Altered states

There is a second positive aspect of the new image of human beings that will allow us to see ourselves in a different light. It is the unfathomable depth of our phenomenal-state space. The mathematical theory of neural networks has revealed the enormous number of possible neuronal configurations in our brains and the vastness of different types of subjective experience. Most of us are completely unaware of the potential and depth of our experiential space. The amount of possible neurophenomenological configurations of an individual human brain, the variety of possible tunnels, is so large that you can explore only a tiny fraction of them in your lifetime. Nevertheless, your individuality, the uniqueness of your mental life, has much to do with which trajectory through phenomenalstate space you choose. Nobody will ever live this conscious life again. Your Ego Tunnel is a unicum, one of a kind. In particular, a naturalistic, neuroscientific image of humanity suddenly makes it obvious not only that we have a huge number of phenomenal states at our disposal but also that explicit awareness of this fact and the ability to make use of it systematically could now become common to all human beings.

Of course, there is an old shamanic tradition of exploring altered states of consciousness. More-or-less systematic experimental consciousness research has been conducted for millennia — by the yogi and the dervish, by the magician, the monk, and the mystic. At all times and in all cultures, human beings have explored the potential of their conscious minds — through rhythmic drumming and trance techniques, through fasting and sleep deprivation, through meditation and the cultivation of lucid dreaming, or through the use of psychoactive substances from herbal teas to sacred mushrooms. The new feature today is that we are slowly beginning to understand the neural underpinnings of all such alternate-reality tunnels. As soon as we have discovered the neural correlate of consciousness for specific forms of content, we will be able, at least in principle, to manipulate these contents in many new ways — to amplify or inhibit them, to change their quality, to generate new types of content. Brain prostheses and medical neural technology are already under way.

Neurotechnology will inevitably turn into consciousness technology. Phenomenal experience will gradually become technologically available, and we will be able to manipulate it in ever more systematic and effective ways. We will learn to make use of these discoveries to overcome the limitations of our biologically evolved Ego Tunnels. The fact that we can actively design the structure of our conscious minds has been ne glected and will become increasingly obvious through the development of rational neuroanthropology. Being an autonomous agent and being able to take responsibility for your own life will take on a completely new meaning once neurotechnology starts to unfold into neurophenomenological technology, or what might be called phenotechnology.

We can definitely increase our autonomy by taking control of the conscious mind-brain, exploring it in some of its deeper dimensions. This particular aspect of the new image of humankind is good news. But it is also dangerous news. Either we find a way to deal with these new neurotechnological possibilities in an intelligent and responsible manner, or we will face a series of historically unprecedented risks. That is why we need a new branch of applied ethics — consciousness ethics. We must start thinking about what we want to do with all this new knowledge — and what a good state of consciousness is in the first place.

NINE

Дата добавления: 2015-10-31