Navigating the Stream of Consciousness

by Reuben Cruz, #10

Hey, are you reading this?

Take a moment to reread the question. Did you actually do it? Have you fully taken in what I am writing to you now?

Chapter 4 of John Kaag's Sick Souls, Healthy Minds deals with the ideas of consciousness and transcendence. To be conscious is something that William James considered imperative for anyone looking to lead a fulfilling life. He states as most of us go through life, "Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake." We don't take full advantage of what we are fully mentally capable of, and in this way, we are not fully conscious. The quickest way for us to fully come into consciousness, according to James, is to have an experience that forces us to become conscious in the moment.

Traumatic experiences can anchor one in the moment, bringing consciousness to the forefront and letting one truly experience existence. For example, one might lose a loved one, as happened to Kaag. However, trauma isn't the only way for one to transcend. Psychoactive substances, like laughing gas or psychedelic mushrooms, are also one possible path to opening one's third eye- or more accurately, their own two eyes, to what reality has to offer. I even entertained the idea that James was in support of and "Ego Death."

I found this video on the topic of ego death very insightful, as it sort of led me in the direction that I think James and Kaag intended me to, and even included a quote from James himself. With this video in hand, I achieved what I feel is a deeper understanding of what Kaag intended me to take from this chapter of the book.