You mean that guy who couldn’t consciously see, but could name the pictures on flashcards at much better than chance frequencies? And they eventually talked him into trying to walk down a hall with obstacles in it and he did (but it took some significant effort for them to talk him into it)? I remember that, too—should have saved it. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t taken as any kind of delusion, though.
That’s blindsight. The memory (?) I have is of a man who was to all appearances perfectly conscious (while awake) and conducted himself in a perfectly sensible manner but reported feeling as if at every moment the world was dissolving into a dream-like morass, so that each moment was somehow disconnected from every other. He had no conscious access to his internal narrative, even though he carried out plans that he made, went to appointments, etc.
You’re not by any chance thinking of Peter Watts’s novel “Blindsight”, which has zombies as characters, are you?
reported feeling as if at every moment the world was dissolving into a dream-like morass, so that each moment was somehow disconnected from every other
No, I haven’t read Blindsight yet (it’s in my queue). Those other terms seem close, but unless I can find the actual account I seem to recall, my report should only have a negligible weight of evidence.
You mean that guy who couldn’t consciously see, but could name the pictures on flashcards at much better than chance frequencies? And they eventually talked him into trying to walk down a hall with obstacles in it and he did (but it took some significant effort for them to talk him into it)? I remember that, too—should have saved it. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t taken as any kind of delusion, though.
Blindsight is discussed in Consciousness Explained.
That’s blindsight. The memory (?) I have is of a man who was to all appearances perfectly conscious (while awake) and conducted himself in a perfectly sensible manner but reported feeling as if at every moment the world was dissolving into a dream-like morass, so that each moment was somehow disconnected from every other. He had no conscious access to his internal narrative, even though he carried out plans that he made, went to appointments, etc.
You’re not by any chance thinking of Peter Watts’s novel “Blindsight”, which has zombies as characters, are you?
That sounds like Depersonalization or Derealization.
No, I haven’t read Blindsight yet (it’s in my queue). Those other terms seem close, but unless I can find the actual account I seem to recall, my report should only have a negligible weight of evidence.