A Sensed Presence
Posted: Saturday, April 03, 2010
by Jack H. Schick
I have an imaginary friend. When I'm in the California desert, his name is Pokey. He's a cowboy. He's not always the same "person." He's a different guy, wherever I am. Whoever he happens to be that day, we're totally different. We have different opinions and different personalities. There's always a competition between us. Sometimes he actually beats me at something. But, that doesn't matter. After all, it's just me. I win, either way, and I get sharpen my skills against 'the other guy.'
I like to bounce ideas off my imaginary friend, too (Not usually Pokey, though, he is a hick and isn't very bright). It gives me another perspective on things. We don't actually talk to each other, out loud anyway. I just try on his shoes once in a while; get his opinion. I've learned, over the years, that I don't see things quite right, sometimes. I can admit when I'm wrong, and Pokey, or whoever it is that day, have no problem pointing it out when I am.
Don't look at me like that! I'm not nuts! I'm not the only one with an imaginary friend. In his poem The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot says: "Who is the third who always walks beside you?/When I count; there are only you and I together/But when I look ahead up the white road/There is always another one walking beside you."
Eliot said he created the verse based on an experience described in a report from one of Shackleton's Antarctic expeditions. At the limit of their endurance, the party had the constant delusion that there was always an "extra member" who could not be counted. There was a universal Sensed Presence; a 'third man', an alien, an angel. That 'delusion' occurs often to people under conditions of darkness, barren landscapes, isolation, fatigue, injury or fear; and monotony (like playing a horse shoe tournament by yourself).
Psychologists call it the Sensed-presence Effect. They claim a cause can be found in the brain. They refer to hemispheres, temporal lobes, rational cortical control, mind schema, etc. People really can often sense when 'someone is there.' When it's in isolation, the brain creates an hallucination of a Presence. They say if you're sleep or oxygen deprived, control over emotion shuts down enabling inner voices and imaginary friends to arise. (That's silly. Pokey doesn't just arise. I go get him when it's time for horse shoes).
A person's physical 'sense of self' is called body schema. It's the image of the body the brain creates. Psychologists say "if for any reason your brain is tricked into thinking there is another you, it constructs a plausible explanation that the other you is actually another person." (I don't quite understand that either. I don't think I'm tricking my brain. It's just more fun when there's two of us).
Our mind schema is our psychological 'sense of self.' It coordinates myriad neural connections that are constantly working on 'problems' to get us through the day. It makes us feel like we are a single entity rather than a bunch of networks working independently. They say this left hemisphere "thing" is the brain's storyteller. It interprets input; makes sense out of things and creates a meaningful narrative story. If the right side of your brain decides you're going to get up and walk over there, it's the left side that 'makes up the story' that you're going to let the dog in. If it gets messed up from isolation, etc, you think there are two of you. The one you is walking over there, the other you is letting the dog in (I guess).
The fact that so many different things can make you sense "someone else" proves, according to psychologists, that the "Presence" is inside your head, not outside the body. (Inside my head!? Brilliant deduction, Sherlock! I don't actually see Pokey! He's just me in a cowboy hat, anyway. I throw every single horse shoe in every single game. I can tell by the way my shoulder feels the next day. I wonder how much grant money they got to come up with that one; telling me it's all in my head).
Psychologists seem to have no concept of spirit and soul, sometimes. The Mind is there, inside and outside of us every moment. You can sense the Presence. The 'Sensed-presence Effect' can't be created simply by the tangled neurons that go goofy. Just maybe the brain was created and evolved as a receptacle to house that Presence on this plain of reality. There is no limit to the manifestations of the Spirit. If I can't hold it all, it spills over and Pokey helps me enjoy it.
I guess we could debate it, ad nauseam; but, I don't have the time right now. I've got to conger up a friend to help me weed the gardens. Pokey's out in California, lounging in the hammock I suppose. I'll get somebody else. Sherman, from Pennsylvania is a pretty good worker, but he always gets blisters on my hands. If I stick at it long enough I'll get fatigued with the monotony, then maybe Larry from Wyoming will show up to help.
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More commentsI used to have a little friend named Guidey when I was about 4-5 years old - wonder whatever happened to her? Thanks for the enjoyable read, Jack.She's still there, in your head, absorbed in the Spirit.
"Some people hear voices ~ some see invisible people ~ others have no imagination whatsoever" ~ eat, drink and be merry ~ do stupid things faster with more energy. A great article, Jack, and certainly a way to explain away many of my embarrassing dumb-arse attacks. SuzyThanks for commenting
Alrighty then... :)Alrighty, then-back at ya.
Hmmm... I'd like to hear what Pokey has to say about this. :)Pokey's going to remain anonymous in this 'til he figures out what's going on. I talked to him about it, but he's not sure yet.
Aha! That's how you're able to churn out so many articles so quickly Jack- You get all your friends to help you! Well, my friend won't help me write at all- she's too lazy! or maybe she's a man- All she/he ever does is lecture me about something. Sometimes I get tired of it and tell her to shut the **** up! Okay,.... sometimes we get along well, and discuss things in a calm and rational manner- I think she is a she- she's pretty smart at times- smarter than I am, usually. keeps me out of a lot of trouble, and helps me figure things out. Now if I could just get her to start helping me write....You made me laugh. Thanks. When I sit down to do one I don't get up until the rough draft is done. A break and another hour or two editing and it's posted. When I'm not writing for here, I working on a research project and book for my "church"- The History of Richland Friends Meeting- Quakers. for our 300th anniversary. I also work full time. I guess I'm a little prolific. I've got no new ones in the works. something will hit me tomorrow. It's time for another. I look forward to your next one
Thank you for sharing this. Enjoyed it!Thanks for reading
High five again - thanks for your creative writing as always Jack!Thanks for reading- as always
Yes, I have a spiritual friend who helps me in my everyday activities. I believe most of these psychiatrist could use imaginary friends of their own.Thanks for reading
Great story, very funny and interesting! Good interweaving of interesting information and funny characters.Thanks for reading
You know, if we were all to just admit it, we all have a 'friend' that we talk to on occasion! I personally don't say it outloud because I don't care to be locked in a padded room with said friends!Great articleThanks for reading- a lot of people do. It's all in your head, though. You don't see the person, do you? Your Friend, Jack
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