UNDERSTANDING ALTEKED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS:

A SYSTEMS APPROACH

Charles T. T a r t

Psyc holsgy &par tment

Un ive r s i t y of Ca l i fo rn i a

Davis, Ca l i fo rn i a 95616

P r e g r e t t h a t I cannot be present t o p re sen t my paper today due

to o the r comi tmen t s , a s P was looking forward to i n t e r a c t i n g wi th

anthropoiogisLs who had experience wi th a l t e r e d s t a t e s of consciousness

5;: o t h a r cul tural s e t t i n g s : my p s y c h ~ i o g i c a l co l leagues a r e u s u a l l y very

narrow i r k t h i s r e spec t . I expect t h a t Dr. Cowan w i i l g ive an e x c e l l e n t

p re sen ta t ion of t h i s paper and be a b l e t o answer any ques t ions t h a t a r i s e

on my systems approach t o a l t e r e a s t a t e s of consciousness , f o r no t on ly i s

he thoroughly f ami l i a r w i th i t , but our i n t e r a c t i o n s s e v e r a l years ago were

q u i t e u s e f u l i n my formulat ion of t h i s approach.

I n more than f i f t e e n yea r s of observing and researching the psychologi-

c a l phenomena loose ly c a l l e d a l t e r e d s t a t e s of consciousness (ASCs), P

have been r epea t ed ly impressed w i t h the inc red ib l e range of phenomena

T a r t - 2- encompassed by t h a t term and a l s o by the high degree of un re l a t ednes s of

most of t he se phenomena. Hundreds of people have t o l d me about r a d i c a l

a l t e r a t i o n s i n t h e i r mental func t ion ing , no t on ly f o r r e l a t i v e l y f a m i l i a r

a r e a s as dreaming o r s t r o n g emotional changes, bu t a l s o f o r changes asso-

c i a t e d wi th such e x o t i c procedures l i k e va r ious kinds of medi ta t ion , hypnosis,

marijuana i n t o x i c a t i o n , i n t o x i c a t i o n wFth major psychede l ic drugs , out-of-

the-body exper iences , mediumist ic t r ance s t a t e s , a v a r i e t y of more id io-

s y n c r a t i c s t a t e s t h a t seem unique to p a r t i c u l a r i n d i v i d u a l s , s h a r e d ASCs

by p r a c t i t i o n e r s of p a r t i c u l a r s p i r i t u a l d i s c i p l i n e s , and exper iences i n

that ca t ego ry t h a t we vaguely label "rnystica: exper iences ." In terms of

s c i e n t i f i c understanding of ASCs, however, we have thousands of miscel laneous

b i t s of d a t a b u t few o f them have any c l e a r r e l a t i o n s h i p t o any of t he o t h e r s .

Although I researched some of the above ASCs f a i r l y ex t ens ive ly , I g radua l ly

r e a l i z e d t h a t my own and o t h e r s ' r e sea rches were mainly adding more i n t e r -

e s t i n g b u t un re l a t ed p i eces to a n a l r e a d y scrambled p i c t u r e , s o around

1970 I t emporar i ly moved away from l abo ra to ry r e s e a r c h and t r i e d ou t the

r o l e of t h e o r e t i c i a n i n o rde r t o make sense of t h i s a rea . The r e s u l t has

been the c r e a t i o n of a t h e o r e t i c a l framework or paradigm t h a t I c a l l a

Tar r -3-

syotems approach t o ASCs. To my gene ra l knowledge, i t makes most of the

psychologica), , an th ropo log ica l , and phys io log i ca l d a t a about ASCs f a l l i n t o

a u,seful p a t t e r n .

5in twenty minutes 1 can do very l i t t l e toward p re sen t ing a comprehen-

s i v e p i c t u r e of this systems approach to ASCs, s o I s h a l l focus mainly on

c l a r i f y i n g the concept of t h e " s t a t e " of consciousness . T h i s systems

approach has been presented i n f u l l i n my r e c e n t S t a t e s of Consciousness

book, and t h a t book can be consui ted f o r d e t a i l s .

Constructed Nature of Ordinary Consciousness

A main oiutcome of iay s t u d i e s of .4SCs has been t o make me aware of how

ignorant we a r e of the na ture of our o rd ina ry s t a t e . P a r t i c u l a r l y , t he re

a r e two major, l a r g e l y i m p l i c i t ope ra t i ng assunpt ions used by almost all

ord ina ry people and alinost a l l s c i e n t i s t s t h a t s e r i o u s l y d i s t o r t our under-

s t and ing of our ord inary and a l t e r e d s t a t e s .

The f i r s t assumption is t h a t our o rd ina ry s t a t e of consciousness is

somehow "na tura l , " t h a t i t i s sirnply the way consciousness ought t o be.

One e f f e c t o f t h i s assumption is t o make the phenomena r epo r t ed i n ASCs seem

odd o r unusual: many of the phenomena w e r o u t i n e l y experience i n our o rd ina ry

s t a t e would be j u s t a s odd from a d i f f e r e n t perspec t ive , bu t , being f a m i l i a r ,

T a r t -4-

we pay l i t t l e a t t e n t i o n t o them. I t r u s t t h a t an th ropo log i s t s are not a s

s t r o n g l y taken i n by the idea t h a t our o rd ina ry s t a t e o f conscioueness is

n a t u r a l a s i n v e s t i g a t o r s i n o t h e r d i s c i p l i n e s .

