04.29.08
Infrasound and the Religious Experience
I just read an article in the latest “Skeptic” magazine (Vol. 13 No. 4, 2008, pp. 24-31) in which the author suggests that paranormal experiences might easily be explained by infrasound. This type of sound carries a “relatively large amount of energy” but cannot be heard. Consequently, it can do stuff like make things vibrate or move without any readily apparent cause.
This type of sound can also affect the way humans feel. My high school physics teacher, Mr. Gibbs, talked about a certain decibel range that could cause heart attacks. Apparently these sounds can induce fear, euphoria, and a variety of other experiences–all without us knowing it. One woman in the experiment conducted by this scientist and his colleagues reported that she felt orgasmic when the infrasound machine was on. They should probably think about marketing that!
Aeron Watson and David Keating, among others, are now doing research into the effects of music on religious experience. Watson and Keating have shown that Scottish grave passages have an infrasonic frequency resonance that allows a 30cm drum to produce powerful low-frequency sounds. This is apparently true for large pipe organs as well. (31) Speaking of which, I saw an interesting German-language film several years ago in which an organist could make women orgasmic with his playing of the pipe organ. It was called “Brother of Sleep”. I would not recommend it.
And, so, science continues to probe the “mysteries” of religious and paranormal experience.
