Altered States of Consciousness

Altered States of Consciousness Essay Altered States of Consciousness Consciousness is a state of awareness. This includes a person’s feelings, sensations, ideas, and perceptions. There are many different states of consciousness. Sleep is a state of altered consciousness, characterized by certain patterns of the brains activity and inactivity. An altered state of consciousness is when a person is not completely aware of their surroundings. Some researchers believe that we sleep to clear our minds of useless information. Other people believe that it is a type of primitive hibernation: we sleep to conserve energy. There are four stages of sleep. In the first stage (10 min. into sleep), your pulse slows down and your muscles begin to relax. Your breathing becomes uneven, and your brain waves grow irregular. During the second stage, your brain waves occasionally shift from low aptitude, high frequency waves to high aptitude, low frequency waves. Your eyes then start to roll slowly back and forth. Thirty minutes into your sleep you enter stage three. In this stage, large-amplitude delta waves begin to sweep your brain about every second. Stage four is the deepest sleep a person gets into. Large regular delta waves occur about 50% of the time. This indicates a person is in a deep sleep. Talking out loud, sleepwalking, and bed wetting all occur during this deep sleep stage. Things that happen during this stage leave no trace on a person’s memory. While in stage four, a person goes through a stage of sleep called REM. REM sleep is a stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movement, a high level of brain activity, a deep relaxation of the muscles, and dreaming. Another state of consciousness is hypnosis. Hypnosis is a state of consciousness resulting from a narrowed focus of attention and characterized by heightened suggestibility. By allowing the hypnotist to direct them, people can be made conscious of things they’re usually not aware of. While a participant is hypnotized, they become highly receptive and responsive to certain internal and external stimuli. They are able to focus their attention on one tiny aspect of reality and ignore all other inputs. The hypnotist induces a trance by slowly persuading the participant to relax and lose all interest in external distractions. The participant is not under the hypnotists control but can be convinced to do things that he or she would not normally do. However, anyone can resist hypnosis by refusing to open his or her mind to the hypnotist. Another state of consciousness is meditation. Meditation is the focusing of ones attention to clear the mind and produce relaxation. There are three major approaches to meditation. The first approach is Transcendental meditation. Transcendental meditation involves the repetition of a mantra, usually a Sanskrit phrase. The participant sits with his or her eyes closed and meditate for 15 to 20 minutes twice a day. The second approach, mindfulness meditation, was developed from a Buddhist tradition. Mindfulness meditation focuses on the present moment. For example, the participant might move his or her focus throughout the body, from the tip of their toes to the top of their head, and paying very close attention to areas that cause pain. The third approach is breath meditation. Breath meditation is when a participant focuses his or her respiration-the process of inhaling and exhaling in a rhythmic pattern. Most people believe that proper breathing can help one self to be stress free. Researchers agree that most people can benefit from some sort of systematic relaxation that meditation provides. Meditation has been shown to lower blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration rate. However participants only see the full affect of their cleansing meditation if the continue to practice it. Altered states of consciousness can be achieved many different ways. READ: Lessons John Griffin Learned In Black Like Me EssayOne way is through the use of drugs. Psychoactive drugs are chemicals that affect the nervous system and result in altered consciousness. A psychoactive drug can range from stimulants like the caffeine in your coffee or in cola drinks to depressants like alcohol to powerful hallucinogens like marijuana and LSD. Marijuana has increased throughout the 1960s and than most of the 1970s, but since then it has declined. The active ingredient in marijuana is a complex molecule called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which occurs naturally in the common weed Cannabis sativa, or Indian hemp. The effects of the drug vary from person to person and also depend on the setting in which the drug was taken and the users past experiences. In general, most marijuana users report hyperactive senses. To them, colors seem brighter, music sounds fuller, smells are stronger, foods have stronger flavors, and other experiences seem more intense than usual. To some, the world might seem more meaningful, and even the most simplest of tasks may take on an extraordinary significance in the participants day. However, as some users have come to know, the drug can instill or heighten a variety of unpleasant experiences. If the user is frightened, unhappy, or depressed to begin with, the chances are good that taking the drug will blow the negative feelings out of proportion so that their world, until the drug is worn off, becomes very upsetting. Cases have been reported in which marijuana appears to have helped bring on psychological disturbances to people who were already unstable before they used it. Although there is no direct evidence that marijuana causes lung cancer, the tar and other chemicals in marijuana smoke are drawn into the lungs and held for over 20 seconds, adding to the potential for hindering the lungs functions (Ray Ksir, 1993). Marijuana also disrupts memory formation, making it difficult to carry out mental and physical tasks. Some researchers believe that long-term use of the drug could lead to dependence. Also adults using marijuana scored lower than equal-IQ users on a twelfth-grade academic achievement test. References -Psychology Glencoe (Book) www. alteredstatesofconsciousness. org/ -www. skepdic. com/altstates. html -www. unexplainedstuff. com/ /Altered-States-of-Consciousness. html

