Many specialists in the field of psychology and psychiatry use the knowledge that one of the most famous American neurophysiologists received. He studied the consciousness of dolphins, managed to enrich psychology with revolutionary methods of scientific research. Also in the process of his experiments, this scientist received very interesting scientific data. Who is this mysterious person?
D. Lilly - childhood
This is John Lilly - a doctor, biophysicist, inventor and neurophysiologist. His main specialization was the study of states of consciousness. Lilly was born on January 6, 1915 in the city of Saint-Paul, Minnesota. For a long time he was a bright 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 the 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 prayed diligently, performed songs in the spiritual choir, attended divine services. However, Lilly soon realized that the church is not the place where he would like to see himself. After all, religious dogma has always constrained human 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 age 13, Lilly began to show interest in various sciences. He was especially attracted to chemistry. From this age, John begins to conduct various chemical experiments. After studying at the Academy of St. Paul, he graduated from medical school in Dartmouth, and then - California Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1942 he received a doctorate in medical sciences. Until 1956, John Lilly taught at the same university. In parallel with teaching, he studies psychoanalytic theory and biophysics.
Sensory Deprivation Chamber
In 1954, Lilly first tested the isolation tank, with which it was possible to conduct various experiments on sensory deprivation. The invention of this reservoir was a consequence of his increased interest in the study of human consciousness.
And the brave researcher conducted the first experiments on himself. In the end, tanks for sensory deprivation and brought fame to John Lilly. 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 camera for sensory deprivation.
Learning Consciousness 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 characteristics of dolphin consciousness. At this time, Lilly became interested in the use of drugs - LSD and ketamine. The results of these studies 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 some programs people inherited from their predecessors - single-celled, sponges, corals, and worms that came out of the sea. The life program is transmitted through the genetic code.
As the living system's nervous system and its size increase, programming becomes more complex. It is no longer reduced to solving the issues of survival and reproduction of offspring. Lilly calls the human cerebral cortex a “new computer” that emerged in the process of evolution in order to control and control the lower brain regions.
When a few million years ago, the size of the cerebral cortex reached critical dimensions, the ability to learn self-taught. The emergence of various disciplines - mathematics, physics, philosophy, art, etc. - is possible only if the cerebral cortex has reached the desired size.
Rest of life
He combined his studies 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 has written 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 dolphin communication abilities is reflected in the writings of John Lilly. “Thinking of a dolphin”, “Man and a dolphin” - these are his works in this area. However, other researchers did not confirm the results of his experiments in the laboratory. For example, scientists have refuted the claim that dolphins can be taught the alphabet and English words.
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 companions pushed the wounded animal to the surface of the water and held until the dolphin was able to 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 of Lilly
Another of John Lilly's famous books is The Cyclone Center. This work is the fruit of a 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 thread of truth. Also in the work, Lilly describes the results of her experiments on the use of narcotic substances - LSD and ketamine.
What other books by John Lilly may interest fans of his unusual work? This is the work “Paired cyclone”, “Cyclone center. Grain to the mill. " Many of them are not translated into Russian, but may be of interest to those who speak English - Simulations of God, The deep self, The Scientist: A Novel Autobiography.