The second assumptfon, r e l a t e d to the f i r s t , is t h a t our ordinary

s t a t e is somehow "normal," t h a t i t is the b e s t o r opt imal o rgan iza t ion of

e o n s c i ~ u s n a s s . Consequently WSCs tend t o be f m p l i c i t l y viewed In a b iased

important manner, a s somehow being i n f e r i o r o r pa thologfca l . A s we know how/ i t is t o

c l e a r l y s e p a r a t e the descr ip tFve a s p e c t o f d a t a ga the r ing from t h e cvalua-

rna y t i o n we/want t o make l a t e r , i t is c l e a r t h a t t h i s i d very bad f o r sc ience

t o confuse rhese two processes .

Psychological d a t a now show q u i t e c l e a r l y , con t r a ry t o the above assump-

cion, tnac our ordinary s t a t e of consciousness i s a cons t ruc t ion , not a given,

a and / spec i a l i zed c o n s t r u c t i o n t h a t is, i n many ways, q u i t e a r b i t r a r y .

The f i r s t s l i d e i l l u s t r a t e s a concept I learned i n anthropology c l a s a e s

yea r s ago (and here I would l i k e t o express my indebtedness t o John Honigman,

one of my most b r i l l i a n t t e ache r s ) , the concept of t he spectrum of human

a p o t e n t i a l s . Simply by being born a human being each of us pos se s se s / ce r t a in

kind of body and nervous system, ope ra t i ng i n accordance w i th t h e phys i ca l

T a r t - 5-

laws of our environment, and thus we have a ve ry l a r g e (bu t no t i n f i n i t e )

number of p o t e n t i a l a which could be developed. Each of us is , however, born

i n t o a p a r t i c u l a r c u l t u r e , t o people who recognize the ex i s t ence

of on ly sone of these p o t e n t i a l s . Among those they recognize, some have

been c l a s s i f i e d as 'qgood"and. thus h a v e c u l t u r a l p r e s su re t o develop them,

while o the r s a r e "bad1' and a c t i v e l y inl . i ibited o r discouraged. Thus c u l t u r e

A i n the first s l i d e r e i n f o r c e s c e r t a i n human p o t e n t i a l s and d e l i b e r a t e l y

blocks n the r s . :>t:.l.ture B . mekes d i f f e r e n t selections from the sgec t rw l of

human p o t e n t i a l s : some may ove r l ap those of c u l t u r e A , o t h e r s w i l l be

t o t a l l y d i f f e r e n t . A s we w e l l know, each c u l t u r e i s l i a b l e t o view t h e

o t h e r a s s t r ange , savage, o r mal ic ious . Both c u l t u r e s remain i gno ran t of

a i a r g e number of human p o t e n t i a l s . Some of these p o t e n t i a l s ray remain

l a t e n t , and have the p o s s i b i l i t y of being developed l a t e r under unusual

circunlstances, o t h e r s , i f not developed w i t h i n n c r i t i c a l per iod , nay become

permanently i n a c c e s s i b l e ,

The second s l i d e b r i e f l y o u t l i n e s the e n c u l t u r a t f o n process .

We do n o t have time t o cons ide r i t i n d e t a i l , b u t b a s i c a l l y the many unorganized

p o t e n t i a l s of t he i n f a n t , under pressure from pa ren t s , t eachers , peers , and

T a r t -6-

i n t e r a c t i o n wi th ex te rna l r e a l i t y gradually become shaped i n t o a smaller

but organized number, and i t is the habi tua l opera t ion of the developed

psychological p o t e n t i a l s t h a t c o n s t i t u t e s our ordinary s t a t e of consciousness.

Through psychological processes such as condit ioning, we develop an ordinary

s t a t e of consciousness t h a t might be b e t t e r c a l l e d "consensus" consciousness,

a habi tua l p a t t e r n of mental functioning and s t y l e s of coping with r e a l i t y

t h a t r e f l e c t the goals , values, advantages, and disadvantages o r our p a r t i -

cu la r cu l tu re . Natural ly there is considerable individual v a r i a b i l i t y here,

depending both on chance circumstances i n the encu l tu ra l process and indi -

vidual reac t ions t o it, but i n general t o say t h a t a person is i n an

"ordinary" s t a t e means t h a t h i s mental processes r e f l e c t the values of h i s

c u l t u r e , My systems approach views bas ic awareness, the undefinable but

u l t imate aspect of coneciouaness behind more a r t i c u l a t e d phenomena a s common

t o a l l functioning human beings, but the r e l a t i v e l y permanent psychological

s k i l l s , habi ts , and s t r u c t u r e s developed i n the course of encu l tu ra t ion

c o n s t i t u t e the s t r u c t u r e s t h a t a r e ac t iva ted by the p lay of awareness, and

s o lead t o "consciousness, " t h a t compounds bas ic awareness mu1 t i p l i e d by

learned, encul tura ted psychological s t r u c t u r e s . While we have some voluntary

Tart - 7-

con t ro l of bas ic awareness, i t usual ly runs i n habi tua l pa t t e rns which, i n

turn, have been l a i d down during the course of encul tura t ion .

