Conference hydra::dejavu

    If you build one, be forewarned -- they require quite a bit of care
    to avoid becomming a breeding place for bacteria.  I'm sure that
    there *must* be a book about building and caring for one (though
    I don't specifically know of one).  If not you might check out books
    about the building and care of hot-tubs.
    
    Its been pretty substantially proven that expectations are a *very*
    powerful conditioner to what happens in sensory deprivation conditions.
    
    The following is probably at least 80% as effective and 1000 times
    easier/cheaper than a sensory deprivation tank.  By or make a
    white noise generator with earphones.  Take a ping-pong ball and
    cut it in half.  Put a low wattage bulb in a gooseneck lamp.
    Sit in a reclining chair, put the half ping-pong balls over your
    eyes, put on the headphones with the white noise playing, shine
    the lamp on your face from a reasonable distance but have the room
    otherwise dark.  Do relaxation exercises.  Obviously, you don't
    do it in the order I presented.  This is called "ganzfeld" and it
    has been used extensively in parapsychology to produce an altered
    state of consciousness which shows some evidence of being psi
    conducive.
    
    					Topher

    RE: .1
    
    What is white noise?
    
    DW

RE: .2
    
    White noise is sound in which all pitches are represented equally.
    In other words it is completely random noise.  It sounds roughly
    like a steam radiator.  Since it is constant at all pitches, and
    the senses tune out anything which is constant, it acts (very
    roughly) to turn off the ears.  In other words, after a minute
    or so you stop noticing it, but it still masks other sounds in
    the room.  Some people like to use white noise generators when
    they sleep or need to concentrate, and so you can buy them from
    various sources quite easily.  They are fairly easy to build
    if you have any electronic building skill.
    
    					Topher

    A book that describes the construction and care of a tank is "The
    deep self" by John Lilly. An alternative to building a white noise
    generator is to tune to a dead spot on your stereo.
    
    Paul

RE: .4
    
    Might work, but I would worry about faint cross-talk and frequent
    snaps, crackles and pops which would ruin the effect, especially
    for this purpose.
    
    				Topher

There is a place called the Aqua Retreat Center in the Boston area
that has the tanks described earlier.  I think it is in Brighton on 
Market St.

It is a nice facility.  I've gone there for other reasons. Never did
use the tank although I've thought of it.

- Howard

    These *Float Tanks* are all over Australia.  Actually my doctor
    has one in the surgery (but then my doctor is also a naturepath)
    and you can use it for $A25 per hour.
    
    There is also a guy that makes them for the whole of Aust just up
    the road from me.  
    
    Would anybody like me to find out if he knows of anybody in the
    UK or elsewhere that does make them.
    
    They are wonderful by the way - even if you just use them for
    relaxation although the doc has (often) fallen asleep at abut 10pm
    and woken up when the receptionist comes in in the morning!!
    
    BTW it does not look anything like William Hurt's in Altered States.
    This one is baby pink and has a small glass window in the top if
    you need it.
    
    ...dale

    Yes Dale, do find out if he knows anyone in the U.S.  I've always
    wanted to try one (and baby pink with a window on top sound like
    its just my speed_:-)

RE: .7
    
    You could put padding on your fingers to create a more thorough
    "white-out", but that's a pretty minor detail.  Normally, at least
    among the experimenters I have had contact with, that isn't done.
    Keep in mind that it has to be done without being hot and uncomfortable
    (you couldn't, for example, use gloves or bandages).  Also keep
    in mind that if you don't move your hands (and nothing moves against
    them) then you will stop feeling anything, anyway -- we sense changes
    of sensation not sensation itself.
    
    Another, somewhat elaborate devise to improve tactile non-stimulation
    is something called a "witches cradle".  I've never seen one, only
    heard them described.  Basically they are designed to suspend a
    person in midair comfortably so that they can move freely and not
    come in contact with anything.  My friends at the Psychophysical
    Research Foundation say that no detectably better results come from
    this device.
    
    What it comes down to is that the ping-pong balls alone do real
    well, and the white noise gets you as much as is practical without
    a full scale sensory deprivation tank.
    
    					Topher 

    re: .10
      
        Is (talking about tactile non-stimulation, of course) a "witches-
    cradle" similar to what Marilyn Chambers used in the movie "Behind
    the Green Door?"  
      
    Frederick
    (enter s*it-eating-grin here)
    

    re: 9
    
    Okay, have just rung.
    
    The company is in Denver "Float to Relax" on 733.0782.  They make
    them and you can find out where the nearest *tank* is.
    
    Enjoy, enjoy.
    
    ....dale