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Stealing Fire introduces the reader to the discoveries having been made about Flow states. Let me share with you a few lessons in my book review.
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Book Review
I love reading about interesting studies and discoveries, and this book is full of them! Stealing Fire gave me a glance into the groundbreaking work going on to enable people to enter life-altering Flow or Enlightened states quicker, easier, and safer.
My excitement was a bit dampened by the frustration that a lot of this incredible technology is still not readily available to the average person.
However, if you are interested in boosting your productivity, personal development, and experiencing out-of-body states, this book will get you excited for the near future. You can also expect to be challenged in your beliefs on the topic of psychedelics.
Lessons
1. Letting your subconscious mind take over can make teamwork much more effective
“That heightened cooperation, that communal vocational ecstasy, was what Page, Brin, and so many of Google’s engineers had discovered in the desert. It was an altered state of consciousness that suggested a better way of working together, and a feeling that anyone who presumed to lead them simply had to know firsthand.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
Teamwork can be difficult and exhausting unless the team is used to working with each other like a smoothly running engine.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to skip large parts of this ‘getting-used-to-each-other’-process by putting the whole team into an altered state of consciousness, which makes the lines between individual members and the team as a whole blur together?
The SEALS already spend a ton of money and time training their soldiers to flip this switch during a mission because it dramatically enhances the whole team’s performance.
2. Being ‘in the zone,’ doing mythical rituals, and taking psychedelics all cause a state of Ecstasis
“First, flow states, those “in-the-zone” moments including group flow, or what the SEALs experienced during the capture of Al-Wazu, and the Googlers harnessed in the desert. Second, contemplative and mystical states, where techniques like chanting, dance, meditation, sexuality, and, most recently, wearable technologies are used to shut off the self. Finally, psychedelic states, where the recent resurgence in sanctioned research is leading to some of the more intriguing pharmacological findings in several decades. Taken together, these three categories define our territory of ecstasis.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
That’s one of the first and most crucial lessons I’ve taken from this book.
You’ve probably heard athletes, artists, or business people all gush about the productivity they experience when they enter a flow state.
You’ve most likely also heard spiritual people talking about seeing visions during prayer or experiencing a feeling of ‘oneness’ in meditation.
And lastly, think about the ‘high’ that countless humans have been chasing for centuries through drugs, plants, glue, and numerous other psychedelics.
In all these cases, people are experiencing very similar states in which the self vanishes, time seems endless, insights flow through them, and everything feels effortless. They are experiencing ecstasis.
The fact that all kinds of different humans have been hunting and recommending this state for millennia shows how important this experience can be for us.
And fortunately, there are countless ways to enter ecstasis, with technology and science continually providing more effective and safe methods.
3. The guesswork, grind, and risks to get into flow are over!
“Historically, if you wanted to use meditation to consistently produce a state where the self vanished, decades of practice were required. Why? Because your target was nothing more than a peculiar sensation, and hitting it was like throwing darts blindfolded.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
I am immensely thankful for all the technological advancements that have provided me with this beautiful and opportunity-rich life.
And reading about the upcoming technologies that will enable me to enter flow states in a fracture of the time and risk it took my ancestors is humbling.
I can’t wait to make use of this altered state!
4. Being in Flow is freaking POWERFUL
“By using the tanks to eliminate all distraction, entrain specific brainwaves, and regulate heart rate frequency, the SEALs are able to cut the time it takes to learn a foreign language from six months to six weeks.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
“And it doesn’t seem to matter which technique we deploy: mindfulness training, technological stimulation or pharmacological priming, the end results are substantial. Consider the gains: a 200 percent boost in creativity, a 490 percent boost in learning, a 500 percent boost in productivity.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
I’ve been pretty much drooling when I’ve read these passages.
I mean, seriously, how AMAZING would life be if we managed to access flow at will?!
If we were able to learn things so much faster and be so much more productive and creative all around, can you imagine what you would be able to accomplish? What would humanity collectively be able to accomplish?
This is insanely amazing!
If I could, I would build myself a Flow room with a deprivation tank, brain stimulation tools, and more this instant.
But as it is, I am currently only eyeing the MUSE meditation headband.
5. Even just one experience of Ecstasis can change your life forever
“And when Britton examined the EEG data, she discovered why: the brain-firing patterns of her subjects were completely altered. It was as if the NDE had instantly rewired their gray matter. Sure, it was only a single experiment, but it did suggest that even a one-time encounter with a powerful altered state could impart lasting change.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
“So while ecstatic states (which are brief and transitory) aren’t the same as developmental stages (which are stable and long-lasting), it appears that having more of the former can, under the right conditions, help accelerate the latter. In short, altered states can lead to altered traits.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
This is an incredibly reassuring and motivating realization for me.
I think I am so used to taking small steps that accumulate to big results that the thought of doing something once and benefitting from it for a lifetime is bewildering – but also immensely hopeful.
It makes me want to reach ecstasis even more.
6. Ecstasis can be kinky
“Pleasure produces endorphins, but pain can prompt even more. The uncertainty of teasing, as Stanford’s Robert Sapolsky established, spikes dopamine 400 percent. Nipple stimulation boosts oxytocin. Pressure in the throat or colon regulates the vagus nerve, creating exhilaration, intense relaxation, and goose bumps, what Princeton gastroenterologist Anish Sheth memorably terms poo-phoria. “
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
“And momentary erotic transcendence can bring lasting change. “
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
Kinky sexual practices have long been shunned by society. Thankfully, in our post-50-shades-of-grey time, more and more people dare to be kinky in the bedroom.
