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Altered States - Term Papers

Altered States

Most americans are not alcoholics. Most of us do not smoke marijuana to get high. LSD trips went out of style along with the flower children of the sixties. Nevertheless, many Americans are walking and driving around with their minds slightly out of kilter. In its attempt to cope with the modern life, the human mind seems to have evolved some defense strategies. Confronted with inventions like the automobile, the television, and the shopping center, for example the mind will slip--al by itself--into an altered state.
First of all, the mind must now cope with the automobile. In the past no human being ever sat for hours at a time, the the same position, staring at endless white lines ...

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a pleasant imaginary world where its owner wins all arguments, tells hilarious jokes, and attracts the opposite sex like a magnet. By splitting into two halves, the mind deals with the boredom of driving.
The mind has defence not only against the auto but also against television. Since too much staring at flickering images of police officers, detectives, and talk-show hosts can be dangerous to human sanity, the mind automatically goes ito a TV hypnosis state. The eyes see the sitcom or the dog food commerical, but the mind goes into a holding pattern. NOne of the television images or sounds actually enter the brain. This is why, when questioned, peoplecannot remember commercials they have seen five seconds before or why the TV cops are chasing a certain suspect. In this hypnotic, trancelike state, the mind resembles an armored armadillo. It rolls up in self-defence, letting the stream of televised information pass by harmlessly.
Perhaps the most dangerous threat to the ...

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Altered States. (2005, March 9). Retrieved January 2, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Altered-States/23418

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/9/2005 01:01:19 AM
Category: Miscellaneous
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 553
Pages: 3

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