Wow, the first post how cool am I? I have to admit before reading the articles and the two chapters in the book i was skeptical about how interesting the readings were going to be. Although after i started reading i really got into the material. Some of the high points i want to mention was the studies on paranormal activity, all my life i have been very skeptical about paranormal phenomenon. Yet in the book the author talks about how studies have been done at the Maimonides Dream Laboratory since 1947. Other points that interested me include the brain and how the author says everybody thinks we have one brain when in actuality over the years of evolution we have three possibly four brains. In an essence the three or four small brains just got wrapped up into one. I also enjoyed reading about the divided self, i have always found MPD very fascinating, but never really understood it. The main point i pulled away from MPD is the treatment how psychologists have to work through each personality to get to the "real" person and that may take years. Also for every "person" that is made is essentially just another defense mechanism for a tragedy the "real" person does not want to deal with.
A question i did have about the readings was the difference between d-SoC and d-ASC? As i was reading the Stabilization of a State of Consciousness an interesting point that caught my eye was when the author explained if someone takes a drug and does not want the drug to effect his state of consciousness the person should keep his mind occupied with another task and supposedly the drug will not effect his state of consciousness.
I have a personal connection to the reading in that i used to play baseball before i got hurt. There was a freak play at third base about 2 years ago; where the third baseman fist stepped on my back when i was sliding head first into the bag; then tagged me with his glove in the same spot. I now have two herniated disks and needless to say my baseball career is over. I have been on medication the past two years a combination of hydrocodine, vicodin, and perkiset. A few weeks ago i just wanted to not feel any pain for once in my life so i took instead of the usual 2 vicodin i took 4 after i took the pills i got really nervous but i went on with my day. I was not until around 10pm that i remembered i took 4 by that time the medicine was out of me and i was fine. The point I am trying to make is if i would have just sat down and waited for the medicine to kick in I am sure i would have thought i was on Pluto and my name was Man love.
A blog for IHUM 300W where students are asked to express their thoughts and opinions on the weekly readings.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
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).
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).
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Welcome
Welcome to the Creativity and Altered States of Consciousness blogspot. Here, students in a humanties course are asked to write their comments, impressions, questions and thoughts on the weekly readings and activities for the course. Feel free to add your own comments to individual postings.