Humans are Flow/Trance Seeking Creatures

A Theory of Human History

a lot of this is indebted to Barbara Ehrenreich’s work (particularly “Blood Rites” and “Dancing in the Streets”) and “The Emerald” podcast, which among other things pointed me towards Ehrenreich’s work.

So one thing I’ve become interested in what things that effect human history aren’t talked about as much. And I think one thing that we really ought to consider is what societies did for what I’m choosing to describe as “Flow States” but can also be described as Trance States¹, a state at which you’re intensely focused and acting more than thinking, or thinking on a higher level than you normally think, or the numerous ways such states have been described by every society that ever existed.

What I’d like to posit is that the primary driver of human behavior is attainment of such states, and one of the things that we ought to be looking into when studying history is the avenues through which societies attained those states. The things to be looking for are things that are described as inducing states beyond regular consciousness, either of a heightened sense of reality or something beyond reality, and particularly things that involve elements of rhythm to help induce those states. Those avenues could include

1. Substances (drugs, particularly psychedelics)

2. Meditation and mystical experiences

3. Song and dance

4. War and fighting (rhythmic marches, soldiers often report heightened sense of reality)

5. Sports or exercise

6. Art and drama

7. Conversation and sociality

8. Sex

These are all things that we know humans like to do, and this would present an overarching theory as to why we like to do them² that’s deeper than “it’s fun”. Well, why are things fun? Because they induce changes of consciousness that we as human beings are constantly seeking.