The Zygon SuperMind brainwave synchronizer and its Behavioral MindScripts cassette tapes promised to fulfill virtually every human desire. You can learn a foreign language, become a better public speaker, fight disease, lose weight, quit smoking, experience the afterlife, and even turn into a whale. But…how?
The setup consisted of the Brainwave Synchronizer computer and the Light Pulse glasses, which you used with your own headphones and cassette player. Everything was connected to the Brain Synchronizer, which allowed you to choose from a list of programs designed to create specific brainwave states through a process called Brainwave Entrainment.
The entrainment process involved using a rhythm of external stimuli such as flickering lights, music or tactile stimuli that synchronized brain waves to induce a very specific mental state. The SuperMind claimed to be able to reach four different levels:
- Beta is measured at 14-16 cycles per second and is a conscious waking state.
- Alpha is 8-13 cps and is a relaxed but alert state.
- Theta is 4-8 cps and is related to creativity and dreams.
- And Delta, 0-4 cps, is the deepest stage of sleep.
So the Supermind is built to put your mind in the ideal state for its intended purpose. The programs ranged in duration from seven minutes for a Quick Charge of your mental sharpness to 60 minutes for Super Delta Meditation.
Sure, it sounds cool, but the dozens of lawsuits filed against SuperMind might give you an idea of its veracity. And while Zygon called it “dragging,” critics called it pseudoscience. Popular science host Kevin Leiber gave the SuperMind a spin and, well, he ended up feeling tortured.
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