This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Stealing Fire" by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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What’s the book Stealing Fire about? What are peak states of consciousness? How do they help us reach true fulfillment?
Stealing Fire is a book co-written by Stephen Kotler and Jamie Wheal that explores the modern revolution in our understanding of peak states of consciousness, which they call “ecstasis.” These states are typically found through deep meditative experiences, psychedelic exploration, and extreme sports.
Read on for a brief overview of the Stealing Fire book, including Kotler and Wheal’s key takeaways.
Stealing Fire Book Overview
The Stealing Fire book authors, Stephen Kotler and Jamie Wheal, tell the story of a modern revolution in our understanding of peak states of consciousness. These states, which the authors call “ecstasis” (we’ll call them peak states), are typically found through deep meditative experience, psychedelic exploration, extreme sports, and more. The authors argue that experiencing peak states can catalyze significant personal transformation, often through spiritual fulfillment, deep creative flow, or peak athletic performance.
For much of human history, various cultures have explored and experienced these states. Not until recently, though, have we had the tools to understand them. According to the authors, various scientific advances now enable us to clear the fog around these experiences long held to be mystical and unscientific. We’ve begun to establish evidence-based accounts of peak states, and the authors suggest that as a result, more people will be able to access the profound benefits of peak states to vastly improve their lives.
Kotler and Wheal are best-selling authors as well as the co-founders of the Flow Genome Project, an organization dedicated to researching peak states. They train high-performing groups including US Navy SEALs, Fortune 500 CEOs, and Olympic athletes.
Peak States Today and in the Past
In their book Stealing Fire, the authors define peak states and contextualize them in history. Namely, they argue that today’s ecstatic revolution is the most recent development in an age-old historical pattern. We’ll discuss how this development increases the potential of peak states to expand and improve our lives.
What Are Peak States?
The Stealing Fire book defines peak states (or “ecstasis”) as a specific set of altered states of consciousness. “Altered states of consciousness” means a nonstandard subjective experience—think inebriation versus sobriety.
While altered states include any state other than normal consciousness, peak states occur at the “high end” of possible subjective experiences. In these states, you might encounter novel sensations or visual stimuli, experience heightened creativity, or gain access to seemingly mystical awareness.
The authors specify a set of four peak states. These states share several features, including nonstandard perceptions, intense or unusual emotions, and shifts in your sense of self, time, and reality.
Peak State #1: Flow—The state of heightened awareness and “in-tune-ness” associated with master-level performance of a skill. According to the authors, athletes, chess masters, craftspeople, martial artists, and others experience flow when performing at their peaks.
Peak State #2: Group flow—The state of enhanced social cohesion and awareness that occurs when groups of people fully immerse themselves in shared experience (common at concerts, raves, and other festival environments.)
Peak State #3: Psychedelic experience—The states of expanded consciousness that occur following consumption of a psychoactive substance such as psilocybin mushrooms (“shrooms”) or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).
Peak State #4: Mystical experience or enlightenment—The various religious or spiritual states that the authors say can occur as a result of deep meditation, spiritual cultivation, or a near-death experience.
The Scientific Advancements Pushing This Trend
Now that we’ve explained what peak states are and why they matter, we’ll explain how modern science has begun to demystify them, and we’ll detail the four broad trends that constitute a peak state revolution, according to the authors. Specifically, we’ll discuss advances across the fields of psychology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and biotechnology that reflect this increased interest in peak states.
How Modern Science Demystifies Peak States
In their book Stealing Fire, Kotler and Wheal claim that for most of history, peak states have been shrouded in mystery for at least two reasons. First, we lacked the tools to study them with scientific rigor—not until recently have we had the tools to, say, study the brains of experienced meditators or psychedelic users. Second, the authors argue, the longstanding divide between doubtful empiricists (who favor cold, hard facts) and the faithful (who believe but lack evidence) has hindered serious study of peak states. In other words, most serious scientists weren’t interested in such studies, and research done by believers often lacked the rigor demanded by established scientific standards.
However, the authors argue, we now have sufficiently advanced technology as well as cultural conditions conducive to serious study of peak states. Researchers are actively exploring these regions of subjective experience, gathering data, and working out empirical explanations for peak states. It’s now broadly accepted that peak states are real—and we’re discovering just what they are, how they work, and how we can benefit from them.
Advancements in Psychology
First, the authors argue that the culture of modern psychological study has shifted to embrace pragmatic, open-minded exploration of human potential. Whereas psychologists used to focus on illness and often pathologized the human mind, there are more researchers today who choose to explore topics such as positivity, adult development, growth, well-being, and mindfulness.
According to the authors’ book Stealing Fire, this cultural shift began several decades ago. The epicenter of the change, they argue, was the Esalen Institute in the 1960s. At this countercultural California research and retreat center, psychologists, philosophers, and spiritual seekers gathered to explore various methods of personal, spiritual, and emotional growth, drawing from Buddhistic ideas as well as Western theories of adult development. This eclectic gathering of open-minded seekers gave rise to modern Western culture’s appetite for personal transformation and growth.
More recently, researchers have found that peak states can both heal psychological traumas and facilitate positive personal growth:
1. Peak state experiences can heal the effects of trauma—The authors describe studies that found that peak states—such as those reached through flow, near-death experiences, or the substance MDMA—can heal or reduce the effects of trauma (such as flashbacks or deeply-set fears). Specifically, peak states can help us to see our traumas from new perspectives, process deeply buried emotions, and break free from cycles of reliving those traumas. These changes last for months or longer and outperform typical drug-based remediations.
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Here's what you'll find in our full Stealing Fire summary:
- A modern revolution in the understanding of peak states of consciousness
- The key benefits of accessing peak states
- How some are turning to LSD and other substances to reach a peak state
