Viewing humans from an alien's/animal's point of view

[zagzig]

Closest I've come to what you're describing is feeling like I was "just another animal", (i.e. distinction between human and animal was blurred) from a reasonable dose of ketamine.

 

[pseudononamouse]

You can't do that exactly, but you can certainly empathize with the emotions of both humans and animals. Obviously it is easier with humans due to the similarities, but surely you can also tell when animals feel things like excitement, hunger, or pain. 100% understanding is not needed, as long as you understand that your observations are subjectively based and therefore possibly misinterpreted due to unseen circumstances.

Good point. It is useful to attempt to understand their perspective, but you still cannot completely know how their minds work.

 

[mark9h]

one experience i had when looking at humans in primitave ways or looking from alien perspective is sports..
sports show humans in their primal, more instinctive ways (in some ways).
there are many aspects of sports which make them more complicated, but usually the main objective can be interpreted in the same way.
soccer for example, each team "fights" over the ball to try and get it in the other teams net...
sports like football also, each team trys to run the ball into the other teams end zone, using physical contact to do so..

i had this conversation with a mate whilst he was tripping. i was also tripping somewhat (mdma+lots of weed).

 

[Eldaren]

Yep.

It's like watching a sport that you don't understand. Shit doesn't make sense if you don't know the rules.

I imagine an alien species with technology capable of space travel would immediately recognise out technological capabilities and obviously the cognitive ability that accompanies that, and would first try to discern what our rules may or may not be, and how smart/dangerous we might be, before any further approach is made.

If I want to watch people without rules and preconception, I think some sort of wild animal or a cat or something is your best bet. Some girls I know have 4 cats at their place, and I greatly enjoy watching their reactions to different people when I'm tripping. They are some fucking weird ass cats.

 

[busted bones]

I have an experience like this almost anytime Im on a high dose of Shrooms or Acid. Once you get into ego dissolution(death) and you completely remove the idea of self thats when this happens. You have to understand though that its not always the most enjoyable way to trip and getting to the ego dissolution can be a long and difficult road. Its not easily forced and seems to happen when you dont expect it or fight it

 

[fright&hatred]

This is very accurate to how I view everyday life after one interesting experience about 1-2 months ago which involved both DMT and nitrous oxide administered at the same time. I had a very vivid trip to hyperspace, but it wasn't until I returned that it continued to dissolve my ego completely and became off-par with my other trips. Each body part individually throbbed or went cold or became numb or felt "dead" (like as if it fell of, sort of like the opposite of phantom limb syndrome) as well as the feeling of my teeth falling out, defecating myself, and strange pains in my guts. I had this sense that my "soul" or "inner self" had been ripped from my body and replaced with another from hyperspace. I exclaimed to my tripsitting friends in a fit of amazement and explained as much as I could while it was still fresh in my mind. I had this energy I kept feeling try to pull me in every direction as I stated how limited this body in this world is compared to hyperspace. Everyone in the room went from persons with names, features, and personalities to primitive homo sapiens as if just another animal living on this planet.
Now, every time I dose on LSD, this feeling becomes overwhelmingly apparent, in a good sense of course. I experience complete connectedness to nature as if Earth is one big organism itself.

 

[TheAppleCore]

Interesting thread. I missed it when it first appeared in 2010.

Psychedelics have definitely had the effect of allowing me to see human affairs from a "non-human" perspective. Especially DMT. I think it can be a useful tool for encouraging you to question your habits and assumptions.