# Are you the universe? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243 "2019-06-29T00:04:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/61 "2019-06-30T19:08:52Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Well I just heard it used a lot and wondered if they meant it literally or figuratively. Or if it is true. When there’s any doubt, the best rule of thumb is to take things people say completely literally. That rarely leads you astray. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/62 "2019-07-01T00:57:22Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > Buddhist and Hindu meditative practices both teach that superconscious states can be reached in extremely deep meditation. In such states dualities (matter/energy, sentient/insentient and any number of others, including time) disappear leaving the meditator experiencing himself as a timeless infinity. Maybe that’s what you heard. But such a sublimation of perception only arises in super-deep states of meditation. It’s just the perception of infinity, and it’s not super conscious it’s more like meditation alters blood flow to the area of the brain that regulates our sense of where our body ends and begins (not sure what the term is). Not super conscious or mystical, just science. It’s a feeling of infinity but that’s all. People on psychedelics say the same thing. I was thinking more like a scientific version. As far as I know the “no self” kind of makes sense, in that there isn’t a “soul” or essence to people or animals, it’s more like just a body and brain activity that we mistake for a unified whole. But even that doesn’t make sense. At that point it’s just one bit in a vast ocean, until death when everything breaks down. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/63 "2019-07-01T01:29:21Z")
My connection with the universe has been [well documented](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buqtdpuZxvk) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/64 "2019-07-01T02:31:30Z")
[I am he as you are he as you are me And we are all together](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8biImWLtaI) Goo goo g’joob ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/65 "2019-07-01T02:47:31Z")
Know what to kiss, and when. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/66 "2019-07-01T03:07:23Z")
You seriously need to get a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/67 "2019-07-01T03:14:05Z")
The answer to your question (indeed, all your questions) can be found [here](http://timecube.2enp.com/). ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/68 "2019-07-01T03:48:45Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Or if you drop acid. Yes, some psychedelics can roughly mimic the effects of very deep dhyana, but the effects are fleeting. Sustained dhyana leads to samadhi which is a persistent superconscious state - difficult or impossible to break out of. As different from an acid trip as seeing a person swim and actually swimming. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/69 "2019-07-01T03:50:32Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > It’s just the perception of infinity, and it’s not super conscious it’s more like meditation alters blood flow to the area of the brain that regulates our sense of where our body ends and begins (not sure what the term is). Not super conscious or mystical, just science. It’s a feeling of infinity but that’s all. People on psychedelics say the same thing. > > I was thinking more like a scientific version. As far as I know the “no self” kind of makes sense, in that there isn’t a “soul” or essence to people or animals, it’s more like just a body and brain activity that we mistake for a unified whole. But even that doesn’t make sense. At that point it’s just one bit in a vast ocean, until death when everything breaks down. OK, if you say so. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/70 "2019-07-01T04:41:51Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > Yes, some psychedelics can roughly mimic the effects of very deep dhyana, but the effects are fleeting. Sustained dhyana leads to samadhi which is a persistent superconscious state - difficult or impossible to break out of. As different from an acid trip as seeing a person swim and actually swimming. Reports seem to suggest otherwise. But there is nothing “Superconscious” about it. Like I said, it’s just brain chemistry not mystical or truthful. Meditation rewires the brain into such a state, and it can be stimulated with magnets in the lab as well. I’m sure the mystics of he past couldn’t have know that it was just the brain and not some true reality. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/71 "2019-07-01T12:26:48Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Reports seem to suggest otherwise. But there is nothing “Superconscious” about it. Like I said, it’s just brain chemistry not mystical or truthful. Meditation rewires the brain into such a state, and it can be stimulated with magnets in the lab as well. I’m sure the mystics of he past couldn’t have know that it was just the brain and not some true reality. Here’s something I never thought I’d hear myself say in response to one of your posts: I agree. :eek: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/72 "2019-07-01T18:36:48Z")
Maybe we could team up and be the world? (Dibs on the “wo wo wo” part.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/73 "2019-07-02T00:53:25Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Meditation rewires the brain into such a state, and it can be stimulated with magnets in the lab as well. Magnets to stimulate rewiring the brain? Does every person who’s ever had an MRI done on their head know this? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/74 "2019-07-02T00:57:40Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Meditation rewires the brain into such a state, **and it can be stimulated with magnets in the lab as well**. (bolding mine)Elaborate, please? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/75 "2019-07-02T00:59:47Z")
Yes and so’s my wife ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/76 "2019-07-02T03:47:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > (bolding mine)Elaborate, please? He probably means Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/77 "2019-07-02T04:13:53Z")
Machinaforce, let’s just settle this: are you a thing that measures many many trillions of miles wide? No? Then you are not the Universe. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/78 "2019-07-02T09:02:14Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Machinaforce, let’s just settle this: are you a thing that measures many many trillions of miles wide? No? Then you are not the Universe. Machinaforce did not ask if he is the Universe. He asked if I am the Universe. I am not. Sorry, I thought I had made that clear. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/79 "2019-07-02T09:27:04Z")
Boy, have I been missing out on life! All I need is a lab magnet and some accurate trans-cranial stimulation and all my problems would be toast. I can envision a society where everyone wears a magnetic hat that constantly screws with the brain. A happy, happy society. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243/80 "2019-07-02T11:26:50Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > Boy, have I been missing out on life! All I need is a lab magnet and some accurate trans-cranial stimulation and all my problems would be toast. I can envision a society where everyone wears a magnetic hat that constantly screws with the brain. A happy, happy society. Joy joy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-the-universe/836243.md?page=5)