Another thing to consider is the fact that being tired, or “half-asleep”, or in that twilight state one might manage to maintain when getting up to use the restroom or fetch water at night, is different from being in a state of normal waking consciousness.
Even if the skeptics attempting to spend the night in the “haunted” house don’t plan on actually sleeping, unless they’re already night-shift workers or have otherwise pre-configured their body clocks so that they’ll be awake all night, they are likely to at some point during the night start suffering impaired judgment. I suspect that the nearer a person gets physiologically to a state where their brain might initiate dreaming, the more difficult it becomes to maintain rationality.
I’ve noticed that when I get up at night after having been asleep, even in my own familiar apartment, I have a type and level of wariness that is not present during my normal waking conscious state. E.g., I find myself reluctant to stare into mirrors or peer behind the shower curtain, or look out the window, and I also find myself practically running back to bed after getting up because of an unnerving feeling that something might “get” me and that somehow being under the covers will make me “safe”.
Having done a fair bit of brainhacking in my life, I am now at the point where when I’m in this state I can recognize it as “that nighttime thing” and not take it too seriously, but it nevertheless continues to affect my behavior a little. I am curious now about whether it might be interesting to try getting up in the middle of the night and forcing myself to do all the things that make me jumpy, and whether this might be the sort of pre-exercise that might help someone stay in a “haunted” house overnight (presuming for the moment that we are not talking about a house that harbors escaped murderers or rabid squirrels).
You’re probably right, but this is a workaround around the question. In law school, they’d accuse you of fighting the hypothetical. You’re in the least convenient possible world here: you’re wide awake, 100%, for the entire relevant duration.
Another thing to consider is the fact that being tired, or “half-asleep”, or in that twilight state one might manage to maintain when getting up to use the restroom or fetch water at night, is different from being in a state of normal waking consciousness.
Even if the skeptics attempting to spend the night in the “haunted” house don’t plan on actually sleeping, unless they’re already night-shift workers or have otherwise pre-configured their body clocks so that they’ll be awake all night, they are likely to at some point during the night start suffering impaired judgment. I suspect that the nearer a person gets physiologically to a state where their brain might initiate dreaming, the more difficult it becomes to maintain rationality.
I’ve noticed that when I get up at night after having been asleep, even in my own familiar apartment, I have a type and level of wariness that is not present during my normal waking conscious state. E.g., I find myself reluctant to stare into mirrors or peer behind the shower curtain, or look out the window, and I also find myself practically running back to bed after getting up because of an unnerving feeling that something might “get” me and that somehow being under the covers will make me “safe”.
Having done a fair bit of brainhacking in my life, I am now at the point where when I’m in this state I can recognize it as “that nighttime thing” and not take it too seriously, but it nevertheless continues to affect my behavior a little. I am curious now about whether it might be interesting to try getting up in the middle of the night and forcing myself to do all the things that make me jumpy, and whether this might be the sort of pre-exercise that might help someone stay in a “haunted” house overnight (presuming for the moment that we are not talking about a house that harbors escaped murderers or rabid squirrels).
You’re probably right, but this is a workaround around the question. In law school, they’d accuse you of fighting the hypothetical. You’re in the least convenient possible world here: you’re wide awake, 100%, for the entire relevant duration.
http://lesswrong.com/lw/2k/the_least_convenient_possible_world/
Test comment, ignore.
Test comment, ignore.