[callesgg]

"The mind makes it real"

If you search for patterns in your "input data" you will find them. If you search for the patterns enough, your "mind" will automate the process. Then you have those "patterns" in your "normal" perception.

An example: if focus on the noice floor of you hearing for a few days you will begin to perceive tinnitus.

My hypothesis would be that the man from the article took the drug, became scared cause he perceived scan lines in is visual perception, then placed loots of attention on the scan lines to determine if they would go away. The attention he placed on the scan lines strengthened the perceptions and now he can’t undo the conditioning he did to his visual processing system.