How globalization affect small businesses Essay

How globalization affect small businesses - Essay Example This paper examines how globalization affects small businesses. Background of Globalization Globalization can be defined as a process of moving goods, people and ideas due to the increased trading and economic activities which is greatly affected by economic integration of different countries. Globalization is a tool that is used by many countries to control economic power. It was used to influence policies, expand trade and gain economic advantage over other countries and organizations. Globalization is traced back to the First World War where super countries applied it to harness their communication and have access link to transport to different parts of the world with an economic motive. The first instance of globalization was directed by the super power to have access over India. Trade was a major link that the super power countries could access their political and economical goals; therefore they used various theories which later resulted to globalization. Countries considering themselves as superpowers were very much engrossed during the world war, but they introduced various policies within their boundaries to protect their interest while they pursue other interest which did not directly affect their country. An example is that some countries sanctioned the importation of manufactured products. This encouraged the Great Britain to expand its market by taking advantage of the situation where countries sanctioned the importation of their manufactured products by liberalizing its trade to increase its economic production while the war was being fought. After the war, many countries introduced trade tariffs which were aimed at restoring domestic industries and economic production and this highly affected other parts of the world resulting to the process of globalization (Shuman 150). Globalization In the Past and Today Globalization in the pasts was known as the anti-globalism period because of the wars which were surrounding its era. The first face is trace d during the Napoleonic wars to the First World War. It was characterized by international trade, financial flow and migrations of different races to areas where they considered havens. The trade during this era was high compared to the output that was being produced in the world by different countries. Global integration was promoted during this era because of the lowering of trade tariffs and transport cost. Transport cost was significantly reduced because of the railroad and roads being constructed on different parts of the continent. In the past, globalization was also characterized by different policies like the sanctioning of Corn Laws in Britain. Countries put in place a trade liberalization trend which was highly geared towards improving economic activities in the region. The current globalization is characterized by policies from developed and developing economies which support the process of globalization itself. The industrial sector has greatly improved because of the pr esence of skilled labor obtained from educated workforce. New technologies have also promoted globalization in the current eras they linked transport and communication as individuals living in this century are able to access vital information and communication. ICT trends within the continent have promoted and made globalization easier as it has led to the cost of accessing information and communication globally. Moreover, globalization during this contemporary society prides itself

Summury and response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summury and response - Essay Example Only 87 students that were of Chinese descent graduated from the university 5 years ago, while 2224 will graduate from the same university this year. Enrollment of international students has grown tremendously in the last years by over 6 percent with china having the highest figures of over 20 percent that prefer the big public colleges. This figures help to give an insight into the metamorphosis of the public universities in America in a time when support from the state has reduced. There are about 25 campuses that have amplified international enrollment to more than 40 percent in the last five years according to data collected by the Institute of International Education except one public university. The enrollment in Indiana has gone over 6,000 to 15 percent of the students in the university while in Illinois it has reached 9,000 and consequently it has been ranked as the second in the country. These universities are perceived to put importance on having international students and the ideas that they bring since they pay all their fees and don’t need financial aid. The universities have discovered that the fees paid by the international students can enable them continue to offer scholarships to help the local students even after funding is cut. As at last year, there were over 700,000 international students in the campuses in the US most of them coming from China and the rest from India and South Korea. The number of students from Saudi Arabia is fast growing since their government has established a lucrative sponsorship program. These students bring in over 22 billion dollars to the economy and most of them remain behind after they graduate either to work or continue with their studies. Indiana prefers international students since the rate that they pay in fees is three times what the local ones pay though this denies the local students from getting chances that are offered in this