I guess I’ll go a little bit out on a limb here for a second, Mark Delsing.

Let’s say that, for the sake of talking a little more, that “being interested” isn’t itself an especially meaningful altered state. It’s probably one of the human resting states. I think one could argue that we are primally sensitive to novelty, and that “being interested” is a survival trait.

BUT! I’m not an anthropologist or scientist of any kind. I’m strictly spitballing. So with my very clear, let us not start a giant war disclaimer that I’m not any kind of scientist:

I’d say that the kinds of “altered states” I’m thinking about here, and that the wikipedia entry talks about, are states that we don’t normally find ourselves in. So: a runner’s high, an acid trip, religious ecstasy, meditation, drunkenness, a near-death experience.

I’d totally agree that deep concentration, engagement, and practice (along with the other ones I mentioned earlier: ritual and repetition) are tools by which these states can be achieved.

Aaaaand that’s as far out on this limb as I’m gonna go, because I’m sure Actual Brain Scientists have a whole lot more to say about this than me. This is all strictly conjecture.