INTRODUCTION
Psychology of consciousness is the subsection of psychology. Psychologists may not agree on a definition of “consciousness” or of “the psychology of consciousness,” but they can, to a large degree, agree on which topics and problems are included within the domain of the psychology of consciousness (Natsoulas 1981). It is very hard to get definition of consciousness precisely, it is difficult to understand or describe in words. When attempting a definition of consciousness it is sometimes said that consciousness is identical to experience, or that consciousness is a set of phenomenal feelings (Block, 1995; Searle, 1992) Consciousness can be described as mental images, sensory perception, and awareness fairly. Your consciousness consists of all the thoughts, feelings, sensations, perceptions and memories you are aware of at any given moment (Farthing, 1992). Rene Descartes is a man that well known for his theory towards consciousness. He was born in the town of La Haye, south of France in year 1596. Rene Descartes was known well for his expertise in science and mathematics. However, most of people think that his best of most important work was in philosophy. In the way to discover that what can said to exist in this reality, Descartes came with summary that the only thing that he can be so sure is that he is exist with certainty. He pin point the the phrase from Latin “cogito ergo sum”, means ‘ I think, therefore I am’. Descartes pictures himself as “cos regitans” which mean ‘thinking thing’. In a way, what he was pictured his conscious thought, as we call consciousness. Among most typical topic in the consciousness is “alerted state of consciousness”. It is a temporary state which a person or human can experience, sometimes control one`s behavior, is different in one` normal waking state. Sleep, daydreaming, hypnosis and use of psychoactive drugs are sample of altered state.
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TYPES OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS.
Human consciousness is made up of continuous flow of awareness. Awareness is human awareness of its own self and surroundings .There is few types of consciousness that can be detailed. One of it is awareness of internal events. Awareness from the inside of human is not focused from outside environment, but from the internal. It becomes deep thought of a person and processing self-data. One become aware, that mean conscious actually is experiencing some kind of mental process, new behaviours, and also building new characteristics. Human can feel such internal consciousness through their feeling and emotion. According Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (1975), human as language competent creature can verbalize “I am very tired,” “I’ve been driving car four more than 5 hours”, “I need rest”.
Awareness of external events is another characteristic of consciousness. There is no any internal information inside of human in this stage, but human react or do some behavior in response to incoming stimuli. Analysis of external stimuli takes place and lead human to construct complex motor activity. As result to that human produce complex response towards external stimuli. Neisser (1976) created the ‘perceptual Cycle’ concept, whereby interaction between human and surrounding environment build up the human`s perception and behavior. Neisser said that knowledge and expectations of the world are always activated. This means external events give human awareness continuously. Neisser also argued that theory or schemata is the response to the environment. Taylor et al. (1996) argues that Neisser’s Perceptual Cycle only discuss about awareness of environment or situation, but human awareness of the external events actively modify by the information that extract from surrounding or environment.
The other characteristic of consciousness is awareness of having unique experience. All human experience diverse types of experiences, which may include imagination, emotion, thought and perception. Experiences not only passive experience such as vision or hearing, but also active experience as singing, speech, running and so on. Experiences have unique feature that make give human awareness: we experience them, we live thorough them or perform them. There are things that human can observe and engage to it, but not experience them. As we say, “I see/ do/ think….” It explains that we are aware. According to classical Husserlian phenomenology, our experience is directed toward represents or “intends” things onlythroughparticular concepts, thoughts, ideas, images, etc.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
One of the characteristic of altered state of consciousness is changes in higher level of thought process. It is an alteration in thinking process. There will be disturbance or distortion in concentration, focusing, attention, memory, and judgment findings. Obsolete modes of thought (primary process thought) prevail, and reality testing seems weakened to varying degrees. The connection between cause and effect becomes less distinct, and ambivalence may be noted whereby difference or opposites may coexist without any psychological conflict. According Rapaport (1951) and Brenman (1950) have commented many of these states are associated with a decrease in reflective awareness. In altered state consciousness, cognition will be disorganized, fragmented, not logic and events not related. For an example, people who are drunk will talk nonsense without any logic. It is difficult to argue with them using reason and logic. And people who consume large amount of alcohol can`t remember what happened when they are drunk.
