Very interesting read. Your points on using exercises like meditation or cultural ceremonies to, at least temporarily access previously dormant neural pathways, that can allow us to have lasting changes on our conscious perspectives of self and other, took me to the current interactions between cultures, individuals, spiritualism, and science, with the use of psychedelics. It also made me think of how collective consciousness, or more specifically our collective social constructions, can either block our ability to advance in new concepts and ways of thinking, or block it, and that often becomes the great battles of division within society that both halt, and spring forward new concepts.
Despite research done decades before now, the “war on drugs” allowed the idea of conscious expansion to the hippies and the dreamers, but as our collective consciousness on how we view and what we know about drugs has caused a major shift. Marijuana is legal, you can buy mushrooms and other substances online with fewer worries of “getting busted by the man”. The legitimacy of science has allowed us to be open to using drugs to heal, to grow, to expand, with fewer worries that what you are doing is wrong and not legitimate cause “drugs are bad mkay?”. So now we continue to be caught between the knowledge that drugs are destructive and cause harm, and drugs are beneficial and healing, and both hold valid truths.
So, how do we as societies hold onto our truths and understandings while also being open to challenging those truths and understandings in order to access different realms of collective consciousness? How do we stay anchored in the safety of knowing self and other as they currently exist without blocking new pathways of awareness and collective consciousness? How open can we be to the unknown and the uncomfortable without losing ourselves in an existential crisis of fear and confusion? How do we move forward and allow ourselves to be receptive to new ways of thinking if we have already established that what we know is right and true already?
I meant boost / enhance, or block in regards to collective consciousness and psychedelics. I am sure I could have edited better but doing this on my phone makes it hard to go back lol
Good observations and questions Casey. I could have included psychedelic substances as more significant tools to induce breakthrough's. There's enough to talk about in that field of study to have a dedicated substack of its own! Glad you enjoyed the article.
Absolutely! I just mentioned it as an example, specifically on how collective consciousness and understanding can both hinder and foster our progress towards new paths of knowledge. Your points on Galileo is another. Galileo did not introduce the concept of a round Earth, but he supported that theory. Instead of everyone accepting this theory, it became a huge controversy. To this day, there are individuals that still hold on to the previous collective understanding that the world is flat. So, collective consciousness can just as easily keep us stuck in what we know, and hinder our ability to achieve different levels of consciousness, as it can help us propel forward and expand our capacity of knowledge.
Very interesting read. Your points on using exercises like meditation or cultural ceremonies to, at least temporarily access previously dormant neural pathways, that can allow us to have lasting changes on our conscious perspectives of self and other, took me to the current interactions between cultures, individuals, spiritualism, and science, with the use of psychedelics. It also made me think of how collective consciousness, or more specifically our collective social constructions, can either block our ability to advance in new concepts and ways of thinking, or block it, and that often becomes the great battles of division within society that both halt, and spring forward new concepts.
Despite research done decades before now, the “war on drugs” allowed the idea of conscious expansion to the hippies and the dreamers, but as our collective consciousness on how we view and what we know about drugs has caused a major shift. Marijuana is legal, you can buy mushrooms and other substances online with fewer worries of “getting busted by the man”. The legitimacy of science has allowed us to be open to using drugs to heal, to grow, to expand, with fewer worries that what you are doing is wrong and not legitimate cause “drugs are bad mkay?”. So now we continue to be caught between the knowledge that drugs are destructive and cause harm, and drugs are beneficial and healing, and both hold valid truths.
So, how do we as societies hold onto our truths and understandings while also being open to challenging those truths and understandings in order to access different realms of collective consciousness? How do we stay anchored in the safety of knowing self and other as they currently exist without blocking new pathways of awareness and collective consciousness? How open can we be to the unknown and the uncomfortable without losing ourselves in an existential crisis of fear and confusion? How do we move forward and allow ourselves to be receptive to new ways of thinking if we have already established that what we know is right and true already?
I meant boost / enhance, or block in regards to collective consciousness and psychedelics. I am sure I could have edited better but doing this on my phone makes it hard to go back lol
Good observations and questions Casey. I could have included psychedelic substances as more significant tools to induce breakthrough's. There's enough to talk about in that field of study to have a dedicated substack of its own! Glad you enjoyed the article.
Absolutely! I just mentioned it as an example, specifically on how collective consciousness and understanding can both hinder and foster our progress towards new paths of knowledge. Your points on Galileo is another. Galileo did not introduce the concept of a round Earth, but he supported that theory. Instead of everyone accepting this theory, it became a huge controversy. To this day, there are individuals that still hold on to the previous collective understanding that the world is flat. So, collective consciousness can just as easily keep us stuck in what we know, and hinder our ability to achieve different levels of consciousness, as it can help us propel forward and expand our capacity of knowledge.