States. of Consciousness

Now le t us consider the concept of "s ta tes" of consciousness i n a general

way. Since a p a r t i c u l a r human p o t e n t i a l 3s developed by a given c u l t u r e

determines what w@ can exPerience,what we can be conscious of , the f i r s t

s l i d e could be re-viewed as a spectrum of e x p e r i e n t i a l p o t e n t i a l i t i e s , and

then we would say t h a t c u l t u r e A, through i t s encu l tu ra t ion process, has

e f f e c t i v e l y pat terned the experience of i t s membere along c e r t a i n common

l i n e s and r e s t r i c t e d i t from c e r t a i n o ther l i n e s of experience, Culture B,

by making a d i f f e r e n t s e l e c t i o n , has given a d i f f e r e n t e x p e r i e n t i a l pa t tern ing

t o the everyday conscious experience of i t s members, Thus the two foc i ,

ins tead of being labeled c u l t u r e A and c u l t u r e B, could be labeled s t a t e

of consciousness A and s t a t e of consciousness B, and s o i l l u s t r a t e the d i f f e r e n t

consensus consciousnesses fo r two d i f f e r e n t c u l t u r e s , We can use t h i s same

analogy, however, t o c l a r i f y one of the two bas ic ideas underlying the concept

of a s t a t e of consciousness, namely t h a t wi th in the same individual there

may be o r more f o c i of organizat ion of consciousness, each of

Tart -8-

which represents a c e r t a i n s e l e c t i o n of human p o t e n t i a l i t i e s . Thus s t a t e

of consciousness B becomes an a l t e r e d s t a t e of consciousness wi th respect

t o s t a t e A. I f a person is unhappy i n h i s o r her ordinary state, one way

of seeking g rea te r happiness might be t o t r y t o reorganize h i s or her mind

i n a fashion we c a l l an a l t e r e d s t a t e where the (more des i rab le ) s e l e c t i o n

of p o t e n t i a l s from focus B is ava i l ab le . The reasons f o r d e s i r i n g such

temporary o r permanent reorganiza t ion can be neurot ic o r healthy, depending

on the s t a t e of the c u l t u r e i n which a person l i v e s .

Now l e t us approach the concept of s t a t e from a d i f f e r e n t d i rec t ion .

Bla~ping Experience

The terms " s t a t e of consciousness" and "al tered s t a t e s of consciousness"

a r e now used s o imprecisely t o cover s o many d i f f e r e n t things, not only i n

popular bu t f requent ly i n s c i e n t i f i c usage, t h a t i t is important i n my systems

approach t o c l a r i f y what is meant by s t a t e . The term "trance" has been used

by anthropologis ts i n a s imi la r loose way. Both "state" and "trance" a r e

no t i d e n t i c a l wi th whatever the momentary content of coneciousness happens

i t i s t o be, bur l the way the words a r e a l l too f requent ly used: they r e f e r t o

far-xeaching, r a d i c a l changes i n mental functioning,

Tar t -9-

A way of c l a r i f y i n g the concept comes from using the procedure of mapping

an experience. We can use fu l ly keep t rack o f / o b j e c t l s or individual ' s movements

i n physical space by s e t t i n g up a coordinate system and t h e n l o c a t i n g the

individual 's pos i t ion i n t h a t space a t various times. I n pr inciple we can

a l s o map a person's pos i t ion i n exper ien t i a l space a t any time i f we i d e n t i f y

and def ine and f ind ways of measuring the important dimensions of experience

t h a t quan t i t a t ive v a r i a t i o n occurs a long, Exper ient ia l , behavioral, and

physiological measures can be combined i n f r u i t f u l ways here, a l though f

emphasize exper ien t i a l dimensions. We might def Lne a dimension as "ra t ional f ty"

f o r example, where we can give a person a b r i e f problem every few minutes

and score the r a t i o n a l i t y of h i s answer, i .e. , the degree t o which i s answer

follows genera l ly accepted r u l e s f o r a c e r t a i n consensus r e a l i t y . We might

then f ind t h a t r a t i o n a l i t y var ied from very high values to very low values.

A second dimeasion might be a b i l i t y t o v i sua l i ze o r hal lucinate , the degree

t o which an image t h a t we believed t o e x i s t only wi th in the mind has the

i n t e n e i t y associa ted wi th an a c t u a l sensory perception versus p a r t i a l degrees

of such in tens i ty .

For s impl ic i ty , assume that two dimension8 would be adequate f o r s tudy

T a r t -10-

of a given problem, even though we r e a l l y need multi-dimensional maps f o r

the r ichness of human experience. The t h i r d s l i d e then can give us a

s p e c i f i c example of t h i s kind of e x p e r i e n t i a l mapping. Suppose, working

wi th a sigale individual , t h a t on twenty-eight temporally successive occasions I_

we measured both the degree of r a t i o n a l i t y and the a b i l i t y t o v i sua l i ze . For

each pa i r of measurements w e put a c i r c l e on the map defined j.n the s l i d e .

