The Mind At Large

[Nemesix]

As quoted from wikipedia
Mind at Large is a concept from The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley. Psychedelic drugs are thought to disable filters which block or suppress signals related to mundane functions from reaching the conscious mind. In this book, Huxley explores the idea that the human mind filters reality, partly because handling the details of all of the impressions and images coming in would be unbearable, partly because it has been taught to do so. He believes that psychotropic drugs can partly remove this filter, which leaves the drug user exposed to Mind at Large. Huxley was administered mescaline, and had an interviewer prompt him to comment on various stimuli around him, such as books and flowers. The conversation was recorded and the book mainly concerns Huxley's thoughts on what he says in the recordings. He observed that everyday objects lose their functionality and suddenly exist "as such." Space and dimension become irrelevant, and perceptions seem to be enlarged and at times even overwhelming.

According to The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley,

? Each person is at each moment capable of remembering all that has ever happened to him and of perceiving everything that is happening everywhere in the universe. The function of the brain and nervous system is to protect us from being overwhelmed and confused by this mass of largely useless and irrelevant knowledge, by shutting out most of what we should otherwise perceive or remember at any moment, and leaving only that very small and special selection which is likely to be practically useful. According to such a theory, each one of us is potentially Mind at Large.



As i was looking up some information on LSD i came accross this article on the "Mind At Large" i actually think it has some logic involved in it and is plausible. They say we only use 10% of our brains at any given moment, so what is the other 90%? I think it is deffinitely possible that we have the ability to remember anything that has happened in our past. Everyone has those moments when a random event or thought pops into their head a lonngggg time ago. Is it not possible that instead of random clippings of memories in our minds, their is a timeline of our entire life? (what about a past relative who passed on their DNA to you?) imo its a good thing to think about and i would deffinitely say its plausible. Now the only thing left to do is find that one thing that unlocks all of those memories. They say psychoactive substances such as LSD may ^.^

Thoughts on this whole idea/concept?

[REL0AD]

Interesting thread.

They say we only use 10% of our brains at any given moment, so what is the other 90%?

Just found this: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html

[Nemesix]

k to that article, we still dont understand the brain 100% and most likely never will. this leaves gaps in our knowledge of the human brain, which means a lot can fit in there. This is not a very reliable source imo, just look at the title "Neuroscience for kids" but all in all, probably doesnt matter, the fact of the matter is we dont use ALL of our brain power, so what is that extra percent of our brain power used for? (10% is probably low in actuality, but i wouldnt agree with 100% otherwise we'd all be geniouses)

[REL0AD]

k to that article, we still dont understand the brain 100% and most likely never will. this leaves gaps in our knowledge of the human brain, which means a lot can fit in there. This is not a very reliable source imo, just look at the title "Neuroscience for kids" but all in all, probably doesnt matter, the fact of the matter is we dont use ALL of our brain power, so what is that extra percent of our brain power used for? (10% is probably low in actuality, but i wouldnt agree with 100% otherwise we'd all be geniouses)

Yeah it's the first thing google came up with last night, well early of hours of this morning but yeah, I was too tired to look about.

& I agree with the 100% thing. Like you said, we'll probably never understand the brain... Not in our lifetime anyway.

On the subject of drugs opening up the mind: Uppers 'let more in', downers 'let less in'. Meh, I'm tired but I've given people something to build on. I've not a clue about hallucinegenics, mushrooms scared the living snot out of me so I have no interest in any type of drug similar (LSD etc). I'll pop back when I 'wake up'...

EDIT: Also, mental health could come into it. For example:
Normal/Schizophrenic:
http://www.scienceclarified.com/images/uesc_09_img0510.jpg
Normal person/Murderer with deprived background/Murderer with non-deprived background.
http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n07/doencas/brains.jpg
Source: http://www.cerebromente.org.br/

Not sure if I've went off topic there but...

[headcase]

That article was essentially correct. However, it's best to do some reading yourselves on neurotransmitters, their receptors and the pharmacodynamics of certain drugs.

Essentially, you're brain is like a muscle. It's made up of charge-carrying neurons which communicate with each other with chemicals called neurotransmitters. While the actions of these chemicals is complex and not fully understood, we can measure the basics.

Drugs like benzodiazpeines bind to certain "inhibitory" receptors that, when stimulated, reduce brain activity. Drugs like amphetamine increase the amount of meurotransmitters released, essentially stimulating the brain.

