Mezmerizing Gameplay/Post Movie High

Hello there. I would just like to share some strange experiences that I have had and maybe get an insight on why they happened.

First:

I was playing Mario Kart when I was about 10 years old and I had started a race. Then I went into some sort of a trance and when I came out of it I had won the race. Not sure if it is anything unusual just wanted to know more about it.

Second: (I have had a couple of these experiences)

A couple times I have either been up late watching a movie at home, or at the theater but afterwards I feel very strange. Colors are more vibrant, sounds are amazing, and I come up with great ideas. It sounds like I am on drugs or something but...I was definately not. Anyone else have an experience like this?

What were some of the great ideas?

Sounds like altered states of reality to me

These can be accessed in a number of ways - meditation, drugs, breathing techniques and so on

I've been there a few times - very nice they are too

Here, check wikipedia for a quick definition and more info:

en.wikipedia.org...

[edit on 25/6/2006 by alienanderson]

Ahhh very cool. Yeah my experience was probabley causes by a mix of sleep deprivation and over the counter alergy pills...

As for the first point, its called getting in the zone. It's when your consciousness wanders off, and lets your subconscious take over. Its happens a lot to me when I play video games or sport. You feel like your not in control, and are playing much better than you would if you were trying. Have you ever heard the phrase 'You're trying too hard"? Top athletes refer to 'the zone' all the time. When you become aware of it, you fall out of the zone and back to your normal conscious abilities. Most people would have also experienced this while driving and talking at the same time. You have a conversation with someone else in the car, and then all of a sudden, you realise that you've driven a long distance without concentrating and you don't remember how you got there.

The second point is a bit different, and I don't have an explanation for it, other than that the movie over stimulates your senses (action movies especially) and when you come out and back to reality, they are still running on overdrive. I remember when I went to see the Matrix 1 with my friends when I was young. After the movie we felt like we could run up walls and dodge bullets just like Neo!
I guess your imagination makes you feel like your still in the movie after it ends.

Thanks for the expla- toasty. As for the movie...I know what your talking about and this experience was different. I remember wanting to be a ninja like the ninja turtles but not quite the same...

Ive had the same post movie experiences. Kind of hard to explain, but if you'
re feeling the same then its a "alive" type of feeling, but more, and different then other "alive" feelings.

Yeah, the "post-movie high". Been there. You get so caught up in the film it becomes a visceral experience. And sometimes it can take awhile to "come down". I think it's part of the reason we go.

On your other topic, here's an excellent book I'd recommend to anyone-

Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience

You have heard about how a musician loses herself in her music, how a painter becomes one with the process of painting. In work, sport, conversation or hobby, you have experienced, yourself, the suspension of time, the freedom of complete absorption in activity. This is "flow," an experience that is at once demanding and rewarding--an experience that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates is one of the most enjoyable and valuable experiences a person can have. The exhaustive case studies, controlled experiments and innumerable references to historical figures, philosophers and scientists through the ages prove Csikszentmihalyi's point that flow is a singularly productive and desirable state. But the implications for its application to society are what make the book revolutionary.

Great book.

arg...Thanks alot yeahright...give the first paragraph and now I need more. Make me spend money I could be using on food...

Originally posted by Hellfish
Make me spend money I could be using on food...

Library, bud. Check the library. I'd bet they'll have it. BTW, my previous post was from a review of the book, not the book itself.

Good luck.