Altered States of a Lifesaving Creative Trance
Tobi Zausner
Cambridge University Press eBooks June 2, 2022 DOI: 10.1017/9781108769280.013 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that creative trance states can enable lifesaving heroism exceeding ordinary human limits, such as a firefighter redirecting a forest fire and individuals lifting multi-thousand-pound vehicles, a capacity the book terms "extraordinary human strength" (EHS). Proposes that EHS aligns with extreme yoga capacities in Patanjali's philosophy and may involve dorsal brain-system dominance, adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol, while exploring quantum sources like vacuum energy and chameleon scalar fields. |
Abstract
Creativity and its trance states can extend to lifesaving acts of heroism that far exceed ordinary human limitations. By entering a creative trance in the middle of a raging forest fire, the firefighter Wag Dodge invented a new way to reroute the path of flames. Altered states can also occur when individuals lift a multi-thousand-pound vehicle to rescue a person trapped beneath it. They display what is colloquially called hysterical strength , which this book calls extraordinary human strength (EHS). With its enormous power and focused open mind, EHS has congruence with extreme yoga capacities in the philosophy of Patanjali. There is a possible dominance of the dorsal system of the brain in EHS and potential effects of adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol. An inquiry into the origin of its power examines quantum sources, such as vacuum energy and possible chameleon scalar fields with suggested correspondences in neural quantum processes and Eastern philosophies.