I don’t know why, but I prefer say it’s a reality “in between” what we commonly perceive and experience. Maybe it’s because I’m an IT Systems analyst and I spend my days understanding and troubleshooting interfaces, viewing our perceptual organs as interfaces between “the world” and our bodies/brains. Making it more complicated is the self-recursive loop implied there; our bodies and brains are part of “the world” that is being perceived.

Now, having said all of that, here’s my scientific/skeptical theory on machine elves. I think what we’re perceiving while under the influence of hallucinogens is actually our neural networks at work. We receive messages from our bodies constantly but the vast majority don’t make it to conscious awareness. The hallucinogens trigger/enhance feedback loops that highlight normally subconscious neural processes. But then our brains don’t know how to parse that information, and therefore we embellish that perception with additional meaning (calling them “elves”) because we have no other, better, language to use to describe it.

I could be totally wrong. I’m definitely in the camp of folks who knows that science can’t explain everything. I know there’s more to this reality than we think and perceive there to be.

But on the other hand, explaining machine elves as neural processes doesn’t take away from their magic. I find it heartening to believe that my body is taking care of itself (or trying to) without my being aware of it.

Call it elves or neurons, becoming aware of their work and how they’re working to our benefit is truly fascinating. Thank you for sharing your experiences!