--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you sit down with a person, or a…" description: "\"If you sit down with a person, or a watermelon for that matter, when you're stoned and sing into it, the quality of the hallucination is such that ther..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/terence-mckenna-287_able_if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-water_2226044.png" --- # If you sit down with a person, or a watermelon for that… ![“If you sit down with a person, or a watermelon for that matter, when you're stoned and sing into it, the quality of the hallucination is such that there is a way of thinking about it where you could say, 'This is an acoustical hologram of the interior of their body.'" I don't say that.I just say…” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/terence-mckenna-287_able_if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-water_2226044.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/terence-mckenna-287_able_if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-water_2226044.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/terence-mckenna-287_able_if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-water_2226044.png) > “If you sit down with a person, or a watermelon for that matter, when you're stoned and sing into it, the quality of the hallucination is such that there is a way of thinking about it where you could say, 'This is an acoustical hologram of the interior of their body.'" I don't say that.I just say, "My goodness isn't it strange that I seem to be able to see inside of the watermelon when I'm doing this.'” [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes how altered states can create vivid, seemingly visual experiences of internal structures, likening them to acoustic holograms. **In simple terms:** Hallucinations can feel like seeing inside objects. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity about perception. Themes perception altered states psychedelia Mood wonder curiosity Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative brainstorming - artistic inspiration - meditation - drug experiences Key Concepts acoustic hologram visualization subjective reality Questions to Reflect On - How do altered perceptions influence creativity? - What limits do we place on interpreting hallucinations? A Different Perspective Such visions are subjective and not scientifically reliable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Execution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/execution/) [Goodness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodness/) [Hallucination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallucination/) [Hallucination Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallucination-way-4987972/) [Hallucinations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallucinations/) [Holograms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holograms/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inside Watermelon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inside-watermelon-4987975/) [Interiors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interiors/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Person Watermelon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-watermelon-4987974/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Quality Hallucination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality-hallucination-4987973/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Way of thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-of-thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Because I believe psychedelics are a kind of higher dimensional sectioning of reality, I think they give the kind of stereoscopic vision necessary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/because-i-believe-psychedelics-are-a-kind-of-higher-dimensional/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [All psychedelic explorers should be aware of the concept of what is called a cognitive hallucination. The is a much more insidious phenomenon. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/all-psychedelic-explorers-should-be-aware-of-the-concept-of-what-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If you actually look at the etymology of the word 'hallucination', what it's come to mean in English is a delusion. But what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-actually-look-at-the-etymology-of-the-word-hallucination-what/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What we call reality is in fact nothing more than a culturally sanctioned and linguistically reinforced hallucination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-we-call-reality-is-in-fact-nothing-more-than-a-culturally/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [A hallucination is a species of reality, as capable of teaching you as a videotape about Kilimanjaro or anything else that falls through your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/a-hallucination-is-a-species-of-reality-as-capable-of-teaching-you-as/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [ Science and technology were often used by \[the magician of old\], even before they came into the marketplace on a mass basis. For example,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-copperfield/science-and-technology-were-often-used-by-the-magician-of-old-even/) [David Copperfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-copperfield/) > [Fax me a fact and I'll telegram a hologram or telephone the son of man and tell him he is done. Leave a message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-williams/fax-me-a-fact-and-i-ll-telegram-a-hologram-or-telephone-the-son-of/) [Saul Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-williams/) > [The universe was a vast machine yesterday, it is a hologram today. Who knows what intellectual rattle we'll be shaking tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-universe-was-a-vast-machine-yesterday-it-is-a-hologram-today-who/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Real life? Well, I just hope mine isn't investigated. They might find that I don't really exist - that I'm just a hologram.