I’m curious about what (if any) basis in fact the following website’s product (called Shakti) has. Specifically, I wonder about the ability of such low power level EMF’s to affect the thoughts and perceptions of people so dramatically. Then again, i suppose the brain’s own electric field(s) aren’t all that strong to begin with.
I’m not looking for someone to steer me away from purchasing the product, as I do not intend to. I’m not looking for someone who will dismiss the website because of it’s clearly amateur production. I’m looking for someone who’s got a little more knowledge than myelf, a lowly 1st year Bio student taking 1st year psychology as an elective to tell me what they think (preferably know) about the content.
Inquisitively,
The device appears to be based on transcranial magnetic stimulation, which does have real medical value in the treatment of depression. There are also academic reports of TMS induced currents producing hallucinations, random memories, and alterations in problem solving skills.
However, the magnetic field required to produce these effects is on the order of 1 to 10 tesla. It takes a heavy duty pulsed power supply, and more coils than I see on the innerworlds device to achieve that sort of field strength.
The site owner is associated with Michael Persinger, the scientist who pioneered this sort of research (including, I believe, the discovery that magnetic pulses act like electroshock therapy and have an effect on depression.) Search on Persinger transcranial
On the other hand, some of Persinger’s discoveries are pretty controversial and even weird. That’s no problem, but on the other hand whenever someone is SELLING health devices based on brand new, untested research, your alarm bells should go off.
If the devices are real and not quackery, then they might very well be hazardous, and should only be sold to people who might know what they’re doing (such as hospitals and MDs).
If someone is trying to get money out of the general public by providing (unsafe?) medical equipment, even if it’s based on recent legit research, assume that money-motivated incompetence is a very strong possibility. Think of 1900 when x-ray machines were all the rage. They were real, not quackery. They were sold to the general public for all sorts of crazy uses. Were they hazardous? Nobody had the foggiest idea until years later. The companies selling x-ray equipment to the public obviously weren’t concerned with safety, or they wouldn’t have been in business.
What if large magnetic pulses aren’t needed? What if exotic waveforms do interesting things, and the coils-thing triggers seizures in a portion of their customers? Will they say “oops, we didn’t know, so it’s not our fault?” Yeah, right. At least a hospital would have you sign a release form that tells you that the treatment is new, experimental, and not yet widely tested so its level of safety is unknown. Does that website do this?
So I was at the hardware store today. The guy ahead of me at the register, once he got his change and receipt, pulled out his cell phone and started a call. Didn’t budge, didn’t pick up his bag on the counter. The clerk had to reach around him to get my stuff and use the hand scanner since his stuff was blocking the fixed one. Finally picked up his bag and started walking away about the time I was finished.
I am strongly inclined to believe that the cause of “cell phone stupidity” is the EM waves from the phone.
But I doubt there are waves that make you smarter.
When this TMS stuff first came out, I considered building one in my basement (using the same logical circuits that other fools use to justify building home tesla coils and such). At the time, a little research discouraged me from working on the project, as the power supply seemed just too daunting. With this new information, it may be time to give the project another look.
I heard from a guy who swears that a hunk of rare-earth supermagnet chucked in a hand drill will alter your brain state if spun fast and held near various spots on your head. (He said that a fairly large magnet stack was needed to achieve the effect, like over 1" diameter.) He was considering selling an enclosed version as a “getting high for free” device, but thought better of it.