This is the very last blog on Spook, but it's a good one. The grand finale. I'm finishing this book then I'm planning on starting The Time Traveler's Wife because I've kind of wanted to read that since 6th grade. My science teacher had a hardbound copy that sat on the shelf above her desk, and I must have stared at it a lot to still remember it so clearly. The Beaufort Wind Scale must have not totally captivated my attention....
What has been captivating my attention is Spook! It's excellent!! The newest installments (I just plowed right through and finished the last 80 odd pages) are all equally interesting, so I have to just do the highlights if I have any hopes of people reading this post and commenting. Actually, the whole commenting thing is freaking me out a little bit. I don't like it when people read my writing. Should I ever decide to write when I grow up, I will definitely use a pen name. Hmm, now I have to just think of one...
Anyhow, the first interesting tidbit is the theory that certain electromagnetic fields cause hallucinations. This makes me think of Lost, which makes me think of the whispers that they hallucinate on the island which is an electromagnetic anomaly which makes me think that I should consult Lostpedia to see if anyone else has this thought which just revealed to the entire world that I'm a flagrant, dorky Lost fan... These comments are going to kill me...
Wow, am I having trouble concentrating on my topic. This is incredible. Give Athena a couple days off from school and she freaks out. I'm one of those people who needs constant oppression or else I start referring to myself in the third person and chatting away madly about Lost. And don't even get me started on Mad Men, which is pretty much the best show ever.
The whole hallucination-in-electromagnetic-fields thing is interesting, because certain people are more susceptible to them. Meaning that some people sense a weirdness in the atmosphere better than others.... What if that's what a medium is? I've always wondered about extremely detailed scientific explanations. Does the fact that our universe started with the Big Bang signify that there is no God? Because we can explain the behavior of every entity by analyzing the tiniest part of its composition, does that not make its very existence a miracle? Does science explain things and take away the supernatural, or does it simply explain the supernatural? We should think of a new word for things that don't seem to be true. Supernatural is wrong, because what if talking to ghosts is natural...to some who can sense them in electromagnetic fields... Wow, where did Athena, the angry skeptic, go? You gotta love winter break.
My other favorite part of the last section of the book is the idea that the sensing of a ghost is due to infrasound. It's kind of similar to the electromagnetic abnormalities in a way (at least more closely related to that then ectoplasma for an example.) Infrasound is a real phenomenon. It's what whales and elephants use to communicate, and possibly tigers as well! Tigers use it for intimidation because it unsettles you. Ok, so here goes. First of all you have to hear the tiger growl and tell me if you feel something weird.
http://www.acoustics.org/press/145th/fig2.wav
I felt a little clench in my stomach (the infrasound comes after the initial audible roar) but that might have been the chemicals in Diet Coke burning through my stomach (I tried to quit it, I really did...) Then I played it for my brothers since one was incapacitated by a minor elective surgery and the other was incapacitated by Halo 3. The Halo player said he felt something, but he thought if might have been due to the game.
So yea, infrasound is a low frequency sound wave that can pool up in places with little ventilation and thick walls, such as [gasp] an old castle or crypt... Hmm, maybe we have an explanation for ghostly presences. Because infrasound causes you to feel unsettled, get it?
On another vein of thought, the idea sprouted to use high amounts of infrasound as a kind of weapon since:
“In strong doses, infrasound has been alleged to cause all manner of bodily unpleasantness: nausea, salivation, ‘extreme annoyance’, rapid pulse, vibrating visual field, ‘intolerable sensations in the chest’…”
And the list goes on. I have to include one of her jokes, because they're good.
“I used to have a neighbor who shoots high-decibel Eagles songs out his windows, causing nausea and extreme annoyance at a fraction of the cost. I’d have loved to get my hands on a retaliatory blaster.”
So, I HIGHLY recommend this book. It's good. Plain and simple. However, maybe it would be better for summer when you have time on your hands...
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3 comments:
Well Athena, that was quite tht blog post, I am assuming you really overestimated the 150 words norm. I actually don't get much of what you are trying to explain in your blog but it got me interested. And now I am just frusterated with myself with not understanding this whole "whale communication" thing. The reason your blog caught my attention however is because I recognized the author's name. Did she write another book called "Stiff" about dead people?
There, that is an approppriately lengthed comment in responce to your post. You are right. It is winter break getting to people.
Athena, I think you would have a better shot at getting people to comment (and not think you're crazy) if you left out the odd hypothetical questions and paragraph ramblings about pen names... Just a thought.
Your post makes me think about wether, eventually, everything will be explained by science and their will be no need for religion or belief of any kind. An interesting question to ponder.
I don't know if you're supposed to comment on your own blog, but I have to because I need to defend myself here.
Sahar-Yes, she also wrote Stiff, so that's why I read Spook. I can hardly explain the science in it since I barely understand it myself. I just read along and try to get the gist of what is going on without thinking too hard.
Aldis- That's just how I write. I refuse to be self-conscious about my rambling. I ramble. End of conversation. (See, I can stop rambling too if I really try.)
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