Chapters1&3, and Tart 6

Chapter 1-
My own definition of creativity is 'your ability to make something out of nothing in a unique or distinct way'. I never really pondered how, if you were in an altered state, your creativity would change or blossom. It states in the first paragraph, that you need both the extraordinary and everyday pieces to make 'creativity.' This makes sense because I have heard, artists or authors, whos ideas for works came to them in a dream. The major part of this chapter that interested me was the paranormal section. I often have dreams where somthing may occur (however mundane or weird) and the next day, it does. Or I will get a feeling (someone at my work calling off), and it will happen. I never correlated this with my consciousness level while asleep. This makes me wonder what is going on in my head.



Chapter 3-
This chapter was also filled with topics that I never would have thought about. I always just thought, if I was awake, I am conscious. But, this chapter gives a much better idea of what it is. It discusses how anything we do (see, hear, smell, touch, etc) must pass through a series of filters in our brain. We only use what will help us survive. Also, 'We create our own world' was interesting. It is true. I enjoyed this connection made to Sataneda's "Tonal". This says we make up rules by what we percieve. I was unaware that human sweat had no odor until the stage of puberty. This does make sense because we know that animals (and humans) use pheromones to detect possible mates and mark thier territory. The idea of having many brains(the brain stem, limbic system, and cerebral cortex) was neat. After taking a psych class and simply talking about each part of the brain and thier functions, I was able to compare the two. Also, seeing the mention of right and left sides of the brain helped make the connection.

Tart chap 6
The first thing I thought of when reading this, was how much it applies to having a job. The 'four ways of stabilizing a system' are 1.keep them busy with activities that constitute being a good employee so they have no energy for anything else; 2.reward good behavior; 3. punish for bad behavior; and 4. Try to limit oppertunities for undesirable activities. It's as though my work place, and probably most work places are trying to create a discreet state of consciousness. The idea of loading was interesting. To keep a persons mind so busy that it has no time to notice 'nonordinary' things. The picture of pushing your hand through a chair was entertaining. If this happens, you are not in a normal SoC (unless your hand actually broke the chair).