Co-consciousness: a common denominator in hypnosis, multiple personality, and normalcy.

Abstract This paper develops the thesis that co-consciousness is not only a feature of severe dissociative syndromes like multiple personality, or of “altered states” of consciousness like hypnosis, but is a universal feature of healthy living. The “hidden observer” in normal hypnosis is the primary objective datum, from which it is argued that consciousness must exist simultaneously at many levels. This makes sense of many aspects of hypnosis which would otherwise remain paradoxical. The concept of hypnosis can be meaningfully defined, even though it cannot be entirely separated from non-hypnosis without logical absurdity; what is discovered in its study must then be relevant in some way far beyond the confines of the research laboratory. Co-consciousness as a definitive aspect of healthy living is the most significant conclusion from this study. Simultaneous multilevel functioning also introduces a fundamental limitation against the possibility of totally precise understanding, which I refer to as psych...