Suppose we obta in the r e s u l t s shown, namely t h a t our measurements obviously

f a l l i n t o three d i s c r e t e c l u s t e r s , which I have drawn l i n e s around for con-

venience, and do not seem t o ' f a l l anywhere e l s e i n t h i s two-dimensional space,

even wi th add i t iona l observation. This kind of mapping, done impl ic i t ly ,

i s behind the bas ic concept of a ' 'state" of consciousness. Done consciously

and prec ise ly , i t is the opera t ion fo r de f in ing states wi th in the systems

approach. Here we have da ta t ha t ind ica te t h a t experience f a l l s i n t o severa l

d i s c r e t e clusters or ranges of Eunctioning, and t h a t these c l u s t e r s are impor-

t a n t l y d i f f e r e n t from one another.

For the s p e c i f i c example shown i n the s l i d e , I have put i n two univer-

s a l l y known and one more e x o t i c s t a t e s . The c l u e t e r i n the lower r i g h t hand

corner, where r a t i o n a l i t y ranges from moderate t o very high and a b i l i t y t o

T a r t -11-

v i s u a l i z e ranges Erm somewhat low t o f a i r is, f o r most people, t h e i r

o rd ina ry s t a t e , consensus consciousness. f o r our c u l t u r e . The c l u s t e r i n

t he upper l e f t hand co rne r , w i t h v e r y h igh a b i l i t y t o v i s u a l i z e b u t r a t i o n -

a l i t y o f t e n q u i t e low, is the s t a t e of noc turna l dreaming, where we exper ience

the v i s u a l world which seems q u i t e i n t ense t o us a t the time, bu t , by con-

sensus consciousness s t anda rds , we o f t e n take cons iderable l i b e r t y w i th

r a t i o n a l i t y . The upper r i g h t hand corner of t h e graph i l l u s t r a t e s a s t a t e

a s cha rac t e r i zed as by/high i n a b i l i t y t o v i s u a l i z e a s i n o rd ina ry dreaming,

t h e "hal lucinated" scenery seems q u i t e i n t ense and r e a l , bu t r a t i o n a l i t y

a l s o seems q u i t e high. This is a s t a t e t h a t has been termed lucid dreaming.

This is a s p e c i a l type of dream, u e u a l l y a r i s i n g from an o rd ina ry dream, i n

which a person r e p o r t s t h a t he "wakes up" i n t h a t he u s u a l l y remembers h i s

i d e n t i t y , r e a l i z e s that he is a c t u a l l y a s l e e p and t h a t he is dreaming, and

t h a t the dream world around him must be ha l luc ina to ry , b u t even though he

feels p e r f e c t l y r a t i o n a l and h i s mental func t ion ing seems t o work j u s t as

yours does now, he neve r the l e s s f i n d s himself e x p e r i e n t i a l l y loca ted i n t h e

dream world.

This kind of mapping a l ' l w o , o f course, f o r changes w i t h i n cll9.fiters:

T a r t - 12-

no s t a t e is s t a t i c . But by s t a t e we mean t h a t i n s p i t e of various changes

along various dimensions, our experience doee seem t o f a l l i n t o a recognizable

area of e x p e r i e n t i a l space.

Discrete S t a t e s of Consciou~neas

While the kind of e x p e r i e n t i a l mapping of the t h i r d s l i d e adequately

conveys the idea of q u a n t i t a t i v e v a r i a t i o n of p a r t i c u l a r human p o t e n t i a l s

i n various a l t e r e d s t a t e s , i t does not adequately convey the idea of qual i -

t a t i v e changes, which does indeed g e t reported, Nor does t h i s kind of map-

ping adequately convey the organiza t ional q u a l i t i e s of the p o t e n t i a l s

involved i n a s t a t e of consciousness, the f a c t t h a t they form a s t a b i l i z e d ,

i n t e r r e l a t e d g e s t a l t from which a r i s e .system proper t i e s that cannot be

deduced j u s t from a knowledge of the par ts . The f i r s t s l i d e shows a b e t t e r

way of represent ing an a l t e r e d s t a t e . I f you w i l l look j u s t a t the heavy

g a m e t r i c a l ob jec t s which symbolize various human p o t e n t i a l s and the heavy

l i n e s connecting them, what you have i s a kind of time lapse photograph

of a s t a t e of consciousness. At t en t ion t r a v e l s i n habi tua l , conditioned

manners from one p o t e n t i a l t o another , and the shape t h a t t h i s leaves over

a

time gives you the system q u a l i t i e s , the g e s t a l t p roper t i e s o f j s t a t e of

T a r t - 13-

coneciousness. Thus our analogy shows a s t a t e t h a t has a " s t a r shape1' f e e l

t o it. Indeed, when we quest ion people a s t o haw they c l a s s i f y what s t a t e

of c~nsc iousnesa they am in , sometimes they t r y t o not ice whether p a r t i c u l a r

experiences t h a t they can use a s markers a r e occurring, bu t o f t e n they, i n

a sense, whoZl is t ica l ly scan the whole f i e l d of t h e i r experience and i d e n t i f y

t h i s p a r t i c u l a r shape. Thus i f I aek you r i g h t now would you want t o b e t

f i f t y d o l l a r s t h a t you're a c t u a l l y dreaming about being here and y o u t l l wake

up i n bed i n f i v e minutes, I doubt t h a t anyone would take me up on the bet .

