Out of Body: Reality or Fiction?

Have you heard of people having out-of-body experiences? The notion that “you” were not in your body, but somewhere outside?

The “you” in this case being the consciousness that you experience?

It surprised me to learn that out-of-body experiences are not just esoteric concepts.

They are actual phenomena.

An OBE feels like your consciousness has left your body.

People report floating above themselves, seeing their body from a distance, or travelling across space without moving physically.

It sounds unreal. But some researchers have shown that the brain can create this illusion under specific conditions.

One of the most famous scientists in this field is Olaf Blanke. His experiments at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have revealed how the brain constructs the sense of self.

Using virtual reality and electrical stimulation of the brain Blanke could trigger such an experience in the lab.

When he stimulated this area, people reported leaving their body and seeing themselves from above.

So why does this happen?

Your brain constantly integrates signals from your body. Skin, muscles, eyes to tell you where you are.

This is called bodily self-consciousness.

When there’s a conflict in those signals, your brain gets confused. That’s when an out-of-body experience can occur.

In experiments, even altering the timing of visual and touch feedback can trick your brain into thinking it’s somewhere else.

People who have experienced trauma, seizures, or near-death states also report such experiences.

These states may disrupt the brain’s processing of body signals, similar to what Blanke created artificially.

What does this tell us?

That the feeling of being inside your body is not fixed. It’s a construction. It can be changed. Being conscious is more fluid than we think.

Out-of-body experiences are genuine. Science is catching up with what mystics have long described.

You may never look at yourself the same way again.

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