Re: Moods of Mind(was Re:Psychedelic singularities)
Roderick A. Carder-Russell (rodc@shore.net)
Wed, 18 Dec 1996 11:24:15 -0500 (EST)
The thread thus far has been centered upon relating experiential
data gathered by individuals in their private practice of inducing and/or
harnessing creativity through manipulation and self control of mental
states and awareness. A few people have asked the question "What works
for you" or "How can I achieve these affects". The answers have been
numerous but one common theme that I have noticed is that all of the
replies have been purely based upon personal experience. All of the
advice given has been of a "Try this..." nature, relating what works for
them in some instances. Most of us have our own methods of inducing
trance-like states or creative "moods of mind" (that's from Poe, by the
way) that are generally very affective, but can we subject it all to a
rigorous analyzation? Let's turn this thread around and stop looking at
the topic at hand from a "meta-physical" level and start discussing the
biological and chemical reasons, as well as the psychological, that these
events occur. By understanding why, we can more efficiently help those
that are asking for aid as well as possibly enhance our own practice and
experience.
Do we know what neurotransmitters and hormones are excreted in
highly creative situations? I find that when I experience the "altered"
state it is usually with a very small amount of light, what effect does
this have? It certainly plays a role, but just what exactly is happening?
Too much light spoils it, and no light does as well. Could it be a
situation where because of the low light level the production of melatonin
is increased making me more sleepy, hence slowing down the occilations of
my beta-waves into a more alpha like pattern? Is there anyway that we can
produce this in a controlled situation? As I have said, I can choose a
rough time in which to experienc this "trancendental" state but it is
overall left up to chance (or is it?). This is just one example, but I
believe that by analyzing all of our situations, particularly those that
have the "experience" as opposed to the ones that have the "insight" (what
I mean is the difference between those that are talking about having the
moods, and those that are talking about having sudden realizations while
doing unrelated activities, but of course they blend together), we can
better understand how and why they occur, and help to reproduce them.
What affect does music have on the experience? It has been used
as a tool for such activities for thousands of years. It's usually
rythmic, repetitive. It's affects on the delta/theta/alpha/beta system?
Singing. Chanting. Oxygen deprivation? Aldous Huxley, in "Heaven and
Hell", states the reason for singing in religion, all of the repetitive
speach, is to deprive the individual of oxygen, inducing visions of god,
which are nothing more than hallucinations.
Body temperature. Pulse. What can we learn from this? Can we
reason out a general method in which anyone can experience altered states
through concious direction? Lets help each other better understand
ourselves. I'm not willing to just accept the fact that I can experience
this, nor even the fact that I can consciously induce it and have a fairly
personal understanding of it. I want to know why. Relate your knowledge,
let's pool it together to further ourselves.
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Roderick A. Carder-Russell
Transhumanist/Immortalist/Cryonicist
Suspension Member - Alcor Foundation
specializing in man-machine symbiosis
e-mail: rodc@shore.net WWW: http://www.shore.net/~rodc/home.html
>H >H
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