Some of you would immediately j u s t scan the p a t t e r n of your experiences and

see t h a t t h i s is the p a t t e r n you assoc ia te wi th your ordinary waking s t a t e ,

wi th no doubt about i t . Others might note p a r t i c u l a r q u a l i t i e s present t h a t

a r e ava i l ab le only i n t h e i r ordinary state, and/or a lack of c e r t a i n q u a l i t i e s

t h a t they assoc ia te with a dreaming s t a t e , and make a decis ion on t h a t bas i s .

I n order t o rescue the terms "s ta t e of consclousnessl' and "a l tered s t a t e s

of consciousness" from ambiguity s o they could have reasonable s c i e n t i f i c

usage, I have proposed the terms d i s c r e t e s t a t e s of consciousness (d-SoCs)

and d i s c r e t e a l t e r e d s t a t e s of consciousness (d-ASCs). A d-SoC fo r a given

individual is a unique system or conf igura t ion of psychological s t r u c t u r e s

T a r t .- !I 4.-

o r subsystems. While these s t r u c t u r e s and subsystems show some quan t i t a t ive

and minor q u a l i t a t i v e variat . ions i n the way i n which they funct ion wi th in a

d-SoC, never theless t h e i r p a t t e r n of i n t e r a c t i o n s r e t a i n s a recognizable

a i d e n t i t y allowing the c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f / s t a t e . Further, the operat ions, of

these s t r u c t u r e s and subsystems i n t e r a c t with one another and s t a b i l i z e ea,ch

o the r s ' functioning i n various ways t o protec t . the i n t e g r i t y of the system,

the d i s c r e t e s t a t e , i n s p i t e of a wide range of input from the environment

and a wide range of ac t ions performed by the person.. Understanding a s t a t e

of consciousness then, involves not only an understanding of various psy-

chologica l components of i t bu t a f e e l f o r the pa t t e rn of t h e whole,

If you w i l l r e t u r n pour a t t e n t i o n t o the s l i d e now and look a t the

l i g h t connecting l i n e s , you can see an i l l u s t r a t i o n of a d i s c r e t e a l t e r e d .

s t a t e . While there a r e some s t r u c t u r e s o r functions t h a t were present i n

the ordinary s t a t e s t i l l present , some new p o t e n t i a l s t h a t were l a t e n t i n

terms of the ordinary s t a t e a r e now p a r t of the functioning system, and the

o v e r a l l pa t t e rn , the o v e r a l l s t y l e of use of these various p o t e n t i a l s is

a l s o d i f f e r e n t . By analogy, i t is now a kind of rectangular s t a t e of conw

sciousness r a t h e r than a roughly star-shaped one. The d i f fe rences between

T a r t .-15-

any two d i s c r e t e s t a t e s then, exist no t on ly on a molecular l e v e l , but a l s o

i n terms o f t h e i r emergent system p r o p e r t i e s . The same k ind of argument

can, of course, be app l i ed when t a l k i n g about two c u l t u r e s , b u t one must

f i n d no t on ly e p e c i f i c t ra i t d i f f e r e n c e s b u t a d i f f e r e n t s t y l e of organiza-

t i o n of t he se t r a i t s .

Note conec ious ly t h a t the a d j e c t i v e "a l te red" is on ly d e s c r i p t i v e , i t

means t h a t , g iven one d i a c r e t e s t a t e as a base l ine , u s u a l l y ou r consensus

consciousness , r a d i c a l changes occur w i t h r e s p e c t t o i t .

A t our p re sen t l e v e l of knowledge, t h i s systems approach t o d e f i n i n g

d i s c r e t e s t a t e s is mainly a p p l i e d t o what are cotmnonly recognized es r a d i c a l

r eo rgan iza t ions of consciousness , such a s dreaming, l uc id dreaming, hypnosis,

i n t o x i c a t i o n w i t h va r ious drugs, e t c . I'L~ a l s o convinced t h a t q u i t e s t r o n g

emotional s t a t e s a l s o b r t n g about sudden and r a d i c a l r eo rgan iza t ions i n the

func t ions of consciousnese, p a r t i c u l a r l y s t a t e s such as high sexua l a rousa l .

