On “Ariadne’s Thread” in Consilience by Edward O. Wilson
I haven’t watched “Altered States” yet as Brian recommended. It seems to me that the example of psycho-tropic drugs works both ways as far as establishing our ability to perceive reality. Drugs can show us the alterable and unreliable nature of perception, the dependence of consciousness on brain chemistry. But at the same time they give us a way of gauging our “unaltered” state, or, should I say our state which has been altered only by years of evolution. I think that most people would agree that in this state we are amazingly more able to perceive the world around us, and even if many people do claim drug-induced insight, it is only in relationship to unaltered reality that they are able to arrive at these insights.
aaron :: Nov.14.2005 :: Inscape / Landscape class ::