Cannabis-Induced Shadow Voiding
On cannabis there is sometimes an effect that occurs during the night when I observe a light cast onto the environment. Usually the light is focused on some area and then darkness surrounds the light, as if a spotlight effect. While in the cannabis induced state, the darkness sometimes appears to be empty, as if my perception and reality simulation ceased with the darkness. As if all that exists is the area of light, surrounded by a void.
This effect may stem from similar perceptual problems that underlie object permanency failures in childhood. Object permanency is a phenomenon in which we can realize an object to exist when it ceases to be perceived, like when it moves behind a wall. Children do not have this sense and for them it is as if the object ceases to exist.
On cannabis, it may be that elements of conditioned or trained perception are turned off, resulting in a state more like the one before we learned about the world, essentially resembling infantile perception. We can call this specific cannabis-induced effect shadow voiding, which refers to the tendency for shadows to become experienced voids of existence.
Have you experienced this before? Please describe your experience in the comments! I’d also like to hear about other perceptual alterations that you’ve noticed personally. Help me collect other people’s experiences by sharing the post too :)