Hyperconsciousness: Creative Mode: Research Report
From English 194 Wiki Site
By Christopher I. Gonzalez
10:06, 9 May 2006 (PDT)
Contents |
Abstract
Consciousness is defined as being “an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation.” Sentient cognition remains largely restricted to the immediate “reality” of an experienced/observed environment. In Consciousness and lCreativity, Sumita Roy notes that: “Creativity…begins with the insistent urge to organize and channel, coordinate and control nature to become tractable to the different levels of consciousness” (58). Creativity, as Roy suggests, requires a departure from conventional notions of consciousness. Creative cognition recognizes and explores the possibilities of hyperconsciousness as an appropriate catalyst for creation. Roy continues: “The study of the creative mind yields rich dividends because the creative manifestation of consciousness is a much higher and more comprehensive level than the ordinary state of consciousness” (VI). Creative manifestation, as an expression beyond normal consciousness, shares an affinity with hyperconsciousness and cognitive manipulations/alterations.
Description
The acceptance of creativity as an expression of hyperconsciousness allows for the examination of alerted states of consciousness studied by Charles T. Tart and Arnold M. Lugwig.
Analysis and Evaluation
Charles T. Tart’s Altered States of Consciousness surveys various modes and implications of hyperconsciousness. “For any given individual, his normal state of consciousness is the one in which he spends the major part of waking hours” (1). Tart characterizes conventional consciousness as having an “adaptive quality…both physical and psychosocial” (2). Specficially, a normal state of consciousness familiarizes itself through interaction with an immediate environment and a dependence on the senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. Beyond conventional notions of realism, “an alerted state of consciousness for a given individual is one in which he clearly feels a qualitative shift in his pattern of mental functioning, that is, he feels not just a qualitative shift, but also that some quality or qualities of his mental processes are different” (1-2). Though fundamentally vague, Tart underscores the digression of the consciousness from reality for the promotion of thought outside of conventionality; the production of creative thought.
Tart’s explanation of altered states of consciousness borrows largely from Arnold M. Ludwig’s essay on the exploration of the hyperconsciousness. Ludwig defines an altered state of consciousness “as a mental state, induced by various physiological, psychological, or pharmalogical maneuvers or agents, which can be recognized subjectively by the individual himself…as representing a sufficient deviation from certain general norms for that individual during alert, waking consciousness” (11). Additionally, Ludwig outlines an assortment of cognitive manipulations that produce altered states of consciousness:
“Reduction of exteroceptive stimulation and/or motor activity” (12). The first cognitive manipulation involves the suppression of the immediate senses and the restriction of most or all bodily movement. “Under this category are included mental states resulting primarily from the absolute reduction of sensory input, the change in patterning of sensory data, or constant exposure to repetitive, monotonous stimulation” (12). The manipulation is most evident with instances of solitary confinement and boredom, which produces states of unusual delirium.
“Increase of exteroceptive stimulation and/or motor activity and/or emotion” (13). The production of the altered state of consciousness is the converse of the aforementioned cognitive manipulation. Rather than suppressing a substantial amount of sensory input, the manipulation aims to produce a “sensory overload or bombardment, which may or may not be accompanied by strenuous physical activity or exertion” (13). This management of sensory input to extreme levels fatigues both the mind and the body, leaving the cognitive participant vulnerable to mental suggestions. Ludwig notes that such manipulation is used with brainwashing and instances of abrasive interrogations. Additionally, an overload on cognition may also produce reactions “from inner emotional turbulence or conflict or secondary to external conditions conducive to heightened emotional arousal” (13). These emotional arousals are characterized by states of panic and psychotic episodes.
“Increased alertness or mental involvement: mental states which appear to result primarily from focused or selective hyperalertness with resultant peripheral hypoalertness over a sustained period of time” (14). Rather than overloading cognitive input, the cognitive individual exposes him/herself to an elapsed period of mentally processing.
“Decreased alertness or relaxation of critical facilities” (14). The categorization of this mental manipulation is usually associated with religious practice or, rather, attaining a mental state equivalent to the “divine.” Ludwig notes that these altered states of consciousness are produced “through passive meditation; occurring spontaneously during the relaxation of one’s critical faculties” (14). The Buddhist notion of nirvana is the most notable characterization of this particular, cognitive state.
