Many specialists in the field of psychology and psychiatry use the knowledge that was received by one of the most famous American neurophysiologists. He studied the consciousness of dolphins, managed to enrich psychology with revolutionary methods of scientific research. Also in the course of his experiments, this scientist received very interesting scientific data. Who is this mysterious person?
D. Lilly - childhood
This is John Lilly, a physician, biophysicist, inventor and neuroscientist. He chose the study of states of consciousness as his main specialization. Lilly was born on January 6, 1915 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. For a long time he was a prominent representative of the counterculture and belonged to the same school as Ram Dass and Timothy Leary. When the boy was 10 years old, his parents, who were deeply religious Catholics, prepared him for service at the altar. John was a sickly boy, immersed in a world of his own thoughts and fantasies.
At first, he pleased his parents with successes in the difficult field of the future priest: the child diligently prayed, sang songs in the spiritual choir, attended divine services. However, Lilly soon realized that the church was not the place where he would like to see himself. After all, religious dogmas have always hamperedhuman freedom. John always tried to defend the right to his own opinion, and church life for him could not be combined with such a worldview. Parents, at the request of the boy, transferred him from a church school to an academic one.
Youth and interest in science
At the age of 13, Lilly began to show interest in various sciences. He was especially interested in chemistry. From this age, John begins to conduct various chemical experiments. After studying at St. Paul's Academy, he graduated from medical school in Dartmouth, and then from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1942 he received his doctorate in medical sciences. Until 1956, John Lilly taught at the same university. In parallel with teaching, she studies psychoanalytic theory and biophysics.
Sensory Deprivation Chamber
In 1954, Lilly first tested an insulating tank with which various sensory deprivation experiments could be carried out. The invention of this tank was the result of his increased interest in the study of human consciousness.
And the brave researcher conducted the first experiments on himself. It was after all the sensory deprivation tanks that made John Lilly famous. Now everyone can visit the procedure of sensory deprivation, which is called floating. However, not everyone knows who and when was the first inventor of the sensory deprivation chamber.
Exploring Mind Programming
Until 1968, Lilly worked as director of the Institute of Communications, the founder of which was himself. At this time, he was studying the features of the consciousness of dolphins. At this time, Lilly became addicted to drug use - LSD and ketamine. The results of this research were published in one of John Lilly's books, Programming and Metaprogramming of the Human Biocomputer.
In this work, Lilly calls every adult a pre-programmed biocomputer. Every adult programs himself and is able to program others. However, despite the variety of various programs, the choice in the hands of a person is always limited. Lilly believes that people inherited some programs from their predecessors - unicellular organisms that came out of the sea, sponges, corals, worms. The life program is transmitted through the genetic code.
As the nervous system and its size in a living being increases, programming becomes more and more complex. It is no longer reduced to solving issues of survival and reproduction of offspring. Lilly calls the human cerebral cortex a "new computer" that evolved to control and manage the lower brain regions.
When the size of the cerebral cortex reached a critical size a few million years ago, the ability to self-learn arose. The emergence of various disciplines - mathematics, physics, philosophy, art, etc. - is possible only if there is a cerebral cortex,size.
The rest of life
He combined his research on sensory deprivation with drug use. He was married three times, his last wife, Antonetta Oshman, died in 1996. John Lilly himself spent the last years of his life in the Hawaiian Islands. He died in 2001 in Los Angeles. Throughout his life, Lilly wrote 125 scientific papers in various fields. And research on the study of dolphins led to the fact that in 1972 in America a law was passed to protect the rights of this species of mammals.
Dolphin Research
The study of the dolphin's ability to communicate is reflected in the writings of John Lilly. "Dolphin Thinking", "Man and Dolphin" - these are his works in this area. However, other researchers have not confirmed the results of his experiments in the laboratory. For example, scientists have refuted the claim that dolphins can be taught the alphabet and words of the English language.
Once, when one of the dolphins was lowered into the pool, the animal hit its head and lost consciousness. The dolphin began to sink to the bottom. At this time, his comrades pushed the wounded animal to the surface of the water and held it until the dolphin could breathe normally again. After this incident, John Lilly concluded that dolphins are social animals, ready to help each other in a critical situation.
Other works by Lilly
Another of John Lilly's famous books is The Center of the Cyclone. Thiswork is the fruit of the search for the meaning of life, which took the author about 50 years. Studying the human brain, the work of consciousness in conditions of sensory deprivation and psychoanalysis, Lilly tried to find his own thread of truth. Also in the work, Lilly describes the results of her experiences with the use of narcotic substances - LSD and ketamine.
What other books by John Lilly might be of interest to fans of his unusual work? This is the work “Pair cyclone”, “Cyclone center. Grain to the mill. Many of them have not been translated into Russian, but may be of interest to those who speak English - Simulations of God, The deep self, The Scientist: A Novel Autobiography.
