ALTERED STATES

Altered States

Altered States

Introduction

Most Americans are not alcoholics. Most of us do not smoke marijuana to get high. LSD trips went out of style along with the flower children of the sixties. Nevertheless, many Americans are walking and driving around with their minds slightly out of kilter. In its attempt to cope with the modern life, the human mind seems to have evolved some defense strategies. Confronted with inventions like the automobile, the television, and the shopping center, for example the mind will slip--al by itself--into an altered state.

Discussion

First of all, the mind must now cope with the automobile. In the past no human being ever sat for hours at a time, the the same position, staring at endless white lines and matched pairs of small red tail lights. In order to deal with this unnatural situation, the mind goes on automatic pilot. A primative, less-developed re

The mind has defence not only against the auto but also against television. Since too much staring at flickering images of police officers, detectives, and talk-show hosts can be dangerous to human sanity, the mind automatically goes ito a TV hypnosis state. The eyes see the sitcom or the dog food commerical, but the mind goes into a holding pattern. NOne of the television images or sounds actually enter the brain. This is why, when questioned, peoplecannot remember commercials they have seen five seconds before or why the TV cops are chasing a certain suspect. In this hypnotic, trancelike state, the mind resembles an armored armadillo. It rolls up in self-defence, letting the stream of televised information pass by harmlessly.

Perhaps the most dangerous threat to the mind, however, is the shopping center. In the modern mall, dozens of store. Sentient beings such as the human race are born into this so-called reality on a day-to-day basis. Reality is the playing field in which planets, galaxies, and the universe all supposedly are confined. What would happen if this in-fact was not the only reality and perhaps may not even be true reality? These alternate realities are unknown to the masses of ordinary people. These people have either never contemplated the fact that there are other realities, have contemplated them and believe them to be lies due to there skepticism, or live somewhere where thoughts or ideas such as these are unacceptable. These alternate states are known as Altered States of Consciousness (ASC). They can ...