While the action of psychedelic drugs is more complex, they work along the same lines. We know LSD binds to certain serotonin receptors. How this causes its psychedelic effects is less certain, but it's believed to increase glutamate release and hence to excite the cerebral cortex.

It's clear that nothing here is especially mystical or occult. Amphetamine releases dopamine, LSD releases glutamate. One stimulates the nervous system in general, one stimulates a specific part of the brain (as that is what glutamate does) which plays a key role in;

memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness.

As such, it's easy to understand the psychedelic effects of LSD.
___

That said, it does raise questions about the power of the "Brain at Large". It does seems our brain has regulated it's output towards the necessary. Huxley puts too paranormal a spin on it for my liking, but it's certainly a relevant point. Exactly how powerful can our brain be? How complete is the cerebral stimulation LSD causes? Could our cortex be stimulated twice as much? What would that be like?

I think we can estimate this answer when we look at the effects of increasing doses of LSD. As the dose increases, thought patterns become more and more erratic. I can think of two reasons for this;

1. The subject has broken through to some higher plane of reality.

2. The cerebral stimulaton has surpassed the minds ability to process it. The physical quantity of neurochemicals has overwhelmed the ethereal mind's maximum workload.

These two conclusions could be further broken down but I don't see what good it would do right now. I'll want for some reaction and reply, which always helps expand on these kind of thoughts.

__

A quick point about the Jungian "collective unconscious" reference. There may be some foundation for the retention of "archetypal" images like fire=bad and lion=bad, but any more complex memories cannot be transmitted from DNA. You're DNA remains essentially unchanged throughout your lifetime, and therefore you're life experiences cannot be coded into it.

Finally, I overlooked Huxley's suggection that the mind exists outside th brain and is capable of comprehending the entire universe, and that the brain is only an instrument to focus that power into the human form because I think that's a different kettle of fish altogether that makes our talk of neurochemicals and pharmacodynamics irrelevant. Along with everything else...

[icharianchem]

im not really sure about the whys and wherefors but ill tell you this, acid expands your mind. Just be really sure you want your mind expanded, cuz it doesnt shrink back all to easily. The stimuli to other areas of the brain thyan we normally excersize forms new bonds between synapses. the more these bonds are used the stronger they become. The problem mainly arises from the fact that...well have you ever met someone who took to much acid?

[Nemesix]

ive never met anyone whose ever even tried acid. buddy of mine was planning on trying it for the first time though. Im going to stay sober and watch how he reacts to it, and then get his opinion on it afterwards but most likely il try it whether he has a good or bad trip. interresting post headcase ^.^ this threads turning out pretty good.

[M_Rommel]

I'm somewhat skeptical of this whole notion that psychedelics can expand someone's consciousness. I've messed around with various psychedelics--my favorite is DXM--and maybe LSD is completely different, but I couldn't really take away anything 'deep' from tripping hard.

Maybe the only thing that I really liked about like...3rd plateau DXM trips is the effect on time. I could swear sometimes that time crawled almost to a stop. Certain 30 second-segments of television shows (I remember the segments, so I timed it when I wasn't high) seemed to last for minutes.

Just my opinion, but I can't really say that Huxley's thesis is correct. I don't think that LSD is the way to enlightenment of any kind, in my opinion, but that doesn't stop it from being a fun activity. ^_^

Oh, last thing to add was that I really think that meditation can give you at least whatever you're looking for in terms of benefits from psychedelics. Give it a try for a few weeks, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

[M_Rommel]

...

[davey_crockshit]

drugs screw with your brain chemistry. there is a part of your consciousness that is affected by that, and there is a part that isnt. it isnt a very big part, of course. for me, its more like a part of me sitting there and watching all this weird shit happen like a movie and not really thinking anything about it if that makes any sense.

sometimes i suspect that if i can isolate that part of my consciousness and learn to think with just that part, interesting things might happen.

just a thought.

[Mr.A]

I think if we were able to use 100% of our brain we would become a God. IMO of course.

This is an interesting idea but it stills sounds like this guy was just looking for a reason to justify in his own head the use of pyschotropic drugs. Addicts, psh, can't live with em', can't live with out em'.:ponder:

[redjoker]

Fucking with brain chemistry is a good way to get a different view. Sometimes a different view is what you need to make a breakthrough. Many of the so called, "greatest minds" would be considered addicts and criminals now.

[Mr.A]

Nice point.:popworm:

[icharianchem]

Tripping is like fishing. Its not how far out you go, its how much you bring back.