Hacking the Fabric of Consciousness

Dear Friends,

I’m thrilled to introduce Andrés Gómez Emilsson, co-founder of the Qualia Research Institute (QRI) – which is building a “science of consciousness to improve the lives of sentient beings.” Andrés holds a Master’s in Psychology from Stanford, focusing on computational models. He was also co-founder of the Stanford Transhumanist Association and first place winner of the Norway Math Olympiad. His passion, and the mission of QRI, is understanding the fabric of consciousness itself.

Early in our interview, Andrés advocates prescribing psychedelics for cluster headaches, which he says can be even more painful than amputation without anesthesia.

“LSD, DMT, and psilocybin mushrooms actually abort those headaches and prevent them for weeks at a time,” he notes, “in a way that seems much more effective and reliable than the best available medicines.”

Providing psychedelic access, Andrés says, could eradicate cluster headaches within 5-10 years with the right resources.

Follow the Qualia Research Institute

Another focus at QRI is developing technology to induce therapeutic psychedelic states without drugs. Andrés shared his work on a device using sound, light and vibration that can reportedly generate ketamine-like effects and emotional breakthroughs.

They are also collaborating with mathematicians to map DMT experiences with diagrams of hyper-dimensional spaces encountered by those who have taken the substance – trying to make sense of objects and properties people who take it have reported seeing.

Folks – this is consciousness research at the leading edge.

Andrés radiates enthusiasm for synthesizing psychedelics, computation and consciousness. He described his daily jhana meditation practice, a pleasurable absorption generating insights on improving bodily well-being. Although he is young, Andrés exemplifies the wise self-experimentation found in the elders featured in my recent book Psychedelic Wisdom.

Finally, Andrés articulates an ethical framework for integrating psychedelics and technology to reduce suffering worldwide. I’m inspired by Andrés’ vision and invite you to learn more through QRI.org, as well as and their YouTube channel.

Golden light,

Dr. Richard L. Miller

Show notes:

Charting psychedelic state spaces

• Mapping DMT experiences mathematically with hyper-dimensional diagrams

• Collaborating with physicists to interpret objects and properties in DMT realms

• "We created maps of the levels, mathematical properties, and objects encountered."

Technology to induce psychedelic states

• Device using sound, light and vibration to generate ketamine-like effects

• Can enable emotional breakthroughs and release of psychological stress

• "The effects are similar to a standard ketamine dose in strangeness and fascination."

Importance of experiencing bodily well-being

• Daily jhana meditation practice to cultivate pleasure and undo "no pain, no gain"

• "Eventually very pleasurable body sensations arise, getting strong enough to enter jhana states of continuous pleasure."

• "It's beneficial to cultivate bodily well-being and pleasure, undoing the 'no pain, no gain' conditioning."

Psychedelic solutions for cluster headaches

• Advocating psychedelic access to eradicate cluster headaches

• "LSD, DMT, and psilocybin mushrooms actually abort those headaches and prevent them for weeks at a time."

• "Getting DMT through clinical trials is one option."

Engineering benevolent machine consciousness

• Current hardware not conscious according to theories of consciousness

• "We want blissful states, able to access heavenly consciousness."

• "The point of qualia research is functional, non-suffering consciousness - enhancing well-being and minimizing suffering."

Links and references:

• Psychedelic Wisdom

• QRI.org

• QRI YouTube channel

NOTE: The podcast is always freely available thanks to our paid subscribers. Please share this post to show your support for transparency. The following transcript distills the key points from this show into a condensed form. It is meant as a reference - listen to the full episode for an accurate rendition of the conversation.

Transcript

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Dr. Miller: Welcome to Mind Body Health and Politics. I'm your host, Dr. Richard Louis Miller. Our mission is to enhance wellbeing and encourage community. Humans are friendly, tribal animals who enjoy collaborating. We like doing things together - in circles, games, classes. Nowadays some enjoy taking psychedelics together.

The world is changing, but we must remember dictators exist. They take power and are not cooperative. Centuries ago we overthrew kings and became citizens in a democracy and republic. These are fragile things we must maintain by staying aware and active.

Some now want to take over our country. We must remain vigilant to maintain liberty. As Thomas Jefferson said, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Today our guest is Andrés Gómez Emilsson, co-founder and director of the Qualia Institute. Welcome.

Andrés: Thank you, I'm very happy to be here.

Best thing that could happen in this interview.

Dr. Richard Miller: Andrés, before we started recording, I mentioned a question I wanted to ask. So, here it is: What would be the best thing that could happen in this interview if you had a magic wand? I want to assure you that whatever you say, I will collaborate with you to make it happen.

Andrés Gómez Emilsson: Amazing! Okay, so I was thinking about it, and there are obviously many things that I could want to have happen based on the frameworks that we explore at QRI. Probably the biggest thing, what I call ethical arbitrage, meaning the biggest thing where, with relatively few resources and coordination, we could massively improve the world, is on a topic that is actually pretty unpleasant to think about but ethically necessary. That is essentially gaining traction, resources, and power behind the task of enabling the use of psychedelics for people who suffer from cluster headaches.

For brief context, cluster headaches affect one in 1000 people and are about as painful as it gets. They are maybe 10 to 50 times more painful than amputation without anesthesia, and they are relatively common. The crazy thing is that LSD, DMT, and psilocybin mushrooms actually abort those headaches and prevent them for weeks at a time, in a way that seems to be much more effective and reliable than the best available medicines and interventions.