Timeline for How can the stars be wrong, so that an observer realises they're not in our world anymore?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
22 events
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| Apr 10 at 18:16 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | @sh4dow There is no rule saying that a planet can't have dozens of small "star-sized" moons or exist in a solar system full of dozens of planets, dwarf planets, etc close enough to see. This goes back to the fact that almost any explanation, no matter how far fetched, is going to be more rational than being in another universe. | |
| Apr 10 at 16:50 | comment | added | sh4dow | @Nosajimiki no, on another planet you wouldn't see most stars moving randomly in the background. The few immobile ones wouldn't change the unnaturalness of the behavior of the rest. | |
| Apr 10 at 16:45 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | @sh4dow Then you're looking at the same criteria as just being on another planet. | |
| Apr 10 at 16:43 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 10 at 16:25 | comment | added | sh4dow | @Nosajimiki If the stars kept moving over multiple days of observation, everything else you looked at seemed perfectly normal and you didn't feel very tired/intoxicated/etc., you might discredit your hypothesis of hallucinations relatively quickly... Especially if you also noticed that some objects (moons, sun(s), perhaps planets) were not moving like the rest. | |
| Mar 29 at 20:09 | comment | added | Gray Sheep | That is right, that a very small change of the physical laws would cause instant death for us. Often quite a flashy one, for example a thousanth of change in the mass of the proton or neutron could make our deuterium content to explode like a nuclear bomb. But also an infinite types of change is possible which had no any interesting effect to us. | |
| Mar 27 at 14:10 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | there are even a number of optical illusions and somatic suggestions that can cause it in perfectly healthy individuals. Whether or not it is actually the most common hallucination I think is less relevant than the fact that it is a much more normal experience than being transported to another universe. I know I've personally been too tired, looked up at the night sky, and thought I've seen stars moving. The idea of it being a sign of interuniversal travel never crossed my mind. | |
| Mar 27 at 14:09 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | @LarsH I don't remember where I heard "most common". I've tried to research this further to either confirm or reject that statement, but as it turns out, it's practically impossible to say what the most common form of hallucination actually is because certain types of hallucinations can be caused by such a wide range of things that there is is no single body of work that covers it all. I can find things like how common it is on XYZ drug, or how common it is for certain kinds of emotional or physical trauma, or how common it is with specific mental disorders, | |
| Mar 27 at 13:19 | comment | added | LarsH | I see your point that some phenomena could specifically resemble known patterns of hallucination. Can you cite a reference for a description of pattern sliding? (I don't think it's the most common form of hallucination [ my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/… ], but that's a secondary point.) | |
| Mar 26 at 22:05 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 26 at 22:01 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | In contrast, things that you can physically feel and interact with are far more convincing. | |
| Mar 26 at 22:00 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | @LarsH Stars slowly moving in random directions would look like pattern sliding which is the most common form of hallucination. Non-schizotypal people can experience it for a wide range of reasons including various intoxicating substances, acute head trauma, sleep deprivation, stress, or prolonged isolation. Most people who experience it are quick to disbelieve that they are actually seeing movement. | |
| Mar 26 at 20:30 | comment | added | Mutoh | Upon noticing that the stars are moving randomly, what's preventing him from following the reasoning of "maybe hallucinations or a dream, but at that point, you've been in this place for way too long and thinking way too clearly for that to sound right"? | |
| Mar 26 at 20:20 | comment | added | LarsH | If "Clearly, I am hallucinating" is considered a more reasonable explanation than "I'm in an alternate universe," then no evidence of any sort (earth or sky) can lead to the latter conclusion. | |
| Mar 26 at 18:09 | comment | added | Matthew | Heh. I'm reminded of Wen Spencer's Elfhome. They're still on Earth; the stars haven't changed (except for oh so much less light pollution you can actually see them), but... is that a tree walking? That's odd, it looks like OH MY GOD IT JUST ATE BOB!! ("Bob" is made up. The walking, carnivorous trees genuine Elfhome natives.) | |
| Mar 26 at 15:09 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 25 at 19:23 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 25 at 19:14 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 25 at 17:36 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 25 at 17:29 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 25 at 17:18 | history | edited | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 25 at 17:09 | history | answered | Nosajimiki | CC BY-SA 4.0 |