Because time is s h o r t , I must s k i p over many o f the most i n t e r e s t i n g

a s p e c t s of the systems approach t h a t fol low from t h i s b a s i c concep tua l i za t i on ,

such a s t he v a s t importance of i n d i v i d u a l and c r o s s - c u l t u r a l d i f f e r e n c e s ,

what t he major s t r u c t u r e s and subsystems of consciousness a r e , t h e processes

w t ~ s r c b y d i . ~ c r e l . e states arc: ~ t a b i . l i ~ . e d , aric! he : J Z . S I . I : i - e t i l r e ef t . 1 ~ :?rnyu

prac t fces used c r o s s - c u l t u r a l l y , acd go d i r e c t l y t o scme of t h e m e t h o d o l o g i c a %

coasequences cf the systecls approach fcr resezrchsng ~ h j s a r e a

i~ p ~ i m a r ) . . j : l ~ a C t l C r ? , :? ;i!l.y c;ci*c !: j..ffc: t.hec.;ry I s : :rg3nizaf-i c?ni!'J ; I - ~ ) - : [ C ~ ~ Y , .

pr!.,.lar-; fuuct i .on o f t h e sys te lns a p p ~ ~ - ~ ; * ~ + , r.-j :,!ii;rj:ete a l .?c~:ed ct .2 t -es now.

. , :.fi L . e r ~ i ~ a of lily gener-i underscar?cii.ng, i t : w o r k s quj - te w e l l : ~y ;;:;t-:ident-s and

':re a p p l y i n g F t t o t h e e x i s t i n g l i t e r s t u r e on d i s c r e t e a l t e r e d s t a t e s i n

2 ore s y s t e m a t i c way t h i s y e a r . The approai:!l ca!l a l s o lead t o t e s t a b l e

p r e d i c t i o n s . , b e i n g p o t e n t i a l l y capab le of s p e c i f y i n g , fo r example, s t a t e s

of c o n s c i ~ u s n e s s t h a t c a n ~ o t occur because o f t h e b a s i c n a t u r e o f the

human mind and nervous sys tem, b u t , g iven v a s t gaps i.n even our d e s c r i p t i v e

knowledge of n o s t d i s c r e t e a l t e r e d s t a t e s , I am no t elnphasizing p r e d i c t i o n

a t t h i s p o i n t so much a s d a t a g a t h e r i n g .

The prime m e t h o d o l o g i c a l consequence of the sys terns approach for me,

a l t h o u g h i t was n o t my i l i t en t io r i w h i l e deve lop ing i t , i s the way i n which

WRY i.11 w11ir:h we take fo r g r a n t e d th.e st ,abii i izi ; t l .on of our o r d i n a r y consensus

consciousuesEi, ever: i : h ~ ~ g b . i t : i s a 1;ighiy comp~e:r co!!si:ru~ticn, ib ,e sbare:d

Lj-aset; tljut. t t lc scieiitl.: .L .I:'.' I. c CCr,mlt.it! i t:, I i E S ~ J E C : zl!.tiik <3 jf i j i l - c ' .:: <;I-I~G~<I:: L: .3;1Zi2 113 r , j S

>:c$i.j.iE~l. . .. b i c : ~ ~ : ~ 1:hc.t:. :r t , . c~ f : f : ; : ~~ i . : [ - i f~ i> i~ i~~g j . f ;~ : : ; ::,:!.;: y:.ci;$; t;~l:,j:,,(:( t c , , !b:<. <:l . ;~<~, . i . .$ .

?-filpoi:t.iin~~. of C U C L : Q ~ L L :Li.l.:: bn!,;.c. i:,,.:.iureue:;z. :;i.~<.; a i t . c V t , , ,-~.ui;, hi;,& t t . ~ :..LI$..GT t . ~ n c e

. . , ..; :.i.lti ol.ti rind-hod!: prcbler.!: L~ecaust: :;i!; t;? d ~ ; i ? l f : i ~ . I ! ! ? ? : ~ I z F L E [ ~ : I ~ . ~ ) ; ~ , ~ :.a 1. c:il@lzges

. . ;:I:(: cr:nic.t(.;il~:j g:cperj.er!ced :rl ; .iiiri[?us d-jli\,SL;~, i:iLr: queutic-.n, o f !;,fL:.<.bb{-,dy

.- L *. ~ L . d . ~ i ~ n s t ~ i p s , . ,. is open t o e ~ ; p h r i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n , not s o m e t h i n ~ to be by-

passed and l e f t t o p h i l o s o p h e r s rc a r g x abou t .

S e c ~ n d , the sys tems approach ~nphssiles the impor ta t~ce or' a d e t a i l e d

s t u d y of i n d i v i d u a l s . b?e must ca r ry o u t ~i d e t a i l e d mapping: of t h e exper-

l e n t i a l s p a c e s of a c t u a l ind iv i .dua l s t c see how w e l l t he concept: of p z r t i -

c u l a r d i s c r e t e s t a t e s f i t s t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e , and only- when we have a c t u a l l y

o b t a i n e d such c o m o n a l i t i e s a c r o s s i n d i v i d u a l s i n d e t a i l can we s t a r t u s i n g

common s t a t e names and s p e c u l a t i n g abou t t h e u i t i m a t e n a t u r e of t h e mind.

