Wordie: Phosphenes: Comments

Comment by reesetee, 8 months ago

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:03:52 +0000

Heehee.

Comment by uselessness, 8 months ago

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:33:54 +0000

I just love that my villainous ways are slowly taking over Wordie like a virus. A really, really awesome virus.

Comment by Treeseed, 8 months ago

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:11:04 +0000

Thanks, but I'll pass on any further eyeball squashing. Once I tried LSD it kind of spoiled phosphenes for me.

Comment by reesetee, 8 months ago

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:55:13 +0000

Sionnach, has uselessness been talking to you on the sly? Have you also joined the cult of ninja madeupical etymologists and/or piratical madeupical etymologists?

In any event, I'd like to distance myself from these madeupical comments (I favor my own madeupical comments, of course).

Treeseed, we're just joking. You want to squash your eyeballs, you go right ahead. :-) Skipvia, I was once eyeball squeamish too, but now I'm a happy contact lens wearer. Try the soft ones--they won't sever your optic nerve. (And if they did, think of the neat eyeball tricks you could do!)

Comment by sionnach, 8 months ago

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:45:11 +0000

linguimalar, eh? Is that like fissilingual?

I am shocked, shocked, shocked, I tell you, to think that anyone might believe for an instant that I was guilty of contributing madeupical facts or scientifically implausible theories to Wordie.

:-)

Remember, just because you may not be able to find documented cases of children perishing from phosgene poisoning subsequent to eyeball-squeezing doesn't mean it couldn't happen.

Comment by mollusque, 8 months ago

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:12:52 +0000

Love those linguimalar comments, sionnach!

Comment by Treeseed, 8 months ago

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:29:29 +0000

This is the result of an extremely curious and observant nature as a child...not something I do for kicks as an adult. I just remember that the progression of the phosphenes was usually the same, starting out with the op art images. I do, however, wonder to this day if other people see the same things.

Comment by skipvia, 8 months ago

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:04:49 +0000

Wait. People intentionally squeeze their eyeballs? I can't even stand the thought of touching them. I don't wear contacts because I'm afraid that they'll migrate around to the back, sever my optic nerves, and my eyeballs will fall out.

It happens, doesn't it?

Comment by sionnach, 8 months ago

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 04:42:40 +0000

There is a strong physiological and biochemical rationale for paying close attention to reesetee's warning. Many physiological effects are controlled at the biochemical level by a so-called phosphorylation switch, wherein phosphorus is added or deleted from a key catalyst in the chain of reactions leading to the effect.

Phosphene is just such a catalyst, which, if stressed beyond its natural stability envelope, (as might result from undue pressure on the eyeballs, for instance) is wont to undergo sudden dephosphorylation at the second phosphorus locus. This can prove fatal.

Since nature abhors a vacuum, the empty position is immediately filled by locally available nucleotides, primarily cytosine or guanine. Substitution of a cytosine in the second phosphorus location leads to the formation of the harmless compound PhosCene; however, guanine substitution causes formation of the highly toxic gas PhosGene, infamous since its use as a deadly nerve gas in the trenches of World War I.

Cases have been documented of children who, after squeezing on their eyeballs too hard, died from inhalation of the resulting phosgene gas that came out their eyeballs.

Just thought you might want to know.

Comment by reesetee, 8 months ago

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:36:21 +0000

I'd also highly recommend not squashing your eyeballs like that, op art or no.

Comment by Treeseed, 8 months ago

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:57:30 +0000

If you continually apply pressure to your eyes, the phosphenes change and become more complex. My pressure phosphenes start out with a grid of black and white op art squares scattered with sparkling starlike flecks of red, electric blue and green. This kind of hurts so I don't recommend doing it.

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:59:32 +0000

No, no, everyone does. Especially when someone's jumping on your eyeballs. Try it.

Comment by uselessness, about 1 year ago

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:42:20 +0000

There's a name for that? Even more importantly, I'm not the only one who sees them?! All these years I thought I had laser vision and could see into the nth dimension, and it's just phosphenes. Phooey.

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:54:34 +0000

Those sparkly lights you see when you close your eyes tightly. (They're actually caused by pressure on the eyeball, which stimulates the retina.)