substitute: (phrenology head)
substitute ([personal profile] substitute) wrote2005-10-20 01:49 am

Insert open mind joke into this hole in my head. Please.

Tonight I was talking to [livejournal.com profile] nickjb about my problems finding non-insane commentary on neurofeedback, etc. and we got onto the topic of failed therapies. One of these is trepanation, otherwise known as making a hole in your skull. Ancient people did this, and sometimes survived it. Sometimes they probably even felt better.

Nick explained that there was a sixties thing where people started saying trepanation was hip and happening and it was touted for a while, and I didn't really believe him. Color me wrong. Color me also slightly nauseous (green).

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the International Trepanation Advocacy Group. Don't skip intro. The spacy Heavens Gate-quality film is worth a few minutes. One side effecdt of trepanation has already been identified: smooth jazz and trippy 3D rendered animation.

I know I'm mining a rich vein when their short film credits the Mutter Museum and the State Department of Health of Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

"Some of us are willing to present ourselves publicly so that the old stigma associated with making a hole in the skull will be worn down over time."

[identity profile] porcinea.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 12:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, and here's a great idea for you: *self* trepanation. Eeeeeep!

[identity profile] bruisedhips.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 01:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"intro narrated by Derek Zoolander"

also: "Seeking: Inventors and geniuses" :(

[identity profile] hepkitten.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 01:34 pm (UTC)(link)
whoa I was just talking about trepanation with regulate who had never heard of it before either. I can't for the life of me remember why we got on the subject tho.

[identity profile] sp0rk0.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 01:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow. What an interesting way to start my morning, that movie.

arrrrgh

[identity profile] leahleaf.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
i definitely have watched teh self-trepanation video, whether it was in some sort of wacky college class or on some sor tof discovery channel special i am not sure. argh argh argh

nutters

[identity profile] scromp.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 02:42 pm (UTC)(link)
May I add this idiot to the pile for consideration? Gross and squicky, but chock-filled with unintentional hilarity.

Oh, holes in the head

[identity profile] citizenx.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Not only is it a good way to mess yourself up by doing it wrong (too deep), but also using the wrong tools (cracking skull instead of merely making hole). But does that stop anyone? A little knowledge, &c &c.

Not that this is indicative of good research or anything, but one of the grim reapers in the now-cancelled television series "Dead Like Me" died from self-trepanation in the 60s. Good times.

re

[identity profile] alienhand.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, a subject I have researched before.

Unusual behavior fascinates me. I think they mention trepanning on bmezine.com

There is a video circulating around, don't knwo where you could find it, where a lady trepans herself. It's bloody, and very disturbing.


There might be something to this? We have evolved smaller cranio-facial structures. Hence wisdom teeth extraction.. perhaps some people's brains have evolved larger than the brain pan and skull. People who have done it describe a gurgling sound when the hole opens up, and a sudden feelign of relaxation and wellness.

[identity profile] salome-st-john.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 07:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey, in the credits there's something about an interview with Howard Stern. Now THAT is something I would love to hear.

[identity profile] salome-st-john.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow. I am very, very rarely squicked out but I gotta say, reading that made my stomach flip. And also: What a total tool.

[identity profile] eyeteeth.livejournal.com 2005-10-20 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
IAWTC, wholeheartedly. I write short stories wherein I play torture for laughs, and reading that made me have to lie down for a minute until the woozy feeling went away. I dunno, it's just something about home brain surgery, I guess!

[identity profile] leolo.livejournal.com 2005-10-21 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
The guy gave up marijuana and coffee and got the trepannation. And now he feels more alert, less grumpy in the morning. I wonder why.

Actually, no I don't.

[identity profile] scromp.livejournal.com 2005-10-21 12:58 pm (UTC)(link)
It is because of his pulsating infant brain!