Abstract It has often been suggested in the popular and academic literature that the psychedelic state qualifies as a higher state of consciousness relative to the state of normal waking awareness. This article subjects this proposal to critical scrutiny, focusing on the question of what it would mean for a state of consciousness to be ‘higher’. We begin by considering the contrast between conscious contents and conscious global states. We then review the changes in conscious global state associated with psychedelic drug use, focusing on the effects of two serotonergic hallucinogens: psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide. Limiting our review to findings obtained from lab-based experiments and reported in peer-reviewed journals, we prioritize the more common and reliably induced effects obtained through subjective questionnaires and psychophysical measures. The findings are grouped into three broad categories (sensory perception, cognitive function, and experiences of unity) and demonstrate that although certain aspects of consciousness are improved or enhanced in the psychedelic state, many of the functional capacities that are associated with consciousness are seriously compromised. Psychedelic-induced states of consciousness are indeed remarkable in many ways, but it is inappropriate to regard them as ‘higher’ states of consciousness. The fact that psychedelics affect different aspects of consciousness in fundamentally different ways provides evidence against the unidimensional (or ‘level-based’) view of consciousness, and instead provides strong support for a multidimensional conception of conscious states. The final section of the article considers the implications of this analysis for two prominent theories of consciousness: the Global Workspace Theory and Integrated Information Theory.

中文翻译：

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意识和迷幻状态的维度

摘要在流行和学术文献中经常提出，相对于正常觉醒状态，迷幻状态被认为是一种较高的意识状态。本文对该建议进行了严格的审查，重点关注的是意识状态“更高”意味着什么。我们首先考虑意识内容与意识全局状态之间的对比。然后，我们回顾与迷幻药物使用相关的意识全局状态的变化，重点研究两种血清素能致幻剂的作用：psilocybin和麦角酰二乙胺。我们的评论仅限于从基于实验室的实验中获得并在同行评审期刊中报告的发现，我们优先考虑通过主观问卷调查和心理物理措施获得的更为常见和可靠的诱导效果。研究结果分为三大类（感官知觉，认知功能和团结经验），证明尽管在迷幻状态下意识的某些方面有所改善或增强，但与意识相关的许多功能能力却受到严重损害。 。迷幻诱导的意识状态确实在许多方面都非常出色，但是将它们视为“较高”意识状态是不合适的。迷幻主义者以根本不同的方式影响意识的不同方面，这一事实提供了反对一维（或“基于层次”）意识观的证据，而是为意识状态的多维概念提供了有力的支持。本文的最后一部分考虑了此分析对两种重要的意识理论的意义：全球工作空间理论和集成信息理论。