be afraid: binaural beats
Just reading a cyberscare, “won’t someone think of the children” article about binaural beats, called “idozers/idosers”:
We all know that music can alter your mood. Sad songs can make you cry. Upbeat songs may give you an energy boost. But can music create the same effects as illegal drugs?
This seems like a ridiculous question. But websites are targeting your children with so-called digital drugs. These are audio files designed to induce drug-like effects.
All your child needs is a music player and headphones.
First off, that opener sounds like the lead-in to a Fox News story and secondly this reminds me of an episode of the remake of The Outer Limits titled “Music of the Spheres” where kids were getting hooked on a form of music that gave euphoric effects, but that adults didn’t seem to be able to hear at all.
The article goes on to say that there’s no proof that these audio files actually do what they claim and I suspect it’s just another internet scam since the companies themselves say some people may be immune to the beats… yeah, right. I invite comments from the audio/bio geeks out there, but I’ll continue thinking that it’s a sign of alien life trying to communicate with our youth–and make a pretty penny in the process!
All I know is that I dare not drive or operate heavy machinery if “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” or anything by Jean-Michel Jarre is playing. 🙂
@Gilahi: Seriously! If I can’t pop 1 or 2 hours of Tangerine Dream at night, I’m not sure how I’d ever get to sleep! But I’m not addicted, I can stop any time I want!
I use binaural materials for meditation, etc. It’s not that far out there that you can get high off of them – but in terms of addiction? Absolutely non-destructive, even if you would have the truly peculiar wiring that would make it possible for you to get hooked via audio. No one is going to blow up their home mixing a binaural, and no one is stealing an Ipod for someone else’s tunes.
Whether this has creepy mind control implications, I don’t know, but I suspect it wouldn’t work very well via mass media if it did. Too many variations and possible abreactions.
Binaural beats are simply and I mean simply a frequency that resonates through into your skull and is used for relaxation and mediation. Those that create binaural beats in the frequency range of stimulated brainwave activity like I-doses…. that heighteneds brain activity through what is called entrainment just simply make one alert. If one allows there mind to feel like they are on drugs through the stimulation ….. that’s up to that individual….. I would be more concerned if my children were using a cell phone all the time…. those wave frequencies have reportedly cause brain tumors. So the air is polluted with what you can’t see and hear…. to me the cell phone is more addictive consciously than a binaural beat will ever be.
db
Fantastic post on binaural beats. I’ve had particularly exciting experiences while listening to different types of binaurals. I’ve found I’m greatly affected by binaurals that help in paying attention and preserving material. However, I suggest you be wary on a few of these commerical web sites. They come up with some outrageous statements. Binaural beats are not sorcery. They give good results, however you you will have to listen every week to really see any success.