Talking with Ivan: Qualia Computing, Nonlinear Optics, Michael Levin, Scent Space, & Lifting (math) Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2026-02-26 | This is a casual chat with a friend who has been reading Qualia Computing/QRI since high-school, is really into aromachemicals, and groks a lot of concepts. In this talk he explains how he found the memeplex and how it connected to his own independently developed thoughts.Links: qualiacomputing.com/2025/03/03/cel-animation-as-a-key-metaphor-to-model-dmt-hallucinationsqualiacomputing.com/2025/09/13/indras-net-via-nonlinear-optics-dmt-phenomenology-as-evidence-for-beamsplitter-holography-and-recursive-harmonic-compressionopen.substack.com/pub/andrsgmezemilsson/p/needles-out-of-space-the-shadows?r=454o8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webdrmichaellevin.org/publications/cancer.htmlIvan's (and brother's) perfume brand (available soon): fractalfragrances.com
Andrés and Wystan: Arhatship, meditation vs. psychedelics, nonduality, topological synesthesia & 🧲🌀🌈 Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2026-03-02 | Wystan's wesbite: wystantbs.comWystan's substack: wystan.substack.comQRI: qri.orgLegal psychedelic research with mathematicians, physicists, advanced meditators, and visual artists: heart.qri.org (Wystan being a participant here)Andrés' substack: substack.com/@andrsgmezemilssonAndrés' long-standing blog: qualiacomputing.com/archives
Wystan and Andrés at The Commons: The Aggregates in Buddhism & Meditation as Bioprompt Engineering Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2026-02-28 | (Apologies for the quiet audio - I'm uploading this as a rough cut, a kind of "lab notes" video - I will be uploading more raw video footage like this in the future, partly as historical documentation, and partly because I believe rough ideas and working frameworks are important for a developing, emerging, science of consciousness to flourish - not only the polished publishable outputs)Play with the "higher dimensional embeddings projections visualization tool" I show at the beginning (thanks Hunter for uploading!): qri.org/coupled_hypercubes.html This video documents that Wystan Bryant-Scott and Andrés Gómez Emilsson were invited to give a presentation at the SF Commons (thesfcommons.com) on February 27th 2026. Wystan talked about classical orthodox conceptions of enlightenment and meditation (with an experiential hands-on component) and Andrés provided the "Qualia Research Institute point of view" on this topic based on recent research - in particular, he emphasized the importance of distinguishing "recipe vs. review" in meditation, and developed/articulated the conceptual framework of "meditation as a biological prompt for psychoactive effects"*. Credit for encouraging me to make a presentation about this topic goes to Addy Cha (Ekkolapto).Wystan's wesbite: wystantbs.comWystan's substack: wystan.substack.comQRI: qri.orgLegal psychedelic research with mathematicians, physicists, advanced meditators, and visual artists: heart.qri.orgAndrés' substack: substack.com/@andrsgmezemilssonAndrés' long-standing blog: qualiacomputing.com/archives*Andrés' presentation was first delivered the day before at "Biological Prompt Engineering: A Cybernetics Perspective on Programmable Biology and World Models | Ekkolápto Polymath Salon" also in SF (full presentation will be available - with better audio - in the near future. This video is less polished but it also approaches the slides from a different angle, namely, contextualized by Wystan's input, and contains content that is not found in the original presentation). Relevant links: Event announcement: open.substack.com/pub/andrsgmezemilsson/p/the-topology-of-liberation-jhanas?r=454o8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webBiological Prompt Engineering event page: luma.com/biopromptingQRI Research Revealed: From Theory to Consciousness Engineering (2026 Fundraiser) - youtu.be/d0LboV7PVx0?si=Khsj_KXLOTQ9b26k
Explaining Autonomous DMT Entities w/ Beamsplitter Holography and Connected Cel Animation Elements Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2026-02-19 | In which I casually explain the core ideas in:qualiacomputing.com/2025/09/13/indras-net-via-nonlinear-optics-dmt-phenomenology-as-evidence-for-beamsplitter-holography-and-recursive-harmonic-compressionKey essays also discussed:qualiacomputing.com/2025/02/09/from-neural-activity-to-field-topology-how-coupling-kernels-shape-consciousnessqualiacomputing.com/2025/03/03/cel-animation-as-a-key-metaphor-to-model-dmt-hallucinations
