ecstasis economy

‘Stealing Fire’ is a very interesting book recommendation I received, which dives deep into ecstasis which is basically an altered state of mental consciousness that is synonymous with the probably more popular term called the ‘flow state’. Ecstasis is characterized by a non-normal heightened state of mental activity, which in ancient times is said to have been accessible by few outliers only through mystic spiritual experiences but ecstasis is now a lot more democratized in the present age as a result of understanding the science behind it and discovering many other access points such as psychedelics, embodied cognitive actions (which is what meditation falls under) and advanced technology. The title of the book is interestingly a reference to the ancient myth where a rebellious Prometheus stole fire from the gods and shared it with humankind to give them superior (or rather god-like) capabilities. The potential neuroscientific explanation behind ecstasis is extremely fascinating: in ecstasis, the brain enters into a state of transient hypofrontality where the prefrontal cortex (which is responsible for conscious thought processes we have) becomes less active and certain other regions of the brain become more active. The prefrontal cortex activity is characterized by high frequency electromagnetic waves called beta waves (which can be recorded by EEG sensors) but brain activity in the state of ecstasis is characterized by lower frequency alpha and theta waves. The stress chemicals (like cortisol and norepinephrine) responsible for vigilance and conscious awareness during the prefrontal cortex activity gets replaced by a sea of pleasure producing chemicals (like dopamine, endorphins, anandamide, serotonin and oxytocin) which chemically switches us to an altered state of mental activity during ecstasis. The core mechanism of ecstasis lies in selectively filtering sensory input and reallocating energy expended into different mental activities to ultimately achieve a state of extreme mental focus and efficient energy utilization. Hence, the conscious brain activity responsible for constructing a perception of self and time shuts down which gives us the ability to perform activities that the consciously constructed versions of ourselves would have been incapable of performing and we can perform these activities in a seemingly timeless manner with extreme focus on only the present as no mental computation is performed to segregate the past or future from the present. So, the energy typically expended towards the conscious perception of self and time gets reallocated towards increasing our focus which contributes to creating a heightened state of mental activity during ecstasis. Another important component of ecstasis is the ability to enable creativity which is basically characterized by lateral thinking where we are able to process a larger stream of incoming information with less mental friction and identify wildly new patterns and connections that would not have been in possible in a normally conscious mental state consequently allowing for complex problem solving. So, to summarize ecstasis is a state of heightened mental activity that comes as a result of reorganization of cognitive processes in the brain that allows for a highly focused and nuanced ability to process incoming information.

The process of seeking and thereby understanding ecstasis has triggered a new wave of sci-tech discoveries and economic opportunities. If we take a step back and try to analyze our present economy, outside of satiating our basic physiological needs (like food and shelter) it now largely consists of growingly different economic exchanges that effectively enables us to enter into differing levels of altered consciousness states i.e. basically trying to “get out of our own heads” through vehicles like music, entertainment, tourism, pharmacology and a lot more. The quest for discovering different ways to achieve ecstasis has given birth to a lot of new and interesting developments around which businesses are being built to help democratize them to the masses. Embodied cognition is a phenomenon where the interactions between brain and body is looked at as a two-way street which basically means that just like how our brain can control our physical actions, certain physical actions can in turn control our brain. Physical activities like meditation, yoga and adventure sports are interesting ways to physically alter our states of consciousness and achieve ecstasis to a certain extent. Pharmacology is a popular way to achieve ecstasis where certain chemical compounds i.e. drugs can inorganically trigger neurochemical reactions in our brain to help enter into ecstasis in a much shorter time frame as compared to physical activities, but it comes at the possible risk of very harmful alterations to our brain structure. Technological developments like virtual reality, specially engineered sound systems, sensory deprivation technology, biofeedback sensors and transcranial magnetic stimulation are very interesting applications of technology to help hack our neurobiological systems and easily enter into ecstasis. Ecstasis is becoming a highly sought-after state owing to the power it possesses to alter our mind which can consequently help liberate us from various internal negativities and enable complex problem solving to better tackle the pressing issues of the world. Hence, the economy we can envision moving forward is one that facilitates more pathways to easily and safely achieve ecstasis to efficiently unlock more value both within and outside ourselves.