Can this light make you high?

The original dream machine was a cardboard tube sitting on a record player with a light bulb hung inside.

Personally I think it triggers something like micro-seizures where random parts of the brain are getting triggered so you're experiencing a synesthetic rush of multiple sense-memories.

I'm kind of surprised that the BBC ran this; the stuff about the Pineal gland is usually a red flag indicating that it's newage.

1. http://briongysin.com/?category_name=dreamachine

No, I don't see any glowing 'SNAKE OIL' signs here, not at all.

That said, building a $8 DIY version sounds like fun. Does anyone have more details on how the light is supposed to work? :)

edit:

https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=30153 has some good discussion of this and similar projects. Specifically https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamachine, which is fully specified and was apparently pretty popular back in 2005: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/garden/20mach.html

As far as hardware goes, LEDs turn out to to easily support 10-30 flashes/sec. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/531 is $0.95, more than bright enough, and will work fine directly wired to a 3.3v arduino. I've ordered two (one for each eye) to be wired into an old sleep mask :p

(I can verify that the effect is real. It works better if you're already high, though.)

So I guess it's time for an article with the nicely recursive title: "Is Betteridge's Law true?"