anyone had a brain scan while having a tulpa?

[Guest]

Someone suggest a eeg related tool (do some research, not just, oh look what google barfed up on amazon) under a grand-ish, that's somewhat supported by science, then tell me what to do, and i'll do it, no joke.

[Ido]

Hmm, I really don't recommend wasting your time and money on any of these devices unless you have too much of both or really know what you are doing. Also it's not wise to jump into a dark pool heads on.

Ask yourself first: Which specific question do you seek to answer and how much time and money are you willing to dedicate? The most important part of any research is to come up with a good plan beforehand.

These toys will probably, and that's astonishing enough, reveal differences in your brain activity between forcing and unrelated activities. Duh. But are you willing to spend some hundred bucks on that? I wouldn't

allow it

.

 

But the really interesting questions are on an entirely different level and I am not even sure if they could be answered even with a research-grade EEG. Probably rather a case for fMRI.

 

For example - is there a significant difference in brain activity between:

.)host performing a task vs. tulpa performing the same task (one at a time while one remains inactive)

.)host and tulpa performing the same task together vs. one doing it alone

.)host and tulpa performing different tasks (parallel processing) vs. the above

.)host visualizing something / interacting with the wonderland vs. tulpa being active

.)host interacting with a spontaneously made up NPC versus tulpa

 

But if you are really interested you need to become proficient in this field by yourself. I mean it's your time and money after all. We've had the discussion before some years ago and it did not end well. Some members put quite a lot of effort into this and got no usable results, others made bold statements without ever presenting proof, getting really mad at us when we pointed that out.

 

No idea what's on the market nowadays and I can't let my host spend hours to dig through the net for this, sorry. If you come up with something we can give it a look here but that's absolutely not our field of research so not sure how much we can help in the end. I'm sure we have people with more insight into this topic in this forum. I hope. I'd start at online neurofeedback and EEG communities, I am sure there are people willing to help, regarding both equipment and analysis.

 

Basically I see 2 viable options but that's just my 2cts:

1) get a simple and 'relatively' inexpensive toy and compensate its limitations with meticulous observation and lots and lots of replicates.

+ cheap, no tech knowledge needed

- limited use, probably can't answer most questions, needs lots of boring repetitions and extensive self-documentation from your side

 

2) become proficient in EEG tech and analysis and build your own device from parts that can be hooked up to a computer. There's a lot affordable but still not cheap electrodes and open-source material, free software as well. But you really need to know what you are doing for this or you won't get anywhere. You need a good plan before you even start.

+ high resolution, customizable, multi-use, can be used for various biofeedback experiments or games with your tulpa

-some assembly required, still expensive, needs lots of knowledge and effort from your side

 

Of course you could opt for a compromise, maybe some mid-range biofeedback device that works without much hassle? But as said, you need to do your own research. We'll be waiting for a few more years until something more usable pops up.

[Guest]

I don't have capacity to do anything but guinea pig and bankroll. I doubt anyone here will bother to do the rest tbh. MRI would be cool, imagine tracing different areas of the brain to different tulpas, that would do something for my personal hypothesis of 'multi consiousnesses. Of course, i can't switch reliably right now, so that's kinda out for a possible test at the moment.

[Ido]

Yeah well that's why we never get anywhere. This stuff is hard to do on your own and and it's even harder to get several people to work together in a reliable way.

Still if you wanna do it read up some forums, there's nothing else we could do for you anyway. Plus I really don't want to recommend you some expensive equipment I know nothing about myself.

 

Regarding fMRI we'll see if and what kind of results the study produces but I'm not too hyped. It's a powerful technique but that comes at a high price. Both financially and at the level of difficulties involved. There's a lot of controversy going on about fMRI research, and serious flaws in this technique are known for years. Some have been resolved, others are hard to come by. Additionally fMRI interpretation relies on complex algorithms (which are now known to have contained various errors) and a skillful operator to choose the right parameters. It's as much an art as science, that goes for many complex imaging techniques. But the biggest drawback is cost/time and this results in a very limited sample size meaning shitty statistics. Who can afford even 100 fMRI scans at the cost of almost a grand each? This is a general and huge problem in modern science. The most awesome machinery becomes useless if you can only afford to analyze a handful samples and have to rely on obscure computer models and your own intuition to interpret the enormous pile of data produced. You will get results. Very colorful images even. But what these really show and if any of it is truly representative and reproducible?

 

So regarding different tulpas, I'd expect very subtle differences and poor statistics due to tiny sample size. Meaning results that have to be taken with several grains of salt - as always. But let's wait and see. I'd be satisfied if we see any results from that ongoing study at all.

[Dreamer13]

Going for scan in a month or two. Will report results