I haven't posted in weeks and today I get to post 3 times ... go figure. Tim, thanks for clarifying my earlier post. What I meant by the phrase 'perhaps unconsciously' was that James could have been self-medicating in the same way someone with a thyroid condition craves and consumes excessive amounts of salt. Such a person would be well aware (i.e., conscious) of their own craving and subsequent consumption, but the underlying reason as to why a craving occurs may be totally unknown to them.
Miguel -------------- Original message -------------- From: "Shearon, Tim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Miguel Perhaps but unconsiously? You think he did it without realizing he was? Seems like you'd have to do that "on purpose" as most of those cylinders are heavy! :) (Miguel- I know you were kidding so please don't take this as an attack on you or your thoughts- but your note really tripped a caffeine fueled pensiveness- or served as distraction from three syllabi!!) No really. He wasn't conscious of the self-medication aspect but was conscious of taking nitrous seems fitting since that requires a bit of choice (I'm not assuming that choice per se but am assuming a sentinent writer since that comes from first person accounts from James). He may have been conscious of birds singing, the smell of a well prepared roast for dinner, his aggitation. Or maybe he wasn't conscious of any of that (and I'm not yet lost in the distinction between conscious and aware which has already been pointed out on list). To Wundt, Skinner, most of us, I think, who are psychologists, this is the problem with the very ill defined line between a scientific psychology and folk psychology - or personal experience (to put it in Wundt's terms). It is difficult to impossible to get this across to most of our students - that Skinner and most of psychology isn't denying that they are conscious- just denying it is the best way to explain what happens from the scientific perspec tive. Sigh. Back to the mundane- "The objectives of this course are. . . . ." :) Tim From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:59 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Re: states of consciousness Given that James suffered from depression, could his use of nitrous oxide be interpreted as an attempt at self-medicating ... perhaps unconsciously Miguel On Feb 26, 2007, at 2:11 PM, DeVolder Carol L wrote: Second, I find it interesting that William James was such an enthusiast of stream of consciousness that he became enamored of the use of inhaled nitrous oxide as a way to expand one's consciousness. --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
