First evidence for higher state of consciousness found

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: Justso
a reply to: TrueBrit

The point being made by the op is that it exists-next is discovering the functionality of this additional brain activity.

Who says it's functional? It's much more likely to be indicative of random chaotic neural noise.

Psychology says it's functional as the discipline is currently using it for therapy.

It's been used for thousands of years in native therapy as well so chances are there is something going on that is very useful for human beings.

I think we're missing the point here. The study just prove that some natural ingredients can affect the brain chemically.

Ok, most of us already knew that, but science recognizing and studying it is a great step! We need more understanding of how brain and consciousness works, and WHY do these substances can affect us they way they do.

Just leave your prejudgment behind and embrace that we're conditioned to think that way. Our ancestors used it. What for?
I don't know, but we may find out in the future.

a reply to: luthier

such a shame that mainstream science isnt researching this from day one !

only because shaman have been using these states since before written records began

and doing all sorts of interesting things , it's also a shame that we cant really go to far into the discussion considering the topic of the OP concerns illegal substances

a reply to: vinifalou

well given the fact that these substances dont normally tend to hang around in the body for too long already tells you that we have a strong relationship with them and we have developed chemical receptors in our brain to deal with them more readily

I am a strong believer in the stoned ape theory and panspermia

Im happy that science is finally catching up

it's the next step in the future of humanity we learn this way or we become machines

its embrace our natural evolution through psychedelics , which we abandoned when we became sedentary farmers
or embrace our evolution through technology and become machines

Id rather be biological than machine

Buddha fasted to near death before experiencing enlightenment.
Pythagoras was forced to fast for 40 days before being allowed entry into the secret society.

The Buddha hallucinated visions of elephants during the blood sugar spike as he broke the fast.

Some people don't need drugs.
Undoubtedly Pythagoras could do the math and probably hallucinated in a record-able fashion like John Titor.

OMG Jimi just traveled back in time with a skinny alien to 1921 and PWNED Einstein!

originally posted by: luthier

Psychology says it's functional as the discipline is currently using it for therapy.

It's been used for thousands of years in native therapy as well so chances are there is something going on that is very useful for human beings.

Why? "Native therapy" is full of crap that doesn't work. I like sandpaintings but I don't think they cure anything, for example.

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: luthier

Psychology says it's functional as the discipline is currently using it for therapy.

It's been used for thousands of years in native therapy as well so chances are there is something going on that is very useful for human beings.

Why? "Native therapy" is full of crap that doesn't work. I like sandpaintings but I don't think they cure anything, for example.

LOL. You can't argue with a person so misinformed as this guy.

I'll just close my eyes and pretend that this is a joke.

originally posted by: vinifalou
I'll just close my eyes and pretend that this is a joke.

Go for it. I'll wait for you to come up with a clear "native therapy" that works.

Navajo hatathli's use sandpaintings to 'cure' disease. African houdou uses 'veves' and appeals to loa. Neither works.

The same goes for most 'native therapies'.

a reply to: TrueBrit

All I am doing is thrusting the spear point of accuracy into things.

Says the guy who takes up a whole page to type what I could get across in three sentences. Put the beer down bro, for the love of all that is good, please!

Nice find OP, the article seems a bit opinionated by the author but it does allude to what I have long considered to be true. I once read that achieving higher states of consciousness without any "enhancements" is the key to the "next step".

Mankind will always be divided on this subject, whether by religion or political propaganda ,or any other cult induced phenomena.

originally posted by: Raggedyman
No, we didn't need science to tell us the obvious because they wouldn't admit it, because they can't explain it.

Science has a habit of being as certain as possible before making any claims.

originally posted by: Raggedyman
Guess it also means it will pose a few more questions and theories, why have this extra intelligence if we can't use it, why evolve something that we don't use, unless we are de evolving

I can't comment on this particular example in the op, because I don't know enough about it yet. However, there are a plethora of examples of now-useless adaptions in the biological structure of many organsisms.

For example: there are many blind fish (among other creatures) that once lived in an environment where light was useful, and this sight was useful, but they ended up in a dark environment (such as a cave or super deep ocean waters) where there is no light, and so they've adapted to that new environment and lost their sight. Those eyes are no longer functioning, and in some cases they just have partial reminents of that precious adaptation, but it's been scaled over so much that from the outside it appears as if they never had eyes.

It's not so much a matter of "de-evolving" as it is just continuous adaptation.

Evolution isn't always about getting bigger, stronger, faster and so forth. It often takes away as much as it gives.

i suppose we could speculate that early humans, or pre-humans were so filled with instinctual behaviour that they required a "higher state of conciousness " to survive in the wilds, and the onset of agriculture and communal living over thousands of years allowed us to not be required to be always-alert. But again, that's just a speculative scenario at the moment

This is hardly a 'new' revelation.