Monads That Know Their Own Nature: Answering the Meta-Problem w/ Process Topology & Observer Theory Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2026-01-28 | In which I discuss my recent Substack posts:On The Reality of Wholes - open.substack.com/pub/andrsgmezemilsson/p/the-reality-of-wholes-why-the-universe?r=454o8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webObserver Theory Meets Phenomenal Binding: A Conversation with Sam Senchalopen.substack.com/pub/andrsgmezemilsson/p/observer-theory-meets-phenomenal?r=454o8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFixed Buckets Can't (Phenomenally) Bind"Look What They Need To Mimic A Fraction Of Our Power" - said the Process-Topological Monadopen.substack.com/pub/andrsgmezemilsson/p/fixed-buckets-cant-phenomenally-bind?r=454o8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webContra Computationalism: Questioning the Claim That Consciousness Supervenes on a Classical Computational Substrate - open.substack.com/pub/andrsgmezemilsson/p/contra-computationalism-questioning?r=454o8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Extreme Psychedelia: Rough Visual Replication for Psychedelic + Disso High Dose Combo (Seizure ⚠️) Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-12-04 | Warning: Very Strong! (⚠️seizure warning⚠️) (it's better if you yourself VJ it, resolution-wise*)This was done by just playing around with parameters in QRI's Oscilleditor while listening to music. This is a rather "high dose" replication. Not DMT breakthrough or beyond but imagine 2C-B + ketamine on various doses (be careful, very synergistic!). Don't watch casually.Music recommended.Enjoy!*Go wild and explore yourself my friend: qri.org/oscilleditorVideo Tutorial: youtu.be/nKzIe8tn1QA?si=fMX2NXyWVCed0KyLSpecial Thanks to Emil Hall, who introduced features like the planar wave and developed the kernel-shrinking factor as a function of proximity to edges/depth.Metta!
Wallpaper Symmetry Garden Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-11-25 | Indra's Net Beamsplitter + Liquid Crystals simulation
Sign Our Worldwide Open Letter & Make Psychedelics Available to Cluster Headache Patients ASAP Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-11-25 | Sign the Open Letter Now: clusterfree.orgOfficial Launch writeup (by Alfredo Parra):forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/vzG8wu9b6vuoRxD3z/announcing-clusterfree-a-cluster-headache-advocacy-andNews as of today (Nov 24th 2025):* It's in the EA Forum "Donation Election" page[0]* Scott Alexander posted about it in the ACX Open Thread today[1]* We already have signatures from:Peter Singer – one of the world’s most influential philosophers.Scott Alexander – psychiatrist and top rationalist writer.Christopher H. Gottschalk, MD (Yale) – major clinical authority in headache medicine.David Pearce – leading abolitionist bioethicist.Anna Williams – President of Clusterbusters & other CB leadershopAdriano Mannino – UC Berkeley/Harvard philosopher.Jo Neill – Professor of Psychopharmacology (Manchester).Arthur Juliani – top machine learning researcher.Milan Griffes / David Langer (Lionheart Ventures) – tech-finance stakeholders.And others.***Please add your own and take a moment to think about who to send it to as well.***Gratitude!----------[0] forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/YqYSGpRbLa7ppkuWs/meet-the-candidates-donation-election-2025[1] Scott Alexander in "Open Thread 409": Qualia Research Institute announces their spinoff effort ClusterFree. Cluster headaches (aka “suicide headaches”) are probably the most painful medical condition known to science, which makes them a natural priority for some utilitarians. They seem to be extremely treatable by psychedelics like psilocybin and DMT (including sub-hallucinogenic doses), so ClusterFree is working on getting governments to research this further and maybe get these drugs into the medical pipeline (cf. ketamine for depression). There’s an open letter here, and you can contact them here. The information for patients is at the bottom of this page.Links:DMT for Cluster Headaches: Aborting and Preventing Extreme Pain with Tryptamines and