General theory of consciousness alteration

[MichaelVipperman]

Consciousness Alteration
-- Inebriation
-- -- Confidence ("getting rowdy")
-- -- Escape ("hitting the off switch")
-- -- Variety (experimentation)
-- Enhancement
-- -- Stimulation (being better at things)
-- -- Immersion
-- -- Enjoyment (changing/heightening sensations)
-- Psychedelia
-- -- Enlightenment (exposure to ultimate reality, cosmic bliss; ego death etc counts here )
-- -- Communion (immersion in truth, awareness and love)
-- -- Insight (new perspective, information, psychotherapeutic processing)

Does that breakdown work for you guys? Any problems you can spot with it? I smoked a joint, came upstairs and saw a couple people were critiquing my article on inebriation. Sat down to clarify my own model, wrote "consciousness alteration" in the centre of the page and drew a branching structure from there. Feel semi-satisfied with this but wonder to what extent my own biases condition that.

eta: playing with overlap between categories. Communion + Immersion, Confidence + Stimulation, Variety + Insight.

Suggests a particular way to draw this... fun art project begins now.

 

[Crimzen]

Sounds pretty good to me

what about a a section for sedation? eg. being stoned, smack etc.

 

[MichaelVipperman]

Sedation would go under what I've got as "Escape." Or could actually be a better word for it.

 

[Crimzen]

yea fair enough actually it does fit there


yea the escape you mean is obviously like you described "hitting the off switch" but it could be read as an escape from reality like what many think psychedelics are used for

its just semantics and works either way lol

 

[MichaelVipperman]

yea fair enough actually it does fit there


yea the escape you mean is obviously like you described "hitting the off switch" but it could be read as an escape from reality like what many think psychedelics are used for

its just semantics and works either way lol

Both would count actually. I may eventually do a series of one article per subcategory, and in the one on sedation/escape, I'll touch on the idea of taking a psychedelic substance to escape from reality, cautioning how it's an incredibly bad idea (people definitely do it for that reason, but rarely with pleasant results -- I once smoked Salvia when angry and bored, and... fuck... haven't done Salvia since).

With each I'll be taking an anti-stigma approach while highlighting potential benefits, harms, and strategies for getting the best results. That category in particular is very hairy because of how horrible its results can be, so I'll need to pick my advice carefully. Probably steering people toward cannabis and ketamine, not being nearly as dangerous as some of the other options (though each has its contraindications, and no matter how you do it, holding the off switch for prolonged periods is going to end badly).

 

[rosy123]

que j’y passe de très agréables moments de détente .
C’est un réel plaisir de te rendre visite.
Bonne continuation . voyance gratuite immediate

 

[Dirty Feet]

Consciousness Alteration
-- Inebriation
-- -- Confidence ("getting rowdy")
-- -- Escape ("hitting the off switch")
-- -- Variety (experimentation)
-- Enhancement
-- -- Stimulation (being better at things)
-- -- Immersion
-- -- Enjoyment (changing/heightening sensations)
-- Psychedelia
-- -- Enlightenment (exposure to ultimate reality, cosmic bliss; ego death etc counts here )
-- -- Communion (immersion in truth, awareness and love)
-- -- Insight (new perspective, information, psychotherapeutic processing)

