the now more important patterning stimuli (stage 2). The patterning stimuli must then encourage the now isolated psychological structures from the baseline into a new construction, so that an innovative, self-stabilized altered state of consciousness forms (stage 3) (Tart, 1975). Within the context of the SAM audio support technology, this is referred to as the three-stage process of disruption-induction-stabilization. During the “disruption” stage, certain specific SAM movement-arc oscillations act to disrupt the listener’s baseline state of consciousness, while others provide stimuli encouraging the listener in the direction of the desired altered state of consciousness. During the formal “induction” stage, disruptive stimuli fall away and state-specific SAM movement- arc patterns become dominant. Once the desired altered state of consciousness is fully achieved, the “stabilization” stage begins and SAM arcs are adjusted to simply support the preferred state. Once the altered state of consciousness is stabilized, it effectively becomes a new baseline. To return to the original baseline state, the three-stage process begins again, this time targeting a return to what is usually the normal waking state. Many times, simply quieting the SAM “stabilization” stimuli can be enough to bring the listener back to the normal waking-state baseline. SAM can be used in conjunction with music; pleasing natural background sounds, e.g., surf, rain, wind, etc.;
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artificially produced background sounds, e.g., pink sound, brown sound, etc.; and verbal guidance in the form of narrative inserts strategically placed to enhance the three-step induction process. The use of these additional components traditionally enhances the effectiveness of audio induction procedures. This process is particularly effective when combined with other sensory-information techniques (such as sitting in a darkened room), social-psychological conditioning tools (such as intra-group affirmation, affinity, and/or communion), and educational curriculum (in which new cognitive, “consciousness expansion” skills are learned, i.e., breath work, visualization, etc.) such as are provided within The Monroe Institute’s many educational programs. Binaural beats, monaural beats, and isochronic tones have been said to “entrain brainwaves,” yet there has been no physiological mechanism proposed that would explain such entrainment. This notion of entrainment is a post hoc ergo propter hoc, Latin for “after this, therefore because of this,” offer of proof. It is a logical fallacy implying that since changes in brainwaves followed the introduction sound (e.g., binaural beats), the changes in brainwaves must Next Page 2 TMI JOURNAL 2012
have been caused by the sound. This post hoc ergo propter hoc offer of proof is also sometimes referred to as false cause, coincidental correlation, or correlation not causation. Post hoc is a particularly tempting error because the intrinsic temporal sequence appears to be integral to causality. The fallacy lies in coming to a conclusion based solely on the order of events, rather than taking into account other factors that might rule out the connection. From a neuroscientific perspective, these audio stimuli are being neurologically routed to the reticular formation (Swann et al., 1982) and simultaneously volume conducted to the cortex, where they can be objectively measured as a series of EEG-evoked potentials (Oster, 1973; Smith, Marsh, & Brown, 1975; Marsh, Brown, & Smith, 1975; Smith et al., 1978; Hink et al., 1980), not brainwave arousal associated with states of consciousness. The traditional neuroscientific community says that changes seen in global brainwave arousal (differentiated from an EEG-evoked potential response discussed above) are functions of the extended reticular-thalamic activation system (ERTAS), which regulates brainwave activity (Newman, 1997). The reticular activating system interprets and reacts to information from internal stimuli, feelings, attitudes, and beliefs as well as external sensory stimuli (i.e., audio input) by regulating arousal states, attentional focus, and levels of awareness (Empson, 1986; Tice & Steinberg, 1989).