The Power Of Mind
Your brain is lying to you.
Don’t believe me? Let’s do an experiment. Touch your right index finger to your nose. You feel the contact in both your nose and finger at the same time, right? But the signal from your nose reaches your brain first, because the distance along the nerves is shorter. Your brain feels both sensations at two different times, and then lies to you to make them feel simultaneous.
In every moment, our brains create the world we experience. When it all goes right, we don’t even notice. When it goes wrong, it demonstrates what slaves we are to the grey matter living in our skulls.
For this prompt, we want you to consider the consequences of a mind gone amok. Less so in a “creepy serial killer” sort of way, but in a psychological “losing control over self” kind of way. To get you started, here’s a short list of ways in which the mind plays tricks on itself:
- Placebo/Nocebo— If you expect a medicine to make you feel better, it will, even if you’re just taking a sugar pill. Conversely, if you think it will have horrible side effects, it will.
- Confabulated Memories — Memories are not like files stored on a hard drive, but rather a dreamlike recreation of events based on how you felt in each moment. The more imaginative among us can create realities that never existed, especially when guided by hypnotists (the “Satanic Panic” of the 80’s, alien abductions, etc.)
- Pareidolia — Our brains are experts at finding patterns, so much so that we create meaning out of static if it fits our expectations. Do you see a face in this beer glass? That’s the effect of pareidolia.
- Alien Hand Syndrome — Certain types of brain damage can cause this syndrome, in which one hand starts to behave according to its own whims. Sometimes the effects are comical, like one hand trying to put on pants when the other isn’t ready to get dressed. Other times it’s not so funny…
- Phantom Limb Syndrome — Whether a therapeutic necessity or a tragic injury, the loss of a limb is always a psychological shock. So much so that the brain continues to insist the limb is there, creating sensations that can’t possibly be real.
The Challenge
Submissions
If you use this prompt, please copy its link to the bottom of your story so the editors know you found it inspirational.
— Should be 2,500 words or less (if your story is extraordinary, we might accept longer)
— Can be Poetry, Flash Fiction, Short Story, and Experimental forms
— May be genres: Horror, Scifi, Weird, New Weird, Fantasy, Romance, etc., but should match the dark & weird theme in some way.
— Entries will be published between October 19th-31st. Submissions accepted through October 22nd.
For more details on submission, visit our announcement page, and utilize the Submission form found there.