I n p r a c t i c e , o f c o u r s e , we a l r e a d y have common s t a t e names, b u t 1 am con-

v inced t h a t t h e y now h ide a m u l t i t u d e of i m p o r t a n t d i f f e r e n c e s . You may

have, fo:: e:iarnpbe, hayif a tiozc?a i;;iiLv I:l?_;ai& L:: onr: r . i j a : ;dii:? irZ,>vt. a l i l.i.~gc::~ tetl

,Lc;gc q~ln:lt.it;j. o f fi: ,rijuana, Lul: t o ass;jj-&c. i,iiey ~izi! aLi i i r ba.'jicaii.jr he

sane d i s c r e t e a1 tered s t a t e i s v e r y quest:Lonable. T h i s i s p a r t i c u 1 a r : l y t r u e

when the cultura:l. o r subculcu~:a!. b a c k , ~ r u u n c , ~2 Llrc ~ n d i i l . i d u a l s .vai.i .c;s,

?. third clajcr 1nettiodologicaL conseqilence or' ~ u y sys tems ap2rc~acil foLlows

.?coin ::he .?act c h a t i t r e c o g n i z e s t h a t any d i s c r e t e s t a t e o f c o n s c i ~ ~ s n e s a

.i.s i n u l t i p l y s t a b i l i z e d , by buch p h y s i o i o g f c a l end psychoLugica1 p r o c e s s e s .

Thus when w e l o o k a t t h e way al- tered s t . a t e s a r e induced, t h e i n d u c t i o n pro-

c e d u ~ : e s ~ .rJe come t o real.i.ze r_b.at l . ? h i l e !'_{: i s ver:; ~ b j e c t i v e tc descri'bc

whether a g i v e n indu.ctiorr procedure has been engaged. i n , t h a t does n o t t e l l

you whether t h e r e was a c t u a l l y a n y a l t e r a t i o n of c o n s c i o u s n e s s . Although

behav io r has been t h e f a d i n psychology f o r tbe l a s t f o r t y y e a r s , t h e s t u d y

of a l t e r e d s t a t e s f o r c e s us t o look a t e x p e r i e n t i a l d a t a , so , f o r example,

t h e o n l y way to s t a t e unequivocaliy t h a t a n i n d i v i d u a l i s i n a par tFcuLor

d i s c r e t e a i t e r e d s t a t e i e t o conduct some kind of e x p e r i e n t i a l mappFng c h a t

shows t h a t h i s e x p e r i e n c e s a c t u a l l y f a l l i n t h a t r e g i o n of e x p e r i e n t i a l

space. Taking a ~ s y c h o a c t i . v e d rug , go ing through a c e r t a i n r i t u a l , l i s t e n i n g

kc ::: hypnotist t a l k , i-~fifie of t h ~ i j s guaran tee t bac s n y d i s c r e t e a l t e r e d s ta te

will d e w l.(>jj.

F i n a l l y , t h e h i g h l i g h t i n g of t h e c u l t u r a l r e l a t i v i t y of our o r d i n a r y

zsnsene!,is c o n s c i o u s n e s s end ~ h c biases c h a t l i m i t and c o n d i t i o n i t , p l u s s

r e c o g n i t i o n t h a t , i n v a r i o u s d i s c r e t e a l t e r e d s t a t e s , t h e r e a r e sometimes

r a d i c a l s h i f t s i n t h e n a t u r e o f t h e s e b i a s e s , l e d me t o p ropose , severa l .

years ago, t h a t we d e v e l o p s t a t e - s p e c i f i c s c i e n c e s . Al though I c a n ment ion

i t o n l y b r i e f l y h e r e , t h e e s s e n c e o f s c i e n t i f i c method ( a s opposed to t h e

p a r t i c u l a r p r o d u c t s and p h i l o s o p h i e s t h a t have become i d e n t i f i e d w i t h s c i e n c e )

i s a n emphasis on d i s c i p l i n e d o b s e r v a t i o n , t h e o r i z i n g , p r e d i c t i o n , and f u l l

communication w i t h c o l l e a g u e s a b o u t e a c h of t h e s e p r o c e s s e s , a knowledge-

r e f i n i n g procedure a b o u t some segment of r e a l i t y t h a t makes our c o n c e p t u a l i -

z a t i o n s f i t our o b s e r v a t i o n s t o a b e t t e r and b e t t e r d e g r e e . While t r a d i -

in t i o n a l l y t h e a r e a o f i n t e r e s t : i s s m e t h i n g l t h e e x t e r n a l , p h y s i c a l wor ld ,

. . t h e are;;. may kc.. ssoo~e p a r t of exper ie iz t i a l . spacd, phena;ienn VF;I . .~~~L! ill soids

aI.c-l.>-.-btl - .,. .d si-arc . ~ : , y apply- i r tg ; r c ~ e n r i f l c kno~a;i.eilge, k h l s t i i g l ~ i . ~ usc iu l - ,

knowLadgi;-ref iiliag ~nethcd, i u o n l y one d i s c r e t e s t a t e , our consensus con-

sci.i;,.;snens, chc shared and 1.augeiy i l n p l i c i t bLases w i t h i n our i i : ~ j . t ~ ~ ' e

seve!;.;!!.;. l . j . ~ ~ i ~ . : ~ ai:.a.l i ~ i i ~ ~ 0 ~ 7 . s t .y ie C ~ > $ ; ? S T J ~ ~ ~ C ~ S ~ <>ui: c j . f i : ~ ~ ~ ~ i l < : l . ~ : g , y

C i ! r ;; i:. j . 1.c:;: -jt i:ri!d:~(: Q L I ~ re:; c;.n#, arrti our Sty?e::. 0;: i:cim,ilu~rlcatj~:,i~, i,li-;L<i?

