Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

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StroppyChops
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Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

Post by StroppyChops »

So, this happened...
Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them
Ed Annunziata, the creator of Sega’s Ecco the Dolphin series, once tweeted that while he himself has never taken LSD, he did draw inspiration from the work of neuroscientist John C. Lilly when conceptualizing his cosmic cetaceans. Back in the 1960s, Lilly ran a NASA-funded research unit where humans attempted to communicate with dolphins. Somewhere along the line, LSD got thrown into the mix, a researcher became sexually involved with a dolphin, and things generally got a bit weird.

Read the story here...
Spoiler:
It didn't work, but a lot of other crazy stuff happened.
Bodge: This ain't Kansas, and the neighbours ate Toto!
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Re: Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

Post by ExPenhMan »

Whether cyberpunk author Williams Gibson knew about this or not, his short story Johnny Mnemonic featured a retired US Navy dolphin cybernetically enhanced to deactivate mines. Johnny gets help from the drug-addicted dolphin named Jones to break into his mind and scavenge data. Cool story.
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Re: Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

Post by cptrelentless »

They'd just squeak a load of incoherent nonsense when they were high. Eeek-eek-eek-clickety-click, there's a giant starfish crawling up your face.
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Re: Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

Post by John Bingham »

I read Dr. John C. Lilly's book "The Scientist" back in the 90s. It was a very strange read to put it mildly. It starts off with his experiments implanting electrodes into monkey's brains, with x-ray illustrations included. Then he gets into dolphin study, LSD and sensorary deprivation tanks (he invented these). He then starts experimenting with ketamine, and things really take off from there. He injects, or gets an assistant to inject, increasing doses while in the tank. Eventually his family had him sectioned and put in a psychiatric facility. The movie "Altered States" was based on him.
The weirdest thing about the book is the journeys/ trips he describes. He basically ends up in another dimension and meets these "light beings" who tell him of the conflict in the universe, between water-based biological life and a malevolent hardware/ computer-based force. The malevolent force sometimes depends on the biological one for development , and other times comes from other galaxies. Once the malevolent force is up and running, it at first uses the other as a resource, but once it has reached a certain stage it is not dependent so tries to jettison the oxygen, water etc that can sustain life. This is because chips/ hardware survive well without the corrosive effects of oxygen.
It's a very strange read but recommended. I don't believe it myself particularly but it has an interesting crossover with other narratives, the Terminator scenario is probably the best known.
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Re: Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

Post by Duncan »

StroppyChops wrote: Tue Jun 13, 2017 6:19 pm So, this happened...
Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them
Ed Annunziata, the creator of Sega’s Ecco the Dolphin series,

once tweeted that while he himself has never taken LSD,

he did draw inspiration from the work of neuroscientist John C. Lilly when conceptualizing his cosmic cetaceans. Back in the 1960s, Lilly ran a NASA-funded research unit where humans attempted to communicate with dolphins. Somewhere along the line, LSD got thrown into the mix, a researcher became sexually involved with a dolphin, and things generally got a bit weird.

Read the story here...
Spoiler:
It didn't work, but a lot of other crazy stuff happened.
It's easy to see where these experiments start to go wrong. I guess if your in the right frame of mind , there's nothing wrong with having sex with a mermaid that says eek eek eek click click click.
Cambodia,,,, Don't fall in love with her.
Like the spoilt child she is, she will not be happy till she destroys herself from within and breaks your heart.
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vladimir
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Re: Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

Post by vladimir »

Was the researcher a flipper?

Look, obviously the guy was drunk and he took on that bottle-nose, he never did it on porpoise
Last edited by vladimir on Tue Jun 13, 2017 8:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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StroppyChops
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Re: Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

Post by StroppyChops »

Who's old enough to remember?

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Re: Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

Post by vladimir »

Sadly, I am.
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Re: Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

Post by Cruisemonkey »

StroppyChops wrote: Tue Jun 13, 2017 8:13 pm Who's old enough to remember?



I am! That's the first time I've seen it in colour.
You could be next.
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Re: Scientists Once Gave LSD To Dolphins In The Hope Of Learning To Communicate With Them

Post by StroppyChops »

Cruisemonkey wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2017 8:09 pm
StroppyChops wrote: Tue Jun 13, 2017 8:13 pm Who's old enough to remember?



I am! That's the first time I've seen it in colour.
Me too, come to think of it. I wonder if there are colour versions of Skippy? Speaking of, it turns out all the action shots with Skippy used a dead and stuffed kangaroo.
Bodge: This ain't Kansas, and the neighbours ate Toto!
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