INTRODUCTION:
This topic is loaded with fascination and controversy.
The position taken in this paper is that the experience of an Altered State of Consciousness (ASC) is a normal and natural facet of general human consciousness. The ASC may be considered relatively uncommon despite the fact that it is embedded in our regular biological circadian cycle and can also be consciously developed for experiences in our more common waking state. An ASC is typically of short duration lasting anywhere from minutes to hours. The ACS is also known as a Non-ordinary State of Consciousness or a NOSC.
The term “altered” presses the question - “altered” as compared to what? Similarly, “non-ordinary” as compared to what? If the base line “waking” state constitutes the comparison to the ASC, it is tempting to say that the “waking” state is normal and would then define the ASC as abnormal. This is not correct – in as much as the ASC is different from the typical waking state, the ASC is also normal.
In this paper, the “waking” state is considered common (as opposed to normal) which then recognizes the ASC as uncommon. So, the ASC is normal or natural and occurs as an uncommon state as compared to the basic and more common waking state.
Different systems or philosophies will approach this topic from their own unique perspective. Using classic Freudian/Jungian concepts, it is generally accepted that conscious brain/mind states are but a fraction of brain/mind activities and that a large percentage of such activity occurs at an unconscious level. Access into the unconscious may not be common however simply being uncommon does not make the unconscious abnormal (as stated above). The unconscious brain/mind activity is certainly a normal and natural aspect of the human mental condition.
“Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different." – William James
DEFINING ‘ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS’:
Different cultures and times will consider this topic according to their own values and customs. So, what is the definition of an altered state of consciousness (ASC) and when did it come into usage??
An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called altered state of mind or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. By 1892, the expression was in use in relation to hypnosis though there is an ongoing debate as to whether hypnosis is to be identified as an ASC according to its modern definition. In academia, the expression was used as early as 1966 by Arnold M. Ludwig and brought into common usage from 1969 by Charles Tart. (Wikipedia)
Well, that definition seems a bit broad to say the least. Also, note that in the definition above, the waking state (and not the ACS) is expressed as being “normal” (italics added by this author). This is NOT the position of this paper. Instead of “normal/abnormal”, the perspective of “common/uncommon” is the position here in this paper.
A further classification of Altered States of Consciousness is helpful if one wants to compare or differentiate between induced ASCs and other variations of consciousness. Various researchers have attempted the classification into a broader framework. The attempts of classification discussed in the following focus on slightly different aspects of ASCs. Several authors suggested classification schemata with regard to the genesis of altered states and with regard to the type of experiences:
A classification with five categories was suggested by Vaitl to distinguish ASCs according to how they were induced: (Vaitl, Dieter (2012). Veränderte Bewusstseinszustände: Grundlagen - Techniken - Phänomenologie. Schattauer. p. 14).
- Pharmacological (eg. psychoactive substances)
- Physical and physiological (eg. fasting and sex)
- Psychological (eg. music, meditation, hypnosis)
- Pathological (eg. Epilepsy, brain damage)
- Spontaneous (eg. day-dreaming and near-death experience)
The author of this paper adds one more category to the above five – hypnagogia/hypnopompia (which could be an extension of the Vaitl “Spontaneous” category). This additional category may also be known as the (Forgotten) Fourth State of Consciousness as described in ancient Tantra Yoga documents.
DEFINING ‘NORMAL’ STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS:
The subject of this paper purposefully pushes at the boundaries of basic belief when it comes to “mind/brain” and “consciousness”. Any effort to define and designate “altered” or “non-ordinary” states of consciousness automatically implies a pre-existing standard of “ordinary normalcy”. So, how can we even approach the investigation of what constitutes “normal” and “ordinary” consciousness? Considering that most sources view an ASC as being induced by various means, perhaps a close look at regular and recurrent biological states can give us a foundational baseline. Let’s start with the 24-hour circadian cycle which is fundamental to physiological maintenance and presumed to be “normal” and “natural”. There is no need to induce the circadian cycle when in fact it appears to normally and naturally assert itself upon us.
THE NATURAL STATES OF THE CIRCADIAN CYCLE:
There are four fundamental biological states of consciousness that occur naturally and regularly. As such, it is reasonable to describe them as “normal” in the biological sense and not conditions superimposed by personal or cultural efforts. It is important to appreciate that each of these fundamental states also incorporate variations within the state and are not singular and absolute in and of themselves. The four fundamental states are:
- Waking State;
- Sleeping State;
- Sleeping Dream State;
- Waking Dream State.