The last producer of altered states of consciousness, as noted by Ludwig, is the “presence of somatopsychological factors…mental states primarily resulting from alterations in body chemistry or neurophysiology” (14). These cognitive states can be produced without the interaction of outside agents. Dehydration, sleep deprivation, and hyperventilation, as Ludwig points out, produce an alteration of consciousness under this categorization. Moreover, “the administration of numerous pharmacological agents, such as anesthetics and psychedelic narcotic, sedative, and stimulant drugs,” (15) denoted by Ludwig, is equivalent to the aforementioned, somatopsychological factors produced by a fatigued physical state.
Though not directly attributed to the creative process, Ludwig’s delineation of the modes of altered consciousness provides for “differences in outward manifestation and subjective experience” (15) apart from the immediate sensory input acquired through normal interaction with “reality.” Collectively, Ludwig’s modes of consciousness manipulation provide for a broad interpretation of “altered thinking.” The variance in sensory input/output for the purpose of an altered state creates a departure from “archaic modes of thought (primary-process thought” (15). As Ludwig points out, “the distinction between cause and effect” is distorted through the process of altered consciousness, and the cognitive participant is characterized as being “ambivalent” (15) in the new state. The quality of ambivalence in the altered state of consciousness results in what Ludwig characterizes as a “loss of control” (16). The inability to distinguish between an established reality and the reality of the altered cognition creates sentiments of “impotency and helplessness” (16). As Ludwig notes, such loss of control often implies the appropriate departure from the restraints of conventional consciousness and the acquisition of the hyperconsciousness. Much like the mental state of Buddhist nirvana, the participant “relinquishes conscious control in the hope of experiencing divine truths, clairvoyance, ‘cosmic consciousness,’ communion with the spirits or supernatural powers, or serving as temporary abode or mouthpiece for the gods” (16).
The most relevant quality of the altered state of consciousness is the ability to acquire a wide-array of “insights” not before recognized through normal consciousness. “At times [of altered consciousness], it appears as thought the person is undergoing an attenuated ‘eureka’ experience during which feelings of profound insight, illumination, and truth frequently occur” (17). Much like the third step in Graham Wallas’ model of Creative Thought, the acquisition of insight qualifies as an instance of inspiration requiring an expressional catalyst for the cognitive participant. Though “profound,” the illumination of an altered consciousness may be limited in validity: “...[the] sense of increased significance, which is primarily an emotional or affectual experience, bears little to the objective ‘truth’ of the content of this experience” (17). Specifically, the profound experience of an altered consciousness is exclusive to the individual’s altered state of consciousness and is not easily expressed through common modes of communication.
Ludwig characterizes the inability to communicate an illumination as a “sense of the ineffable” (18). “Most often, because of the uniqueness of the subjective experience associate with certain altered states of consciousness (e.g. transcendental, aesthetic, creative, psychotic, and mystical states), persons claim a certain ineptness or inability to communicate the nature or essence of the experience to someone who has not undergone a similar experience” (18). Apart from incommunicability, Ludwig also notes amnesia as a factor to the deficiency of expression resulting from certain modes of cognitive manipulation. Subsequently, the experiences and illuminations, as a result of the altered mind, employs the participant to explore proper modes of expression; a creative manifestation. Ludwig asserts: “Man has employed a variety of [altered consciousnesses] in an effort to acquire new knowledge or experience, express psychic tensions or relieve conflict without dancer to himself or others, and to function more adequately and constructively in society” (21).
Ludwig’s assertion of acquiring new knowledge or experience through altered states of mind is appropriate to Roy’s notion of creativity. "There are…numerous instances of sudden illumination, creative insights, and problem solving occurring while man has lapsed into such [altered states of consciousness as trance, drowsiness, sleep, passive meditation or drug intoxication” (22). Creativity, though, is not restricted to the cognitive manipulations laid out by Ludwig. Rather, the exploration of Ludwig’s study allows for an understanding of a consciousness beyond reality; it is an examination of intangible modes expressed and experienced in both altered consciousness and creativity.
Works Cited
- Tart, Charles T., and Arnold M. Ludwig. Altered States of Consciousness. 2nd ed. Garden City, Ny: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1969.
- Roy, Sumita. Consciousness and Creativity. New Delhi: Sterlings Private Ltd., 1991.
- Hughes, James. Altered States: Creativity Under the Influence. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1999.
Additional Resources
- Wordnet: Princeton University
(http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=consciousness)
Edited by Daley Tocher 00:35, 13 May 2006 (PDT)
