

Is some mod advocating the use of bath salts to escape reality?

[Morbo]

Well I haven't seen it mentioned yet. For me, when it comes to immersing yourself in a totally alien world, nothing comes close to scuba diving.

[antechinus]

A pair of glasses that impose an artificial rendering over the external world. Mine are configured to insert random glimpses of fantasy creatures. You can download stories to overlay and interact with your reality, like a Heinlein novel. That is a bit freaky though - nearly ran in front of a bus running to escape a demented pixie. Best just skinning the real world without the critters. I like an iridescent sky with light blue clouds, metallic gold roads and concrete with jewel encrusted buildings. These Eyes of the Overworld also use the google goggles app to give a head up display with information about the underworld that you live in.

[control-z]

Computer/video games are a good escape for me. Gritty crime drama (Grand Theft Auto IV), fantasy (Skyrim), other planets (Planetside 2), crazy puzzle worlds (Portal.)

[Blaster Master]

Without resulting to drugs, someone who is well practiced in meditation can have experiences somewhere between waking dreams and hallucinations. In a few cases, when I practiced it regularly, I had some experiences while meditating that were nearly indistinguishable from actual events. Similarly, if you have a well enough practiced imagination, reading, music, other arts or even simple day dreaming may work to some extent.

Other than those, you'll just have to result with technology, and there are some reasonable 3D types of technology these days and it's young enough that I'd expect it to improve fairly quickly in the coming years.

[cmyk]

You could build a Harmonic Universal Quantum Cosmological Oscillator, which would allow you to create a doorway to travel between the trillions of bubble universes branching off of ours every second.

You'll need plenty of aluminum foil, PVC tubing, at least eight microwave coils and access to millions of kilowatts of power. Oh, and an egg timer, don't forget the egg timer...