By some strange coincidence, less than a week after posting this, I got another chance to observe the effects of being above the clouds. Technically, it was fog rather than clouds, but hiking up through and above fog has the same effect: in addition to creating the muted far-mode colors with fewer details that Josh mentions, it also enhances the impression of unusual height, by enabling my subconscious to imagine that the ground (or in this case ocean) beneath the clouds might be a half-mile below where I can see.
I wasn’t able to observe that I was more in far mode than on a typical hike. I’m pretty sure the unusual feelings were more along the lines of feeling high status, due to some correlation between being higher than my surroundings and being high status, or maybe due to the strategic advantage of having higher ground than any hostile forces. Or maybe just a feeling of accomplishment for having climbed so high.
At any rate, it feels quite good, and it seems similar to the effects from flying small aircraft.
By some strange coincidence, less than a week after posting this, I got another chance to observe the effects of being above the clouds. Technically, it was fog rather than clouds, but hiking up through and above fog has the same effect: in addition to creating the muted far-mode colors with fewer details that Josh mentions, it also enhances the impression of unusual height, by enabling my subconscious to imagine that the ground (or in this case ocean) beneath the clouds might be a half-mile below where I can see.
I wasn’t able to observe that I was more in far mode than on a typical hike. I’m pretty sure the unusual feelings were more along the lines of feeling high status, due to some correlation between being higher than my surroundings and being high status, or maybe due to the strategic advantage of having higher ground than any hostile forces. Or maybe just a feeling of accomplishment for having climbed so high.
At any rate, it feels quite good, and it seems similar to the effects from flying small aircraft.