They discover what practices like tantric sex have been teaching for a long time: Sex is not just pleasurable for the body, but done in the right way can also elevate your mind to new planes.
Isn’t it awesome to know that something as fun and stimulating as sex can give similar results to months of meditation practice?
7. Most adults don’t reach higher stages of personal development
“He discovered that while some adults remained frozen in time, a select few achieved meaningful growth. Right around middle age, for example, Kegan noticed that some people moved beyond generally well-adjusted adulthood, or what he called “Self-Authoring,” into a different stage entirely: “Self-Transforming.””
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
“While it usually takes three to five years for adults to move through a given stage of development, Kegan found that the further you go up that pyramid, the fewer people make it to the next stage. The move from self-authoring to self-transforming for example? Fewer than 5 percent of us ever make that jump.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
I’ve always known that if I consciously focus on my personal development, I will be living a happier and more successful life than most people.
But this passage of the book showed me just how true that is.
I can’t bear the thought of missing out on so much of my potential by staying stuck in a general adulthood stage of my life.
I always want to be growing, and this just motivated me more to do so.
8. Don’t underestimate the impact of your physiology on your emotions!
“Our facial expressions are hardwired into our emotions: we can’t have one without the other. Botox lessens depression because it prevents us from making sad faces. But it also dampens our connection to those around us because we feel empathy by mimicking each other’s facial expressions. With Botox, mimicry becomes impossible, so we feel almost nothing at all.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
“If simply standing like Wonder Woman for a few minutes is enough to produce meaningful changes in our hormonal profile, imagine what practicing a full sequence of yoga postures every morning would do.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
You’ve probably heard the recommendation that standing in superman-pose for a few minutes can make you feel more confident.
But did you know that something as simple as smoothing out wrinkles with botox can heavily impact your emotions?
I had no idea. Looking at people with their stiff botox faces, I always thought they were doing more damage than good. But knowing that the impact goes much deeper than just aesthetics is incredibly eyeopening!
It shows that we shouldn’t just focus on our thoughts but also on our posture and movements.
Try to integrate at least one habit focused on improving your physiology every day. Maybe for you, that’s yoga, or perhaps dancing.
9. Ecstasis can cause ego inflation
“Rather than deciding, “Wow, I just had a mystical experience where I felt like Jesus Christ!” they conclude, “Wow, I am Jesus Christ. Clear the decks, people, I’ve got things to do!””
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
“Psychologists call this reaction “extreme ego inflation.” Often, the experience of selflessness is so new and compelling that it feels like no one else has ever felt this way before—that it’s evidence of some kind of sacred anointment. “
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
“no matter what comes up, no matter how fantastical your experience, it helps to remember: It’s not about you.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
Since ecstasis provides such a life-changing feeling that is only slowly being discussed openly, it is somewhat understandable how some people may feel like they have been chosen by some greater power to share what ecstasis revealed.
To prevent such ego inflation, it helps to do some research on other people’s experiences while in ecstasis. Nowadays, you can find websites like the Hyperspace Lexicon that include the most common experiences people have while in ecstasis.
If you notice that thousands of people have received an Akashic Book full of profound wisdom, you quickly realize you’re not the chosen one after all.
10. There is no right or wrong ecstasis tool
“Those three parameters—risk, reward, and time—provide a way to compare nonordinary states. This sliding scale lets you assess otherwise-unrelated methods—from meditation to psychedelics to action sports, to any others you can think of. “
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
You have to decide for yourself what tools for ecstasis are a good choice for you.
You have to consider the factors risk, reward, and time to make a decision you will be happy with.
Personally, I am currently not willing to pay the risks that come with taking psychedelics to get into a state of ecstasis. So, even though that can be a very quick way to bring big results, it’s not the right tool for me.
You might be completely opposed to the idea of spending 10 minutes or more a day meditating. Instead, you like high-risk action sport and going to Burning Man.
That’s ok, it’s your decision to make, and luckily we have many choices.
11. Great power can be misused and requires a lot of responsibility
“And that’s the ultimate paradox of these states: all that liberation comes with an unavoidable dose of responsibility. While these states provide access to heightened performance and perspective, the upsides come at a cost. Between our own wayward tendencies and the dangers of militarization and commercialization, it’s easier than ever to fall asleep at the Switch.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
“Altered states are an information technology and what you’re after is quality data. If you spend all of your time blissed out, zenned out, drunk, stoned, sexed up, or anything else, then you’ve lost all the contrast that initially made those experiences so rich—what made them “altered” in the first place.”
– Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal (Stealing Fire)
As with every great discovery, there is plenty of opportunities to use it for harmful causes.
Especially the military and marketers are likely to use ecstasis to make their targets/customers do what they want.
Furthermore, we are in danger from ourselves that we overuse ecstasis and lose our grip on reality.
To counter both the dangers posed by others and our own desires, we need to know what ecstasis is and be responsible for how we use it.
You can do this by planning your use of ecstasis beforehand with a timetable. You can schedule daily (e.g., meditation), weekly, monthly, and yearly activities (e. g. Burning Man visit) that let you experience ecstasis in a controlled, effective, and safe manner.
And if the time comes, you might cast a vote for a politician who aims to regulate marketers’ use of ecstasis.
Just be aware and intentional.
That’s it for my Stealing Fire Book Review.
What was your favorite lesson? Have you experienced ecstasis before? If not, how do you plan to get there?
I’m curious to hear from you!
Sophie