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/real-life-well-i-just-hope-mine-isn-t-investigated-they-might-find/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [You will never experience less reality than when you are watching a reality show. You're watching people who aren't actors, put into situations created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/you-will-never-experience-less-reality-than-when-you-are-watching-a/) [Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/) > [We're always trying to make advancements in the arts and technology, so it's somewhat inevitable that we're going to make holograms of people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/borns/we-re-always-trying-to-make-advancements-in-the-arts-and-technology/) [Borns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/borns/) > [The quantum hologram is a mechanism to explain this concept of the ancients of the Akashic Records. It also explains Rupert Sheldrake's work among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/the-quantum-hologram-is-a-mechanism-to-explain-this-concept-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [I used to love Jem and the Holograms. I think if they were doing a concert, I would stand in line to see Jem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutina-wesley/i-used-to-love-jem-and-the-holograms-i-think-if-they-were-doing-a/) [Rutina Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutina-wesley/) > [That means that the universe is two-dimensional. Matter, energy, time, you, me and the floor are holograms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-ellis/that-means-that-the-universe-is-two-dimensional-matter-energy-time/) [Warren Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-ellis/) > [So many assume the truth is either black or white... It's all evolution or it's totally creation, for example. Reality creates consciousness; consciousness creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-shepherd/so-many-assume-the-truth-is-either-black-or-white-it-s-all-evolution/) [Peter Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-shepherd/) ## More by Terence McKenna > [History was an incredibly damaging experience, and now it's over . . . in a sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/history-was-an-incredibly-damaging-experience-and-now-it-s-over-in-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The history of man that you don't know is what your unconscious is made out of. Just as the history of yourself that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-history-of-man-that-you-don-t-know-is-what-your-unconscious-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are consciousness. We may not always be monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-consciousness-we-may-not-always-be-monkeys/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What is happening here is we are living past the age, by the millions, living past the age where cultural values make any sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-is-happening-here-is-we-are-living-past-the-age-by-the-millions/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What history is, essentially, is a careening, out-of-control effort to find our way back to this state of primordial balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-history-is-essentially-is-a-careening-out-of-control-effort-to/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [And what is the primary datum? It's the felt presence of immediate experience. In other words, being here now is the primary datum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/and-what-is-the-primary-datum-it-s-the-felt-presence-of-immediate/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our culture difinitely takes an egocentric dominator view. The fear of the psychedelic experience is quite literally the fear of losing control. Dominator types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/our-culture-difinitely-takes-an-egocentric-dominator-view-the-fear-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/every-step-into-freedom-contains-within-it-the-potential-for-greater/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [This is the message of your life and my life - it’s that nothing lasts. Heraclitus said it: Panta Rhei. All flows, nothing lasts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/this-is-the-message-of-your-life-and-my-life-it-s-that-nothing-lasts/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Knowledge, or verbal facility, is no proof that you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/knowledge-or-verbal-facility-is-no-proof-that-you-know-what-you-re/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [No culture on earth is as heavily narcotized as the industrial West in terms of being inured to the consequences of maladaptive behavior. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/no-culture-on-earth-is-as-heavily-narcotized-as-the-industrial-west/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Man was not put on this planet to toil in the mud. Or the god who put us on this planet to toil in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/man-was-not-put-on-this-planet-to-toil-in-the-mud-or-the-god-who-put/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If you take psychedelics and the Internet and music and put all of that together you have the basis for a new community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-take-psychedelics-and-the-internet-and-music-and-put-all-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) [Explore all 745 Terence McKenna quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. 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I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. 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This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) [Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you sit down with a person, or a watermelon for that matter, when you're stoned and sing into it, the quality of the hallucination is such that there is a way of thinking about it where you could say, 'This is an acoustical hologram of the interior of their body.'\" I don't say that.I just say, \"My goodness isn't it strange that I seem to be able to see inside of the watermelon when I'm doing this.'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terence McKenna" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-watermelon-for-that-matter-when/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Able" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-watermelon-for-that-matter-when/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/terence-mckenna-287_able_if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-water_2226044.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/terence-mckenna-287_able_if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-water_2226044.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/terence-mckenna-287_able_if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-water_2226044.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you sit down with a person, or a watermelon for that matter, when you're stoned and sing into it, the…” — Terence McKenna", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Terence McKenna", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you sit down with a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-watermelon-for-that-matter-when/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-sit-down-with-a-person-or-a-watermelon-for-that-matter-when/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```