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I think one of the most interesting topics that arose during our discussion last week was that people can be conscious without language. Prior to this discussion, I was pretty convinced that you needed language to be conscious and to have any kind of thought. However, Dr. Taylor's account of her stroke revealed that although her language abilities may have been lost, she was still consciousness and very vividly experiencing things.Prof. Grobstein's comment that perhaps consciousness could be subdivided into consciousness that is more closely related to unconsciousness and a consciousness that is more elaborately expressed in consciousness is an interesting notion that provides a possible explanation for why language sometimes plays a larger role in consciousness and it sometimes does not. Maybe when you let go a little and move towards the area between being fully consciousness and unconscious, you enter this "nirvana" that Dr. Taylor experienced where you dont need language to experience things. This somewhat hazy, eupohoric state may be brought about because the voices that usually are so clear in your head quiet down and let you escape from the realities that tie you down to this world. Like Sasha said, this sounds a lot like a state of intoxication and the reason why so many people drink in the first place--to escape reality. Maybe the ability to enter this "middle consciousness" area between unconscious and fully conscious without the use of drugs is the source of true nirvana, and as Sasha said, perhaps Dr. Taylor was trying to teach people how to reach this state of mind.