Of these four, the Waking Dream State is the least recognized despite the fact that this state is a natural and regularly occurring biological expression in every 24-hour circadian cycle. Consequently, it is appropriate to consider this biological state as The Forgotten Fourth State of Consciousness.
Conventionally, the Waking Dream State is referred to as “hypnagogia/hypnopompia”. The terms are derived from the Greek and mean “leading into sleep/leading out of sleep”. The names yield a basic characteristic of the Waking Dream State which is that these states of consciousness naturally occur in relationship to the shift of the Waking State into and out of the Sleep State. This “transitional” state is a completely normal and natural facet of our physiological regulation that is required every circadian cycle for health and wellbeing. In fact, this transitional state is quite “common”.
The next point is critical.
The Waking Dream State is NOT limited to the brief transitional periods between Waking and Sleeping. In fact, the Waking Dream State can be developed and accessed within and during the general Waking State using various methods and techniques that parallel and overlap with the various types of access listed above (Vaitl) for Altered States of Consciousness (ASC). Two simple examples of ASC experienced in the Waking State are: 1) progressively developed meditation experiences and 2) quickly induced psychedelic compounds. Other approaches could include ACS induced by strong exercise, extended daytime “hypnagogia” and also psycho-physical “flow” states. Interestingly, simply the state of deep conscious relaxation can trigger a powerful “gateway” progression into an ACS. Hypnagogic states developed willfully during the Waking State are known as being “parahypnagogic”.
And this fact points towards an appreciation that opens many doors of deep understanding regarding the normal core of Altered States of Consciousness. The perspective proposed here is that our brain is actually developed in such a way to accommodate these ASCs as an aspect of our normal regulatory and adaptive processes. More than that… if we don’t regularly spend some amount of time in the Waking Dream/Fourth State of Consciousness, our physiological and psychological wellbeing is diminished. The author here proposes the model of a “Fourth State Deficiency Syndrome” as the root cause of numerous regulatory imbalances and complaints. It is easy to recognize that a deficiency in any of the other three states (Waking, Sleeping and Sleep Dreams) will destabilize psycho-physiological adaptation and metabolism. Here it is proposed that a deficiency in the Waking Dreams State/Fourth State of Consciousness will also stimulate imbalances.
If this is true, then our brain must have a design quality to support these processes as normative and beneficial. Current neuroscience supports this premise and the best models to examine for this purpose are the Entropic Brain as developed by Carhart-Harris and team and also an extended model called REBUS and the Anarchic Brain, co-developed by Carhart-Harris and Friston. Friston also brings the “free-energy principle” into the mix.
So, first the Entropic Brain and what it can tell us about Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) being uncommon yet normal.
THE ENTROPIC BRAIN & ASC:
We will here present a concise description of the concept of the Entropic Brain. Full descriptions from Carhart-Harris may be found at the following: The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs; https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/
The Entropic Brain model is derived from extensive innovative research in which psychedelic compounds are used to stimulate the brain resulting in Altered States of Consciousness (ASC). As referenced in the Vaitl list (see above), ASCs can be induced in a variety of ways including but not limited to pharmacological/psychedelic stimulation. The Carhart-Harris team has been successfully using psychedelic stimulation as a means of gaining insight into brain dynamics. To be clear, their interest is primarily in the brain while using psychedelics as a tool of discovery.
Fundamentally, the Entropic Brain model considers our brain to have developed in “bottom up” stages from more primitive sensory perceptual processes into later stages of cognitive conceptual processes. Importantly, in our current developed brain, the older more primitive functions are still in place and contribute essentially to daily consciousness in a variety of ways.
The Entropic Brain model considers the early or primitive consciousness as Primary Consciousness. Primary Consciousness is characterized as being flooded with perceptual inputs with high degrees of uncertainty while also providing a wide range of creative possibilities. Hence, the metaphoric borrowing of the physics principle of “entropy” and applying it more aptly in terms of Information Theory. This increase in “informational entropy” also paradoxically generates a quality of “richness” to this “disorder”. In its most basic information-theoretical form, entropy is a dimensionless measure of uncertainty about a dynamical phenomenon. The Entropic Brain model considers “entropy” as a measure of the uncertainty of neuronal fluctuations across time.
The model goes on to describe another evolutionary period of further neurological development in which a reactionary response emerges to decrease the entropic uncertainty and disorder. This later consequent evolutionary stage is termed Secondary Consciousness and is characterized as an ordered and more certain condition resulting from the reduction and suppression of the wide-ranging Primary Consciousness.
