Gary Miller wrote: >> People who have pursued the experience such as myself and have been > given small tastes of success will tell you unequivocally that if it is > not endorphins that are being released then there is something even more > powerful at work within the brain.
I think that it has been fairly well established that endorphins are involved in these "flow" states; my contention is that concious sensation is a result of the change in neural activity patterns caused by neurotransmitters and other factors, not the neurotransmitters themselves. IMO this is important b/c it generalizes conciousness as a property of complex dynamic systems such as the brain > The interesting thing is that while in this state you perceive the > intellect as being greatly heightened, with thoughts flowing at an > extremely accelerated pace and the sense of one's self or being separate > from everything else is eliminated or greatly diminished. Mystics who > devote their live to the self-inducement of this state are not > necessarily doing so for just philosophic or religious reasons. The > sense of clarity and pleasure experienced during the state may be very > addictive and may be the basis for the revelatory experiences that > inspired all modern day religions. In many cases the experiences are so > strong that a single experience has been known to cause people to > completely change the direction of their lives. I've experienced this state before, it is very powerful... > While it is difficult to separate the scientific literature from the > large body of new age and religious hyperbole, there may be an overdrive > gear that can be triggered in the mind by practice of meditative > biofeedback. > > Should a FAI have a MetaGoal to maximize it's own perceived pleasure. > Since the FAI will need a mechanism to prioritize it's internal goal > states the external trigger for such a state could be used reprioritize > the FAI's goals states at least during early development to induce it to > follow positive modes of thought and stay out of areas such as obsessive > compulsive behavior, antisocial behavior, paranoia, megalomania and > other states associated with mental illness. Current research into mental illness does indeed suggest that such disorders are the result of faulty internal mechanisms which in a "normal" person keep the mind on an even keel. the Discovery channel had a program about OCD on not that long ago that profiled a team of researchers who are testing that hypothesis J Standley http://users.rcn.com/standley/AI/AI.htm ------- To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your subscription, please go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?[EMAIL PROTECTED]
