deepstash
Beta
Deepstash brings you key ideas from the most inspiring articles like this one:
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
3
Key Ideas
Save all ideas
Ordinary and altered states of consciousness
Altered states of consciousness can only be defined if there is an understanding of an ordinary state of consciousness.
While scientists can't agree on a clear definition, altered states of consciousness are nevertheless essential to understanding the human mind.
38 SAVES
220 READS
Modulating states of consciousness
- Excessive dancing, meditation, and mind-altering plants were used in ancient civilizations to modulate the activity of the mind.
- In 1892, the term "altered states of consciousness" was used to refer to hypnosis.
- William James introduced the scientific investigation of mystical experiences and drug-induced states into the field of psychology.
33 SAVES
181 READS
The five altered states of consciousness
- Pharmacological. These altered states include short-term changes caused by psychoactive substances, such as LSD MDMA, cannabis, cocaine, opioids, and alcohol.
- Psychological. Hypnosis, meditation, and music can lead to altered mental states.
- Physical and physiological. An altered state of consciousness is achieved through sleep, where dreams dissociate one from reality.
- Pathological. A traumatic experience causing brain damage can lead to an altered state of consciousness. Other sources include epileptic or psychotic episodes.
- Spontaneous. Daydreaming and mind wandering can cause altered states.
50 SAVES
245 READS
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
Our values
Our values are our preferences about what we consider appropriate courses of actions.
They strongly influence our decisions. Therefore we should take the time to consider w...
The transmission of values
Personal values can be ethical, moral, ideological, social, or even aesthetic. Values are mostly transmitted through parenting, but our cultural environment also plays a role.
For instance, American parents tend to value intellectual knowledge; Swedish parents value security and happiness; and Dutch parents value independence and the ability to stick to a schedule.
The four personal value orientations
There are four different personal value orientations based on our "terminal values " - our desirable states of existence, and "instrumental values" - the means by which we achieve our end goals.
- Personal-competence. "I value wisdom (terminal), which I believe can be achieved through independent thinking (instrumental)."
- Personal-moral: "I valued true friendship (terminal), which I believe can be achieved through honesty (instrumental)."
- Social-competence: "I valued equality (terminal), which I think can be achieved through ambitious work (instrumental)."
- Social-moral: "I value national security (terminal), which I believe can be achieved through obedience (instrumental)."
“So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.”..."
Jorge Luis Borges
Taking care of your mind garden
- Seed your mind garden with quality content. The format may impact how close you are to the source. The depth of the content you consume is not a measure of quality.
- When consuming content, grow branches on your knowledge tree by taking notes. It will help you remember better.
- To tend to your garden, you need to plant new ideas. Do this by replanting stems and cuttings from existing ideas you’ve added to your garden - by consistently taking notes, and combining them together, a bit like grafting.
The generation effect
It argues that you remember information better when you create your own version of it.
You can take short notes, long notes, it doesn’t matter as much as writing your thoughts in your own words.
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
The tip-of-the-tongue, or lethologica, is a common phenomenon where memories seem to be momentarily inaccessible.
Bilingual people seem to experience more tip-of-the-tongue...
How to manage the tip-of-the-tongue state
Next time you experience a tip-of-the-tongue state, don't retrieve the information from memory. Instead, look up the correct answer. Repeat it a few times or write it down to help with encoding.
People that experience the tip-of-the-tongue state often suffer from incorrect practice time. Instead of learning the correct work, they are learning the mistake itself. For example, some music students who claim to practice diligently can get worse over time. This is because they keep on repeating the same mistakes, instead of using deliberate practice. They actually train themselves to make mistakes.