Ordered Secondary Consciousness, utilizing new high cortical development, dramatically increases the likelihood of biological survival and as a result constitutes the majority of Waking Consciousness. So, does Primary Consciousness serve any purpose? The answer is yes it does. When biological survival experiences a significant adaptive challenge and its current Ordered state is insufficient to match the challenge, short periods of Primary Consciousness can provide extraordinary access to creative information that enable the establishment of new higher Orders of problem-solving experiences. The Entropic Brain model proposes that within upper and lower bounds of the range between Primary Consciousness and Secondary Consciousness, the entropy of spontaneous brain activity corresponds to the richness (i.e., the diversity and vividness) of subjective experience, within any given state of consciousness.
In simplicity, one can consider time spent in Primary Consciousness as being equivalent to the experience of an Altered State of Consciousness (ASC).
And in the case of the Entropic Brain model experiments, psychedelics do not cause the experience of Primary Consciousness – the “non-ordinary” qualities of Primary Consciousness are simply expressed as the characteristics of this innate and natural capacity of the brain to temporarily “shift gears” from Order to Disorder and back into Higher Order.
REBUS & THE ANARCHIC BRAIN & ASC:
Karl Friston teamed up with Robin Carhart-Harris to integrate his “free-energy principle” of the brain with the Entropic Brain model. The outcome is REBUS and The Anarchic Brain model. We will get to the “free-energy principle” below but first something about REBUS and the Anarchic Brain (sounds like a punk rock band to me).
REBUS is a kind of (clumsy) acronym. It stands for Relaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics (RElaxed Beliefs Under pSychedelics).
To make sense of REBUS at all, it is important to take a peek at the understanding that our brain is a “pattern-recognition, prediction-generating” organ. Stored “patterns” of experience make up most of the Ordered state of Secondary Consciousness. Based on this library of patterns of experience, our brain is able to generate predictions of perceptions and resulting actions. In the REBUS acronym, these stored patterns of experience that make up much of the Order of Secondary Consciousness are referred to simply as “Beliefs”. Technically, these “beliefs” are referred to as “high-level priors” because they are considered important (high-level) and exist from past meaningful experiences (priors).
These “beliefs” (high-level priors) act as “top-down” filters in the actions of the Ordered Secondary Consciousness. “Top-down” actions are basically “new brain” conceptual activities. “Bottom-up actions are basically “old brain” perceptual activities.
(NOTE: In the Entropic Brain graphic above, the Ordered Secondary Consciousness is underneath the Disordered Primary Consciousness – that is just a graphic design – don’t’ confuse “top-down” and “bottom-up” neurology with the simple graphic design).
Experiences of Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) have the potential to relax Ordered Secondary Consciousness “high-level priors” (aka patterns/beliefs), sensitizing them to liberated bottom-up Primary Consciousness information flow, which, with the right intention, care provision and context, can help guide and cultivate the revision of entrenched negative or outdated priors.
Which leads us to the Anarchic Brain. “Anarchic” is the adjective of “anarchy”. “Anarchy” literally means “without a leader”. So, what is the meaning of “Anarchic Brain”?
In this model, the “leader” is the Ordered Secondary Consciousness because this common Waking State is active throughout much of our daily periods of task fulfillment. It is the “leader” in mundane activities and acts to decipher the flood of ongoing stimulation both from the external environment and our internal awareness.
An Altered State of Consciousness will break away from this leadership leaving Ordered Secondary Consciousness to expand and explore the Disordered and Uncertain realms of possibility offered by the Primary Consciousness. Our brain commits anarchy in the Altered State of Consciousness. The critical point here is this anarchic state is NOT foreign to the brain. It is an intrinsic and innate capacity within the brain to “let loose” of “high-level priors” and explore new adaptive possibilities that may then be retrieved from Primary Consciousness and successfully integrated into newly reconfigured Secondary Consciousness. It is a dynamic form of learning that is necessary when old non-functional molds need by broken.
It may not be a common state but it is certainly a normal state…and thank goodness we have it when we need it.
THE FREE-ENERGY PRINCIPLE: IT IS FULL OF SURPRISES…OR NOT:
We are now going to stretch the underlying concept further to include the “free-energy” principle central to the work of Karl Friston. And yes, this does have importance when it comes to considering “normal” Altered States of Consciousness (ASC).