Everyday task is become hard to perform; memory is often disrupted during altered state of consciousness. Memory become less accurate, while people store less data and experience more difficulty in reclaim it. For example, when u put something like staple or pen on your office desk, but you forget about it and start to look for it in other place. Memory distortion is an altered state conscious; Memory is just one example of a cognitive function. Others are thinking, reasoning and problem-solving. When human in altered state of consciousness, some will have hardness to recall information or data from one`s memory. But, regaining memory is usually turned back to normal when individual come back to normal waking consciousness.
Changes in perception and attention processes are another characteristic of altered state of consciousness. In altered state of consciousness distortion of time sense may present. Metzner (as cited in Peres, Simao, & Nasello, 2007) defines altered state consciousness as a temporary change in thinking, feeling, and perception, in relation to the ordinary state of consciousness, and one that has a beginning, middle, and end. Perception of time and chronology become hugely altered. Individual emotion of timelessness, time is not moving at all, the fastness or slowness of time, and so on, is normal. Time may also seem limitless or extremely small duration. Time feels like period of time moves so fast or too slow than normal. For example after a while talking to friends may feel that it’s just 11pm but it`s actually already 2am in the morning. In another situation we may fell time move slowly, in example sometimes we fall asleep and woken, we fell that slept for an hours but actually it’s just few minutes of sleep. Or after we woke up in the morning we feel that we just slept for few minutes but we slept for more than eight hours.
The fourth character of altered state consciousness is changes in emotional feeling and self-control. With the reduction of conscious control or inhibitions, there is often an obvious change in emotional expression. Ludwig (1966) listed the following characteristics of the altered states: alterations in thinking, disturbed sense of time, loss of control, change in emotional expression, change in body image, perceptual distortions, change in the meaning or significance of things, a sense of ineffability, feelings of rejuvenation and hyper-suggestibility (Kokoszka, 2007). Sudden and unexpected manifestation of more primitive and intense emotion than can be seen from normal, waking consciousness may appear. Emotion is shown in extreme. Drugs or alcohol is used to get over the feeling of fear and depression. There is some individual that detached, uninvolved or relate intense feeling without showing their true emotion. The sense of humor also disappears. In altered state of consciousness self-control is often compromised. For an example, when we are in sleep we move here and there a lot, and we even talk in sleep. We are not in control of such behavior even though we want too. The test to justify that altered state of consciousness may led to unable to self-control is to walk in straight line while a person in alcohol induced. The ability to coordinate the motor of movements is compromised. Individual who is drunk more likely will involve in high risk taking activities such as unprotected sex, drink and drive or taking drugs because the state of consciousness is reduced and it make them unable to control themselves. When someone in altered state of consciousness, they will be having inappropriate emotions or feelings. They may seem happy in a funeral, tearing when given present or become uncomfortable when someone smiles at them.
WHY SOME PEOPLE SEEK TO ALTER THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS
There are few reasons why people seek for altered state of consciousness around the globe. One of the reasons is for sacred ritual. This sacred ritual may be varying from one culture to another. This sacred ritual may to heal someone or to get connected to god. Traditional healing in tribal societies is often described as shamanism, which is a family of traditions whose practitioners voluntarily enter altered states of consciousness to interact with spiritual entities to heal people who are ill or distressed (Eliade, 1964). There are so many ways that one can get into altered state of consciousness to do ritual consciousness such as singing, dancing or drumming. Jilek (1982) found that the altered states produced in the Salish Spirit Dance and the Sun Dance is similar, and he proposed that the sensory stimulation in the dances releases neuro-endocrine opioid agents that produce a peak experience. Rhythmic auditory stimulation has long been known to induce altered states of consciousness, whether the means is chanting, singing, drumming, or shaking a rattle (Walsh, 1996). Meditation in Buddhism is a technique to get a along with god and it is one of the way to get altered state of consciousness. Meditation has been used for centuries by religious practitioners to achieve altered states of consciousness. The altered states of consciousness that can be produced by isolation, certain psychoactive drugs, and repetitive behaviors such as chanting, drumming, and whirling have been a respected topic for many years in transpersonal psychology (Boorstein, 1980).
