Random thoughts

Deano

Ancient Mariner
Here is a thread to dump any random or deep thoughts you may be having at the time. They can, but do not have to, make sense. There doesn't need to be any kind of continuum to the dialog, break in with a gem if ever the fancy strikes you. Try to look at this as a way of taking out the garbage that is cluttering your brain. Onhell, I think you will find this thread EXTREMELY useful.  :D   To start:


I think the sleep deprivation method of torture is probably the most effective. I have never been on either end of torture, thankfully; but giving it some thought, I really believe being forced to stay awake for an unnatural amount of time would make anyone break eventually. The longest I ever had to stay awake was 40 hours straight. By the time I had reached 30 hours, I was having hallucinations and I believe I was probably babbling incoherently 75% of the time. Not only would have I likely told anyone anything by the end, I probably wouldn't even have realized I was doing it. To be subjected to this by forceful method and under a great deal of stress, I think would be very effective. This is also, at least physically, somewhat humane.


Mods: If you feel this would be a more appropriate topic in the madness forum, please feel free to move it.
 
I just want to note that I am on hour 26 right now and I am doing absolutely fine.

I declare this thread good.
 
Hallucinations can start as early as 24 hours of sleep deprivation. It usually starts with auditory hallucinations, i.e., you hear sounds and voices that only exist in your mind. Then comes the visual aspect, and you're quite likely to see pink elephants or talk to fairies in the woods.

I personally went once though some 52 or 54 hours (I can't remember exactly) without any sleep. It was... errr... an interesting experience that I'd rather not go through again.
 
I would have expected hallucinations to take longer than 40 hours of sleep deprivation to kick in?

It may have had something to do with food deprivation as well, I'm not sure............
 
The most I went without any napping was somewhere in the 45 hour range.  The last paragraphs of my monster paper were, apparently, both random and insane.  I still passed.
 
Graffiti sucks. I have never liked it but after this weekend I am so much more disappointed with it and the people that produce it than ever. It's easy to imagine that it is a huge American problem; and it is very prevalent here but I find it even more disappointing to see it in other nations of the world. I have seen it in Iraq and Afghanistan..... so much easier to destroy than create I guess.

I speak now, specifically, of my 2 days in France. I saw graffiti on statues and edifices that are centuries old and fine works of art. To witness this made my heart sink. I don't understand how someone could "tag" anything that someone else worked so hard to create but to do this to priceless works of art is even more heinous. There were even marks on trees.... I mean, come on! Is this shit really necessary?
 
Graffiti "tagging" is a revolting, I agree. But as an art, I am quite fond of.

My two favourite graffiti artists are Fafi and Banksy.
 
I'm torn on graffiti.  I think that it's a gorgeous artform when done properly, and is an excellent tool of political expression.  But as Deano said, to deface works of art?  Terrible and unnecessary.
 
LooseCannon said:
The most I went without any napping was somewhere in the 45 hour range.  The last paragraphs of my monster paper were, apparently, both random and insane.  I still passed.

Had some late nights with reports, yes ...

However, my longest period without proper sleep was about 60 hours. This was back in 2005 when I participated in a 540 km bicycle race. This race, from Trondheim to Oslo, is an event that draws approximately 1200 participants every year, ranging from half-professionals to people with a big mouth  :D Myself, I am closer to the big mouths than to the semi-pros and my bicycle isn't the best, so I finished in 33 hours 30 mins.

The start was Friday night at 00:00. I had tried to prepare by getting up earlier in the morning this week, in order to get some sleep in the afternoon before start. I did actually not get any sleep on Friday afternoon because I had to sort out a technical problem with my bicycle. This meant that when I started, I had already been up for 19 hours - that's more than usual for me.

After finishing on Sunday morning, I was picked up in the finish area by my father who had, fortunately, brought a big, soft pillow with him in the car. Went home to have dinner with my family before returning to Trondheim by train in the evening. I didn't get any sleep until having switched trains in Oslo (one hour from Fredrikstad where my family lives), by then it was 11 PM and I had not had proper sleep since Friday at 5 AM  :eek:

This is, to this day, the only time I've slept well on the train ...

As for the hallusinations, they started some time during Saturday night. I remember when cycling up a long hill, I started wondering why somebody were taking pictures all the time. I took the road lights for flashlights ... I also recall seing somebody standing by the roadside eating a banana. The only puzzling thing was that I had left this person behind several miles earlier and could not remember that he had gone past me ...

Now I really need to get in bed - nearly midnight now and I'm not ready for a new 60-hour  :)
 
For about a year (March 1994 to May 1995), I worked at a small bakery in Connecticut. When holidays rolled around, we regularly pulled 36-hour nonstop shifts to bake all the special-order cakes and pies. ("We" means myself and three other bakers.) Take Thanksgiving as an example...

We'd start Monday night at 6pm, work through all of Tuesday, and finish up early Wednesday morning so the order would be ready for customer pickup the on Wednesday (the day before the holiday).

Such shift were fueled by gallons and gallons of coffee, made strong enough to strip the paint from battleships. And at the conclusion, we'd be too tired to drive home safely, so everyone got picked up and taken home by a family member.

I don't remember any hallucinations - but we all got loopy with weariness, and conversations during the last 12 hours ranged from nonsensical to surreal.
 
LooseCannon said:
I'm stuck on this call and REALLY need to pee.

VodaWolph said:
This vegetable dip is really spicy

Posts like this will eventually lead to moving this thread to the Madness Forum, I'm afraid...
 
Maverick said:
Posts like this will eventually lead to moving this thread to the Madness Forum, I'm afraid...

I thought my story about cycling had already sent it there and was surprised to still find it here in GD ... because participating in something which is 540 km long and doesn't involve an engine is plain madness.
 
Maverick said:
Posts like this will eventually lead to moving this thread to the Madness Forum, I'm afraid...

Assuming that they become the norm?  Sure.  But then I can lead off with this:

I found a really interesting website with Stumble.  www.godisimaginary.com.  While I agree with the logical premise, what I mostly like about the website is the way in which it seeks not only to explain the logic behind trying to reason out no godiness, but also the reason why people (specifically Christians) rationalize the Bible.
 
Posts like this will eventually lead to moving this thread to the Madness Forum, I'm afraid...

Wherever it ends up is of no consequence I believe Mav. I almost started it there in the first place. My vision was of more deep and profound thoughts however, so I put it here. Hmmm, perhaps I should have named it "Deep and profound thoughts"........
 
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