To put the “free-energy” principle into context, we first need to have a look at “Bayesian Inference” (hang in there – it is actually fascinating stuff that helps us to relate to Altered States of Consciousness – and even the NeuroVIZR experience for those involved).
Bayesian statistics is named after Thomas Bayes, who formulated a specific case of Bayes' theorem in a paper published in 1763. In several papers spanning from the late 18th to the early 19th centuries, Pierre-Simon Laplace developed the Bayesian interpretation of probability. Bayesian statistics is a theory in the field of statistics based on the Bayesian interpretation of probability where probability expresses a degree of belief in an event. The degree of belief may be based on prior knowledge about the event, such as the results of previous experiments, or on personal beliefs about the event. With the advent of powerful computers and new algorithms like Markov chain Monte Carlo, Bayesian methods have seen increasing use within statistics in the 21st century. (Wikipedia)
So, in simple terms, “Bayesian inference” describes a process in which “predictions” are made based on past experience and/or projected beliefs. Then the actual experience is compared to the prediction to see if there are any “prediction errors”. If the predictions are correct then that perspective is reinforced. If the predictions are incorrect, the system attempts to adjust its imprints to better value the experience and reduce further “prediction errors”.
In terms of the Entropic Brain model, the Bayesian Inference “command center” is the “top-down”, “new brain”, well Ordered Secondary Consciousness. By contrast, the Entropic Brain Disordered Primary Consciousness is basically a “bottom-up” “old brain” dynamic. The “top-down” Secondary Consciousness is more “conceptual” and “cognitive” while the “bottom-up” Primary Consciousness is more “perceptual” and “sensory”.
OK, back to Friston and his “free-energy” principle (this Bayesian Inference stuff will help you better understand).
To strip down an impressive and far-reaching concept, the free-energy principle (as applied to the brain) is like this: our brain has a lot to do and consequently, it must be cautious to manage its energy capacity and expenditure. One way to conserve energy is to make as many “short cuts” as possible and by making “educated guesses” (aka predictions), our brain can get the work done faster and more efficiently. Actually, our brain conserves energy by “jumping to conclusions” all the time. And, of course, it doesn’t like making mistakes, especially when it comes down to important actions, especially involving life and death. At the basis of the “free-energy” principle is a well-ordered experience that helps insure biological survival.
Friston puts it in charming terms – our brain does not like SURPRISES.
In this case, a “surprise” equals a “prediction error” - which takes as all the way back to Bayesian Inference and “educative guesses”.
So, Friston claims that our brain fundamentally does not like SURPRISES. Honestly, I am not sure that I agree – which takes us back to the Entropic Brain and Altered States of Consciousness. Actually, we need to also look again at REBUS and The Anarchic Brain as well because there is a lot of important overlapping here.
PRIMARY CONSCIOUSNESS & SURPRISE:
You will recall that in the Entropic Brain model (as well as in the Anarchic Brain model), Primary Consciousness is a non-ordinary, uncommon mental realm characterized by “entropic” Uncertainty and Disorder. Ironically, it is also a realm of expanded possibilities and broad informational access. In the model, these characteristics are described in terms of increased “richness”.
From this perspective, Primary Consciousness can be considered the natural realm of SURPRISE.
Altered States of Consciousness (ASC), induced by a variety of means including but not limited to psychedelic compounds, appear to shift consciousness for limited periods of time out of the common Ordered Secondary Consciousness and into Disordered Primary Consciousness. The psyche is exposed to a myriad of “bottom-up” sensory perceptions saturated by curious and uncommon features and expressions. Typical “top-down” cognitive mental thought processes often transform into layers of symbolic interpretations with potential new perspectives and, sometimes, significant insights. Predictions are confounded and the “moment” can impress itself with a flow of delight and SURPRISE.
The impact upon the basic ego identity can be profound. Here REBUS can become evident and the “relaxing of beliefs” alter the ordinary sense of “self” and can melt away the boundaries of the ego.
CONCLUSION:
Our human brain has a number of natural states and each state contributes to healthy self-regulatory experiences. One such state is the Fourth State of Consciousness also known as Waking Dreams. The Fourth State of Consciousness is a normal and regular feature of our natural circadian cycle that is expressed in transitional states related to Waking and Sleeping. Furthermore, the Fourth State can occur within the period of Waking as the result of cultivated experiences such as meditation and induced by psychedelic compounds to list just two examples. Deep conscious relaxation that does not give way to sleep acts as a reliable gateway to the Fourth State of Consciousness.