Another reason why people seek altered state of consciousness is to get self-pleasure. Pleasure or feeling happy is the emotion that people searching, and the experience of very deep pleasure or euphoria is the most important reason why people seek for altered state of consciousness by using drugs. Young people in contemporary society are characterized as operating within a culture of hedonic consumerism which prioritizes leisure and the pursuit of pleasurable experiences through heightened states of intoxication (Measham,2004) Prohibited drugs offer a person to escape the reality and one-self that will detach person from this world. Some people want to get away from unwanted situation such as stress, anger and so on, but some others may want to escape from more than this reason, they actually want to escape from themselves too. Self-consciousness is. Self-awareness is highly evaluative and it can be very hard to maintain a certain image of the self. By using drugs it make someone to not remember a part of themselves that they don’t want and sometimes it makes them to look into different part of them that they not familiar. Drugs can alter the consciousness and give timely relief from stress of life but still it`s not permanent. Experiential consumption centers on the search for happiness, meaning and fulfillment which is completed through the symbolic use of products (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1992). Altered state of consciousness can make people transcendence by using drugs. Drug works on nervous system to modify perception and change the mood. People use drug to deal with their life difficulties. Taking psychoactive drugs and drinking alcohol reduce one`s tension, boredom and tiredness, which give the power to escape from reality and get pleasure. These include losing track of one’s responsibilities, problems in the workplace and in relationships, drug dependence, and increased risk for serious, sometimes fatal diseases (Zilney, 2011). For instant, consume alcohol make people relax and don`t remember their problems and worries. However, if one consumes more and more to forget all the problem and get pleasure, they may become addicted to alcohol and it can destroy their health, carrier and also relationship
Social interaction is another cause why people seek for altered state of consciousness. In some part of world induced altered state of consciousness is a basic thing in their social gathering. Measham (2004) views the youth’s culture of intoxication as one of ‘determinedness’ where the aim of a big night out is to drink to get drunk and to get drunk as quickly as possible. In west countries alcohol is served in various kinds of functions and gathering. Drunkenness and the process of getting drunk is not only an accepted aspect of youth leisure culture but has gained a level of unprecedented cultural importance acting as a powerful device in the articulation of social relationships, aspirations and values (Measham, 2004; Sande, 2002). For many, a drunken state of being is deliberately sought in the aim to experience the intensity, joy and euphoria of intoxication; where experiential pleasure is central to the pursuit of an alternate state of consciousness (Duff, 2008). At basic level, drinks are used to describe types of occasion or celebration. In many western countries, champagne is used or known to be served in celebrations, if anyone ordered or served it on normal occasion, someone will ask “What we are going to celebrate today?”. In Austria sekt, is a time to get drunk on formal occasions or celebration. While schnapps is more to intimate, or with new friends, it’s a type that served in informal social gatherings and functions. The choice of drink also dictates behaviour, to the extent that the appearance of a bottle of schnapps can prompt a switch from the ‘polite’ form of address, sie, to the highly intimate du (Thornton, 1987).
CONCLUSION
Consciousness is clarified or descried as memories, thought, emotion, sensation and perception that human aware or realize of any moment or time. Anything that exists with certainty is widely questioned by Rene Descartes. ‘I think, therefore I am’ expression is the cause of he think of being and had consciousness. In another hand, William James equaled consciousness of human to a stream. That is consciousness is ongoing and continuous also always changing, and due that we cannot well define start and end of a thought. Consciousness can by parted into two major levels of consciousness, normal waking consciousness and altered state of consciousness. Nowadays science tries to explore connection between biology and consciousness. Modern psychologist theorizes that consciousness must offer a reproductive advantage (Barash, 2006). By considering affect consciousness helps in long term interests then attempt to get short term pleasure and avoiding pain.
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