Altered and Transitional States
S. Krippner
Encyclopedia of Creativity 2020 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-375038-9.00008-x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that 'creativity' and 'consciousness' are social artifacts understood differently across cultures, and that cross-cultural comparison reveals perspectives that often differ from Western ones. Proposes that creative experience and behavior are associated with altered and transitional states of waking consciousness, including those produced by psychoactive substances, meditation, and hypnotic induction, as well as hypnagogic, hypnopompic, and daydreaming states. |
Abstract
This article explores the association between creative experience and behavior, and those aspects of waking human consciousness often referred to as altered and transitional states. All these hypothetical constructs (e.g., ‘creativity’ and ‘consciousness’) are social artifacts, viewed differently from culture to culture. As a result, several cross-cultural comparisons are made that demonstrate a wide variety of perspectives, many of them quite different from those encountered by Westerners. Specific attention is given to changes in patterns of phenomenological properties produced by the ingestion of psychoactive substances, by the practice of meditation, and by hypnotic induction. Phenomenological changes associated with hypnagogic states, hypnopompic states, and daydreaming are also considered.