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Are Next-Gen 'Binaural Beats' a Replacement for Recreational Drugs?

by Terrence O'Brien on August 11, 2008 at 06:12 PM

Binaural Beats: Digital Drugs?
Dim the lights, put on your headphones, sit back, and relax; we're going on a journey through the bizarre and controversial world of binaural beats. The concept is simple: When playing two slightly different low frequency tones, one to each ear, a pulsating middle tone will be perceived by the brain. This resulting rhythmic beat is thought to be able to alter physical and mental states with out any additional stimuli.

Idosers (or Idozers), as they've come to be called on the Internet, originally gained attention for their supposed ability to induce health benefits without the use of drugs. A visit to I-Dose.us reveals free binaural tones meant to increase focus, relieve pain, and even fight alcoholism.

According to a recent article in USA Today, however, a new generation of Idosers is targeting a much different market segment. New sites are claiming to be able to produce effects similar to illegal narcotics using only sound waves. Electronic drugs are aimed to relax, cause hallucinations, and generally get the listener high. This has,of course, set off alarms with some who think that the new idoser trend is dangerous because it encourages the use of drugs.

While we can't argue with the fact that even seemingly encouraging drug use is bad, we can at least attempt to soothe some of your fears. We actually tried out some of the ones that have supposed health benefits (and help us reduce our alcohol intake) and can't say we came away impressed (or high, for that matter). Our sore arm still hurts, we're exhausted, and we still love to imbibe massive amounts of alcohol (hypocrisy duly noted). In fact, all the binaural tones did was give us a headache. [Source: USA Today]

Tags: audio, binaural, binaural beats, BinauralBeats, drugs, idosers, idozers, music

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