This Brain Map Shows Why People On Shrooms See Sounds And Hear Colors
A new study finds that tripping on (illegal) magic mushrooms may change the mind by quieting traditional brain activity and jumpstarting new connections between areas of the brain that previously didn't communicate with one another.

Psilocybin, the main psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms, sprouts new links across previously disconnected brain regions, the study found, temporarily altering the brain's entire organizational framework.

The data visualization below (b) shows how these new connections among separate regions of the brain in people dosed with psilocybin; the one on the left (a) represents the conventional connections in the brains of people not on the drug. You can see how much more connected the trippers brains are:

And this category of 'head drugs' is a whole nother animal than typical nootropics (cognitive enhancement substances). Nootropics basically just turn up of the throttle of any of the various cognitive metrics (about a dozen of them there are that are generally 'measured'), ergo simple caffeine -a minor grade stimulant-is a nootropic.

What this study is getting at is totally different. As they say, you cant describe it, or rather you cant be told what it is, you have to see it for yourself. And there are many different flavors of course. When you see the mathematics of the entire universe, at the subatomic level, thru the eyes of all the worlds wise men past and present, simultaneously, nope stimulants aren't anywhere near the same discussion. And no need for a scientist to validate the experience for you either.

I think that the next step is to find out how we can achieve a different state of consciousness without any substance.

I once heard that monks from somewhere like Tibet or India can achieve the state we get from Ayahuasca only with meditation.

They meditate for 15 days without water, food, sleep. This need to be studied! How can they do it without dying lol.

As Tesla supposedly said (which I believe it's true anyway), humans will make more progress in 10 years studying non-physical phenomenons than in 100 years ignoring it.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
When you see the mathematics of the entire universe, at the subatomic level, thru the eyes of all the worlds wise men past and present, simultaneously, nope stimulants aren't anywhere near the same discussion.

This is called a 'delusion' and isn't necessarily an enlightenment. The very fact that you think you're seeing through the eyes of all the world's wise men should tell you this, but the drugs also sort of reduce your ability to judge this.

originally posted by: vinifalou
I think that the next step is to find out how we can achieve a different state of consciousness without any substance.

Do you find your current state of consciousness insufficient?

BTW, you're right, Tesla never said it.

a reply to: Bedlam

You don't think sand paintings cure anything? Then you have no understanding of psychology. Sand paintings for a person with control issues is extremely therapeutic and is a terrible example. Not only that it provides a metaphor for the person to examine within their life.

As far as drugs for curing diseases. Natives have in fact, particularly in rainforests, found many cures for disease.

And conversely if you read studies on the conflict of interest in drug trial fabrications you would see western medicine is also a crock of boohoo.

a reply to: Bedlam

It's not literal of course, or is it?


The point with the jist here though is, unless you actually know, then you simply dont know. Like someone whose never even seen a telescope or images from one, arguing about the "heavens"... with someone whose worked on Hubble for NASA.

originally posted by: luthier
a reply to: Bedlam

You don't think sand paintings cure anything?

No.

As far as drugs for curing diseases. Natives have in fact, particularly in rainforests, found many cures for disease.

And many things that are not.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

The point with the jist here though is, uness you actually know, then you simply dont know.

Except that telescopes work, and here's a long list of all the exceptional things dead wise men have revealed to '___' users:

a reply to: vinifalou

originally posted by: vinifalou
I think that the next step is to find out how we can achieve a different state of consciousness without any substance.

I was just about to post a couple of tidbits related to that very point.

Psychedelics in Light of the Yoga Sutras

The Siddhis which are developed as a result of the practice of Samyama belong to a different category and are far superior to those developed in other ways. They are the product of the natural unfoldment of consciousness in its evolution towards perfection and thus become permanent possessions of the soul, although a little effort may be needed in each new incarnation to revive them in the early stages of Yogic training. Being based upon knowledge of the higher laws of Nature operating in her subtler realms they can be exercised with complete confidence and effectiveness, much in the same way as a trained scientist can bring about extraordinary results in the field of physical Science.

Lame Deer - Seeker of Visions

At the same time I quit peyote I had found out what a real Sioux vision was like. If you dream, that’s no vision. Anybody can dream. And if you take an herb – well, even the butcher boy at his meat counter will have a vision after eating peyote. The real vision has to come out of your own juices. It is not a dream; it is very real.
Once you have experienced the real thing you will never be satisfied with anything else.

originally posted by: Michet
a reply to: vinifalou
I was just about to post a couple of tidbits related to that very point...

Bedlam: Citation needed. Show me the money. Reveal a 'truth' that is objective that was derived from a drug trip. I'll wait. (*crickets*)