Hello,

I was going to write that you should have put "enjoyment" in the inebriation part but I think I see your point. I think though that your definition of it (but I guess you have something precise in mind) as "changing sensations" applies to the taking of all substances. In fact I'd say I see it as a sub-category of "variety", but it definitely has a place in the Enhancement part.
And don't you think that enlightenment is an extreme form of insight? or do you make a distinction, like insight as a form of subjective awareness and ultimate reality as reality "forced unto" the subject? could that be called objective reality? I must say I have experienced some insight on shrooms, but never to the extent that my being was wholly transcended so I must lack experience to fully comprehend this.
I have one last question: can you experience cosmic bliss while sober? I mean can it happen without some kind of discipline? I'm asking because I already experienced something that felt like it or a mild form of it if i may say so. I was absolutely sober, I'd read the four agreements of Toltec wisdom and I felt really good about that book. I went outside for a stroll and it was amazing, I loved everything and everything felt like light and love and I just had a big smile on my face and I was ecstatic.I can't remember how long it lasted, maybe one day or a few days I don't even remember it fading away.
I recently felt states of euphoria too but differently, and it was caused by peculiar sleeping patterns (I slept in the afternoon and not at all during night and morning, I was sleep deprived) when I looked it up on the internet I came across psychonaut.com (which was amazing, I never knew there existed such a forum)and a page that described all of my "symptoms" and said it was manic depression (I must say that depressed me). How something that felt so good and gave me so much energy (though I was tired at the same time) and creativity could be considered a disease or a disorder is beyond me.
Anyway I kind of strayed from the original subject, I just wanted to say that I have read some of your articles and really enjoyed them. It is very pleasant to read for once someone who knows what he's talking about and analyzes with rigor and no prejudice. The national newspapers (which is good in general) sometimes issue an article about drugs but it is always so biased and very often just plain ignorant (cannabis, cocain and heroin often appear in the same sentence along with meaningless figures). And if you're looking for an idea to draw conscience alteration, you might want to try: a body, landscape, tree or house; you could even include the means of drug consumption depending on the imagery you choose. Good luck!

 

[IJesusChrist]

Somewhere in there has to be motivation/ambition, perhaps a subsection of stimulation/insight/enlightenment.

 

[MichaelVipperman]

I was going to write that you should have put "enjoyment" in the inebriation part but I think I see your point. I think though that your definition of it (but I guess you have something precise in mind) as "changing sensations" applies to the taking of all substances. In fact I'd say I see it as a sub-category of "variety", but it definitely has a place in the Enhancement part.

If you're changing sensations for the sake of change, it's inebriation; if you're changing sensations because you specifically like the new ones, it's enhancement.

And don't you think that enlightenment is an extreme form of insight? or do you make a distinction, like insight as a form of subjective awareness and ultimate reality as reality "forced unto" the subject? could that be called objective reality? I must say I have experienced some insight on shrooms, but never to the extent that my being was wholly transcended so I must lack experience to fully comprehend this.

For the three psychedelic subcategories, the distinctions are between the "out trip" and the "in trip" on one hand, and focus on didactic content on the other. Both "in trips" and "out trips" will often have didactic content (insights), but will not necessarily: frequently they're characterised more by perception, awareness or total experience, not thoughts. In the case of the "in trip," for which I've alternately used the labels Mysticism, Enlightenment and Entheogenesis, it's about ego death and the like. Usually an ego death trip will include conceptual insights, but that's actually not the more important part of it. Check out the Hopkins psilocybin data for evidence of this... it's the people who had a "full mystical experience" who had long lasting sustained personality changes. Those who merely had insights got some benefit, but it didn't persist. Because of that, best practices for a first trip (or for the next trip for anyone who has never tried it this way) is to go for total introspection to try to occasion a mystical experience: when you follow the "psychotherapeutic setting," as outlined in my article by the same name, the success rate is about 60%, according to the Hopkins data.

Again, for clarity: the category of Insight is about thoughts and ideas. It overlaps with, but is distinct from, the others.

I have one last question: can you experience cosmic bliss while sober? I mean can it happen without some kind of discipline?

Yes. By sober I guess you mean "without having intentionally occasioned it, either through drug ingestion or intense practice." Spontaneous experiences certainly do happen... one day you may be sitting in your bedroom and the light through the window will reflect off of a glass, and in that reflection you'll see God, and then become God. It happens.

Anyway I kind of strayed from the original subject, I just wanted to say that I have read some of your articles and really enjoyed them. It is very pleasant to read for once someone who knows what he's talking about and analyzes with rigor and no prejudice.

Thanks! I saw a lack of quality literature on the subject, and have therefore been trying to fill that gap. Glad to hear you appreciate it.

Somewhere in there has to be motivation/ambition, perhaps a subsection of stimulation/insight/enlightenment.

Hm... I think I'd put that more in psychedelia than in enhancement, although of course there's overlap. Like if you're taking it to better understand what you're capable of and why, that'd be Insight, and if you're taking it to better appreciate the way your actions impact others and the extent to which you're needed in the world, that'd be Communion.

 

[Dirty Feet]

Thank you for your answer. I see I lack much knowledge and this is great! so much to learn...
Are the out trips you're talking about related to out of body experiences? I read several salvia divinorum TRs that described similar experiences, they looked like OBEs. So is salvia specifically an out tripping drug?