-. iiir:%;l., i:!.li , . i i J l , ie\ iE?l~p S ~ i 2 ~ ~ c e s i ; i l l i i (3;IL.y -;CJO~ ili cell L < l i ; i ~ F L ~ C ~ ~ C ~ L L S . ' L ~ ~ ~ L A Y

eXF;i:i':.:?~?.r:efi, of vari.o:is a i r e r e d SiLct i?Y 1 1 2 ~ ~ r S p ~ Y ! : c ' c i t n a ~ t..treie ai:i:

~ n t j . ~ ? r . i . s , aad : - ; r ace - spec i f i c memories aiiique t~ par i i cc r l a r d i s c r e t e a i e e r e d

.. .- s ta tes . :.I znc b a s i c scieni-.Ffic 13sthod were used i n a d i s c i p l i n e d way w h i l e a

group of sci.eilt-.ists were /se+cne+se-waa o p e r a t i n g w i t h i n a p a r t i c u l a r , j i scre te a i t e red s t a t e , w e would

gek a unique view o i t h ings , complementary t o our o r d i n a r y conseneus conscious-

n e s s , and be a b l e LO deve lop v a r i o u s s c i e n c e s t h a t saere practLced iz pai-ci-

c u l a r d i s c r e t c a l t e r e d s t a t e s . Such s t a t e - s p e c i f i c s c i e n c e s may c e r t a i n l y

be q u i c e d i f f i c u l t t o deve lop , b u t t h e y w i l l g i v e us unique and impor tan t

undcrs t and ing , of v a r i o u s lcinds of hunan e x p e r i e n c e s and i u n c t i o n i n g s .

The a l t e r e d s t a t e o r s t a t e s t h a t some shamans e n t e r i n t o , b a s i c t o t h e i r

T a r t - 21-

p r a c t i c e , can on ly be understood t o a l imi ted e x t e n t from the o u t ~ i d e ,

from the l imi ted p o i n t of consensus consciousneee. By teaching s c i e n t i -

these f i c a l l y t r a ined observers t o enter/&Ae same s o r t s of s t a t e s , w e can ob t a in

unique understandings of these s t a t e s which would o therwise be inaccessible.

Given t h a t some of the most moving and important human experiences occur

only in d i s c r e t e a l t e r e d s t a t e s , i t is v i t a l f o r us t o develop s t a t e -

s p e c i f i c sc iences t o understanding. This kind of development w i l l take us

beyond the s tudy of d i s c r e t e a l t e r e d s t a t e s as a c u r i o u s i t y to be s tud i ed

from the po in t of view of our conseneas consciousness , and, by a c t u a l l y

u t i l i z i n g d i s c r e t e a l t e r e d states, allow us t o develop and p r o f i t from a

much wider s e l e c t i o n of our human p o t e n t i a l s .

yr 1- :-I.- -,,,, > > p, . ,La . .;.,,,.,,,I.']:.-.,- 1 -. .~; : ' , - . r ! . . . '.- :> - I : ? ? ,, . . j . s . . , ~ l ( ~ ;:,i,ic] e:<;',eciiil]-.; i:;i<;JrtanJ~ ,>t-;i;'k: c.i-

'out- i c;:c; l; o i; -le 1- , - % t; -. -1 ;: - - I~ , ,, uLA,,L,lg z~].-te r ,e , j : ; - t . t e 5 . '.j c ;:;~...tt zr. t-Lo~:..;

I: ::, ,-. ,, :.,,, l r . ,.> CII-r l:l.Sorat.~)ry o b ~ e ~ ' v : ~ ~ i . ~ ) ~ i s n.re , the?/ a r e one-c~-i-l;xa r?

oloserval;ions, one -cu l tu re i n t e n i s of b o t h cx-i!errirlie:r.ter anci ai;~i:)-

j ect . W e n tliou@n hu.mal E p o t e n t i a l s or:-.3rr L :cily?.c.t .:.fit. jr 2. :--ar-tic-

u l a r c u l t u r e can be b rough t o u t i n a l t e r e c i s . t a t e s , -,-- i l i t . ciic,~l.-tura-

t i o n i7:cocess !7ro'cably i r r e t r i v e a . ' o l y d e s t r o y s solfie ~ ~ o t e : a t i a l : l ; ,

can vastly increase of knowledge of what the vrhole spec-truril of

human 1)oten.tials is and -the mqcxxkh~sr;~ many (but; finite) ways

these potentials can be organized into discrete states of cons-

ciousness. Indeed, the observations that will never be made

across cultures, the conceivable-but-never-observed potentials

and the intellectually conceivable-but-never-observed organiza-

tions of potentials into the functionin;; systems of discrete

states will ulti~xately define the 1iriii.t~ and the nature of the

human mind.

C I ? ~ . ~ . , ~ , . .._, c . I . ! ~ jJ.13;i.