If one understands "perception"= Latin "percipere" and "concipere," with the root "capere," to take, from PIE "to grasp," then like Alice in Wonderland's Humpty Dumpty, and Kant before that, 5-sense data flow = the stuff mortal/phenomenal consciousness is made of, constructed of, and "grasps." This uptake process squares with neurophysiology.
When you use the word "out," presumably you intend "transcending, beyond, out of the box," etc. What happens when 5-sense perception/sensibility is spiritualized, inspired beyond the phenomenal, is "consciousness transformed." This is Plato's "line" analogy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy_of_the_divided_line
When you use the word "we," presumably you are referencing the "us" of Kant's phenomenon-scientists, of whom Kant noted most if not all would not be interested in moving "out of [5-phenomenal-sense] data stream."
Putting Plato and Kant in perspective, one moves upward, a la "Jacob's ladder" of Angel Ideaness, from "darkness" to "less darkness" to "Light;" this is accomplished by the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave process of "enLightenment" (as contrasted with "mere" "Enlightenment," 18th century man's name for refocusing from God, divine Light, to man as "light-bearer").
To sum up: there is a continuum, with phase transitions, for both Plato and Kant. Generally, as per Plato and Kant, this must be sought. For "enLightenment," suggest these modern authors: Mark Prophet, "The Path of the Higher Self," Omraam Aivanhov, "Light Is a Living Spirit," and the old-time religion of Vipassana, and/or your favorite world-class faith tradition (Suhrawardi's "The Path of Illumination" comes to mind, and also Merrell-Wolff's "Philosophy of Consciousness without an Object").