I think your consciousness alteration tree should have an addiction branch too. After all physical or psychological dependence is mind altering, some people will do anything just to get fucked up. It's not about experience anymore, not even escaping from reality, it is just about taking something for the sake of taking something because body and/or mind needs it.

And I'm definitely planning a mushroom trip soon, just need to find a proper setting (sadly I live in a town not much nature around). I want to experience communion and for this maybe I'll try and create a ritual, and make some/a lot of music. Im pretty sure that following what type of music I play it will orient my trip. I play a lot of blues hope that doesnt kill the mood!

Regarding the insights and the fact that they don't last too long, I'd say that it is an everyday work on yourself that'll allow you to make it last. You just can't count on the drug for everything, in fact if you do want to change you don't even need to take anything. I mean it is so easy to change! you just think about it, act accordingly (but really, what do you have to lose? only unhappiness) and then it is done. Such is the power of the human mind. Sadly that power can easily turn against you if you misuse it. For me the only thing that can crush everything in very little time is love, or rather one of the things mistaken for love like obsession. It's really just a narcissism problem in my opinion but I have it (big time!), it is so hard not to absorb what society has forced into you since childhood! Me Im a very good absorber and it ha fucked me up for a long time!

 

[MichaelVipperman]

Thank you for your answer. I see I lack much knowledge and this is great! so much to learn...
Are the out trips you're talking about related to out of body experiences? I read several salvia divinorum TRs that described similar experiences, they looked like OBEs. So is salvia specifically an out tripping drug?

OBEs and whatnot would here fall under "in trip." Don't be confused by the words in and out... the distinction is between "going into the experience," which may involve an OBE or similar, as opposed to moving around, having conversations, dancing, etc.

I think your consciousness alteration tree should have an addiction branch too. After all physical or psychological dependence is mind altering, some people will do anything just to get fucked up. It's not about experience anymore, not even escaping from reality, it is just about taking something for the sake of taking something because body and/or mind needs it.

There are changes in consciousness with addiction, but my model is only relevant insofar as those changes are desired goals, which they generally aren't in the case of addiction. Further, "addiction" as a concept is too loaded and problematic. A better characterisation of what you're after would be "habit," and this pertains to many things you wouldn't necessarily consider addictive. Case in point: you're hanging out with your friends, one of them lights up a joint and passes it to you, so you toke it. You may not actually want or have thought about the effect of taking it, but you smoked it because it seemed natural to do so. Insofar as effecting a change in consciousness was not your motivation, the model is not applicable: it's a model of reasons for people to change their consciousness.

And I'm definitely planning a mushroom trip soon, just need to find a proper setting (sadly I live in a town not much nature around). I want to experience communion and for this maybe I'll try and create a ritual, and make some/a lot of music. Im pretty sure that following what type of music I play it will orient my trip. I play a lot of blues hope that doesnt kill the mood!

If you're going for a Communion experience, having good people to trip with and a beautiful, comfortable setting are the keys. If there's nowhere beautiful outside nearby, make sure the room you're going to be in is beautifully decorated... fabrics are especially nice. Just make sure you're not alone, and that everybody who's there is warm, beautiful and awesome.

Regarding the insights and the fact that they don't last too long, I'd say that it is an everyday work on yourself that'll allow you to make it last. You just can't count on the drug for everything, in fact if you do want to change you don't even need to take anything.

Exactly. They need to be part of regular work... they can be of considerable benefit, just as any insight you ever have could be. The difference between that and a mystical experience is the singular power of the latter: that its power persists even when taken in isolation, a single experience redefining everything. That as opposed to gradually coming to understand things better over repeated experiences (sober and otherwise). There's value to both approaches, just that one is steady and the other dramatic.

 

[IJesusChrist]

I would say, also, neurologically a "dramatic" paradigm shift, and a slow and progressive one from repetition and general learning curves are substantially different.

Synaptogenesis in both is going to vary by pathway, relations, and the associated feeling.

So yes, they both are successful in learning, however the end result of how one approaches the new paradigm is going to be different. A kick in the face and a flash of empathy across the world is going to affect you differently than reading a book about Libya or Ethiopia.