I began to realise that I was the One, and the
universe of which I was the principle was
balancing itself into completeness.
(Dunbar, 1905, pp. 73–74)James described nitrous oxide as stimulating an arti-
ficial mystical consciousness, in which ‘depth beyond
depth of truth’ is revealed and then fades out when
the drug wears off, often leaving only nonsense words
behind. Yet the sense of meaning and insight remains,
and the insights have been compared with those of
Zen (Austin, 2006). There is an experience of reconcili-
ation, said James: a monist rather than dualist insight,
‘as if the opposites of the world, whose contradictori-
ness and conflict make all our difficulties and troubles,
were melted into unity’ (1902, p. 388). As James him-
self said, the question is how to regard these insights.
Ketamine is a dissociative anaesthetic, although it
is rarely used for anaesthesia in humans because
it can induce schizotypal symptoms and terrifying
nightmares, as well as possible long-term harm
(C. Morgan and Curran, 2011). Its main action is as
an NMDA antagonist but among other effects are
inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, dopamine,
and noradrenaline. Ketamine affects attention,
disrupting the deliberate directing of attention
rather than the capturing of attention from outside
(Fuchs et al., 2015). It also disrupts working mem-
ory, episodic memory, and semantic memory, with
measurable effects lasting for several days. Never-
theless, there is evidence of therapeutic value for
schizophrenia, possibly because it reduces activity
in brain areas involved in sensory processing and
selective attention (Musso et al., 2011), and for
severe depression, where it seems to decrease
functional connectivity between networks such as
the DMN and affective and cognitive control net-
works (Scheidegger et al., 2012).
As a recreational drug, ‘K’ or ‘Special K’ is used in
sub-anaesthetic doses for its weird psychological
effects ranging from peace, euphoria, and vestibular
sensations of floating and falling to a dissociated state
of derealisation and depersonalisation in which things
seem distant, unreal, or inexplicable (Stirling and
McCoy, 2010). When injected, the effects begin within
a few minutes and last about half an hour; when eaten, the effect is much slower
and longer-lasting, with after-effects lasting several hours.
stAte-sPeCIFIC sCIenCes
Charles tart (1972a) proposed the creation
of ‘state-specific sciences’, likening soCs to
paradigms in science. Paradigms are general
scientific frameworks within which normal
science operates and whose assumptions usu-
ally remain unquestioned until there are so
many anomalies that a scientific revolution
or paradigm shift has to occur, leading to a
new paradigm (Kuhn, 1962). Within a par-
adigm, a certain self-consistent logic applies,
certain rules are taken for granted, and all
data are interpreted within it. Within a differ-
ent paradigm, other rules apply.
the same is true, says tart, of soCs. they
too involve rules and ways of seeing things
that are self-consistent but different from
those that apply in other soCs, so different
states may need different kinds of science.
Research would have to be carried out, and
results communicated between people, all in
the relevant soC. this would require highly skilled practi-
tioners able to achieve given states, agree that they had
achieved those states, and work within them. they might
then investigate any natural phenomena, but the ways
they did so, and their findings, would make sense only to
people also working within that state.
there are no results from ssss published explicitly as
such, although it is possible that some scientists are doing
sss and communicating with each other in AsCs, without
revealing this publicly. tart (2015) reports, for instance,
that some mathematicians may rely on AsCs to do creative
maths and comprehend others’ work. there is no doubt
that many scientific breakthroughs have been made by
people who saw their problems differently in an AsC and
then brought that insight back to the normal soC, but this
is only halfway there. In any case, the proposal is inter-
esting because it questions the usual assumption that the
‘normal’ state is the only, or best, state in which science or
other research can be done.C
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