Talk:Altered state of consciousness/Archive 2

Removed

 * There have been recent MRI scans of people's brain while in altered states. Monks had different parts of their brain light up than normal people.

Strange phrasing: "light up". Deleted until references provided. mikka (t) 28 June 2005 19:28 (UTC)

What's this page actually about?
Having read what little there is here in this article, I'm left wondering what it's supposed to be about. R exactly what that is. What do the states of consciousness brought about by the different means listed have in common, that would justify lumping them all together as different conditions that should be placed under the same heading? I don't have the expertise to do it, but if anyone out there wants to add material to this article, it might be useful to include some discussion of the history of altered states of consciousness across civilizations (i.e., that all civilizations have had some means, chemical or otherwise, to induce these states), the purposes of such states (religious, meditative, recreational, etc.). Right now the article just seems too listy. I know there's a lot of interesting info that could go into an article on this subject, and would like to see it expanded; like I said, I'm just not the person with the expertise to do it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolation_tank

"normative"
An altered state of consciousness, also named altered state of mind is any condition which is significantly different from a normative waking beta wave state. "normative"? What the hell? Don't try to sound intellectual if you don't know squat!

If anything, this is "normal". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.227.35.89 (talk) 13:08, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

Trance vs. ASC
How do Trance and ASC relate? Is ASC a special kind of trance?--78.54.218.117 (talk) 04:20, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Brainwave frequencies and bull
I've tried to add some responsible material to the section on brainwaves, but the Web is so full of charlatans and cranks on this point that I'm going to need to search offline here at the library for some reliable data. What I've got up is my (admittedly unsupported) impressions of what the best data looks like. Learning about the analog cutoff was rather surprising! --TheLastWordSword (talk) 16:41, 3 January 2011 (UTC)
 * First let me say that it's great to see someone making an effort with this problem section. The root of the problem though is that this article is supposed to be about unusual states. The focus should be on how the unusual states like trance differ from the norm, rather than just detailing the norms themselves. The link articles define those in some depth already.
 * The other thing is, I've replaced your delta definition, as it was getting confusingly close to defining delta as coma rather than something that happens routinely every night. As I'm arguing for more coma-style material and less other this may seem back to front, but going for consistency treads on your toes less. 92.24.43.110 (talk) 11:00, 5 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I'll respect that, but I'd like to know then, what sorts of brainwave frequencies are observed in an actual comatose state? I don't think you've left much room at the bottom there, and control of heart beat and respiration, regardless of the lack of waking consciousness, requires some brain activity (mostly in the brain stem), and therefore a certain predominant brainwave frequency.
 * By the way, Opal Telecom seems only to provide Internet connections to businesses, such as your location at the end of River Road in Maidenhead, one of the suburbs of London. Is that a residential neighborhood or a business park? What altered mental state are you in when you play tennis out back, or go boating, just outside the front door? -- TheLastWordSword (talk) 16:09, 2 February 2011 (UTC)