I now want to title my dissertation:
The Technology of Trance, Madness and Meditation.
I want to look at the tools and skills involved in and produced by these altered states of consciousness.
The etymology of the word technology means “the study of skills/tools”.
In some modern forms of psychology and linguistcs thought processes and neural structuring are thought of as forms of technology.
As such i will treat the neurological effects of these states as a form of technology.
There is the technology that is used to induce these states:
Trance: drums, certain drugs, hypnosis etc
Madness: certain drugs, stress, genes ect
Mediation: singing bowls, crystals, chanting, certain physiological postures ect
I am only interested in looking into the form of madness known as schizophrenia, as this is the only form of madness, apart from autism, known to cause direct alterations in the percieved sensory data of the experiencer. I am not interested in looking at autism because the distortions and alterations in the autistics perception have the effect of numbing ones perception of the world, while i am interested in looking at ways in which one perception of sensory data is heightened, even if it is internal sensory data like thoughts and “visions”.
To conclude i will see if I can find any common threads that run through the technologies of all three states of consciousness, and any glaring exeptions.
My thesis is that there is a common thought process/emotional state associated with all three states and that infact they are all different methods (intentionally induced or otherwise) of accessing, gaining insight into, and re-programming the unconscious mind.
