The Interrelation of Evasion and Drift

The Interrelation Of Evasion And Drift

Evasion is the active disintegration of percepts, which sets it apart from drift, which is a passive relaxation of ones rational faculty. That being said:

[d]espite their differences, these two states of consciousness are closely related. If a drifter in a given situation apprehends (dimly or clearly) the need to initiate a thought process, yet refuses to do so, the refusal involves an evasion (he is evading the fact that thought is necessary). To be out of focus, therefore, does not as such imply that one has evaded; but to be out of focus in situations where one must make decisions or take action does imply it (it implies an evasion of one's need of consciousness in decision and action). Habitual evasion is thus what sustains a chronically out-of-focus state, and vice versa: the latter policy engenders a substantial anxiety, which makes the demands of life in reality seem threatening; so a series of evasions comes to seem tempting as an escape.