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ABSTRACT: The development of consciousness to higher states is thought to be a natural process by some contemporary psychologists with a transpersonal orientation. Such "higher" states of consciousness can be enhanced with the right cultural amplifier. The most often examined amplifiers are the effects of prayer and meditation. But tools, from early attempts at record keeping with knots in ropes through today's computer mediated communications, also affect cognition and thus ultimately consciousness. In this article the hallmark of electronically mediated interactive environments is examined in terms of its implications for the development of consciousness. That tool is video game play.
The connection between various forms of electronically mediated communication, especially video games, and higher states of consciousness (HSC) will be explored in this paper. In this article HSC is viewed globally as the experience, perception, and appreciation of a reality beyond what is commonly attained but which emerges as a result of developmental processes. It is proposed that lengthy exposure to video games, as the most commonly accessed electronically mediated communication endeavoring to create a virtual reality (VR)1, may be a cultural amplifier for experiences of HSC. Before this is taken up, we must ask: How do we go from the simple definitions of consciousness available in introductory psychology texts such as "awareness of external and internal stimuli" (Matlin, 1995, p. 134), and their focus on the role of attention, to the notion of higher stages of consciousness, which may or may not be mystical? That is, the development of HSC may be marked by the emergence of experiences that transcend the ordinary in what appears to be an almost magical or "mystical" sense but they may also develop in subtle ways, but ways that enrich one's life and are clearly healthy and functional (Alexander, Boyer, & Alexander, 1987).2
One attempt to understand consciousness as more than attention is to integrate a variety of disciplinary perspectives (e.g., Hunt, 1995). In fact, interdisciplinary approaches to the study of consciousness are increasingly becoming recognized as necessary in order to truly comprehend the nature of consciousness and its possible development. Although early psychology focused on the problem of consciousness it went out of favor as an area of inquiry until revived by cognitive and transpersonal psychologists....