2 Drugs and Consciousness: The Role of Altered States
Chapter 2 considers the potential benefit of altered states from an evolutionary standpoint. Intoxication, as an altered state, precedes man’s use and can be considered a way to adapt to one’s internal state. Many cultures utilize altered states constructively, which is not surprising given the abundance of psychoactive species that occur naturally throughout the world. Shamans facilitate healing by entering an altered state (often using psychedelic plants) to access realms outside of waking consciousness. Dreaming, which is necessary for maintaining one’s mental health, is an example of a naturally occurring altered state of consciousness. Experimentation with these naturally occurring substances may have caused our ancestors to experience an altered state as a useful expansion of consciousness. Over the course of human evolution, our brain size increased exponentially causing speculation by the late Terence McKenna, an ethnobotanist, that ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms by our ancestors was responsible for this.
Dr. Tom Robert’s multistate theory explains the different states of consciousness as “mind applications” that can be combined to make other mind states possible. The psychedelic mind state has the potential to facilitate a mystical state that can alter one’s personality traits and help heal life’s traumatic experiences.
This reframing of the benefits of altered states of consciousness will help you understand why there is increasing interest in using psychedelics as a therapeutic adjunct and a way to access mystical states.
Read
- Psychedelics, Sociality and Human Evolution
- What Western Medicine Can Learn From the Ancient History of Psychedelics
Watch
Hofmann’s Potion (56 min)
