Why is it that when I rub my eyes I see psychedelic op-art patterns? Could it be the result of too many grueling hours in art-history classes? –Jackie Russow, Chicago
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You’d probably guess the patterns vary with the individual, but they don’t. In 1942 University of Chicago researcher Heinrich Kluver pointed out there are just four basic patterns: (1) grating, lattice, fretwork, filigree, honeycomb, or chessboard; (2) cobweb; (3) tunnel, funnel, alley, cone, or vessel; and (4) spiral. Heinrich noticed the patterns while hallucinating on mescaline–you know what party animals those U. of C. guys are–but they can be triggered by everything from migraine to hand pressure to petit mal epilepsy.
British psychologist Susan Blackmore has proposed that since there are more cortical nerve cells representing the center of the visual field than the edges, random firing will produce a “floating toward a light at the end of the tunnel” effect. This is commonly seen in near-death experiences, a topic we have discussed in the past. Checkerboards and honeycombs they’re still working on; we can’t rule out the possibility that it all comes from staring at the back of too many Rice Chex boxes on too many bleary mornings. But more likely it reflects some physiological characteristic of the brain.
But we’re not talking candy cigarettes here. Kreteks produce more tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide than ordinary cigarettes. Little research has been done on eugenol, the active ingredient in clove cigarettes, but there is reason to believe it promotes lung infections or allergic reactions in vulnerable individuals. One of the two clove fatalities involved somebody with a cold; the other victim had a history of severe allergies. Part of the original appeal of clove cigarettes was that they were healthier than the all-tobacco variety; clearly that’s not the case.