Other Methods - youtu.be/q2MIUN9MMpU?si=-E18pDA5fGztr6klLogarithmic Scales of Pleasure and Pain: Rating, Ranking, and Comparing Peak Experiences Suggest the Existence of Long Tails for Bliss and Suffering - forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/gtGe8WkeFvqucYLAF/logarithmic-scales-of-pleasure-and-pain-rating-ranking-andQuantifying the Global Burden of Extreme Pain from Cluster Headaches - forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/geh2g2nKb7Kkp26ze/quantifying-the-global-burden-of-extreme-pain-from-clusterACX Open Thread 409: astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-409Qualiascope: qualiacomputing.com/2020/02/23/qualiascopeThe Heavy Tail of Extreme Pain Exacerbates Health Inequality: Evidence from Cluster Headache UnderinvestmentHumanities and Social Sciences Communications, Volume 12, Issue 1, 2025 Alfredo Parra-Hinojosa (QRI)Chris Percy (University of Derby)Andrés Gómez-Emilsson (QRI)papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5255179
What should I talk about? + Some announcements Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-11-11 | QRI event on November 20th (2025) at Frontier Tower (SF): luma.com/gsjwwf0b (Please only RSVP if you're physically going to be present!)Follow me on Substack :-) substack.com/@andrsgmezemilsson
The Case for DMT for Cluster Headaches: Practical Tips & Why It Deserves Urgent Scientific Attention Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-11-03 | Cluster headaches are often called "suicide headaches" because of their severity. The pain is extreme enough that standard treatments frequently fall short, and patients can experience multiple attacks per day during active cycles.DMT stops these attacks in 10-20 seconds. Even a 3mg dose, nearly sub-perceptual, can abort an attack almost instantly for a large fraction of patients. One inhalation and the pain is gone. No tolerance buildup. No rebound effects. You can use it as often as needed throughout the day.Compare this to oxygen therapy, which takes 10-15 minutes to work, requires bulky equipment, and is difficult to get prescribed. Or triptans, which can only be used sparingly, lead to serious physical side effects, and often make cycles worse with repeated use.The mechanism is unknown: cluster headaches involve serotonergic dysfunction, and DMT acts on 5-HT receptors with remarkable speed and precision. That much we know. But it works. Phenomenologically, patients consistently report the pain dissolving within seconds of inhalation.We don't yet know what percentage of patients benefit from DMT. My educated guess is around 80% when done correctly, but proper studies (currently under way!) are needed to confirm this.If you suffer from cluster headaches and have used psychedelics to treat them, please consider sharing your experience. Especially if DMT is part of your routine. Video testimonials are especially valuable (fully anonymous submissions welcome): clusterfree.org/testimonialsLinks/Resources:Logarithmic scales of pleasure and pain: forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/gtGe8WkeFvqucYLAF/logarithmic-scales-of-pleasure-and-pain-rating-ranking-andPeer reviewed version in scientific journal version: frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1127221/fullQuantifying the global burden of cluster headache pain (Alfredo Parra): forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/geh2g2nKb7Kkp26ze/quantifying-the-global-burden-of-extreme-pain-from-clusterEmerging evidence on DMT for cluster headaches: forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/x8P8EGnujSZm6fyMH/emerging-evidence-on-treating-cluster-headaches-with-dmtDMT for Cluster Headaches: Aborting and Preventing Extreme Pain with Tryptamines and Other Methods (interview with Bob Wold et al.):youtu.be/q2MIUN9MMpU?si=QNtL2tRWCDgdoOzEOxygen for Cluster Headaches Demonstration:youtu.be/For8ng6cKk0?si=r_Nslhvs_u1Kh5QH
Please Use an Extended Mask for Mindsight Demonstrations Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-10-29 | David Chartrand and I were honored to be invited to a delightful and mind-blowing gathering by DMT Quest (dmtquest.org) yesterday.We witnessed rather impressive "Psi" / mindsight demonstrations similar to those which have recently made the rounds online*. The demonstrator had multiple layers of eye coverings, making it especially impressive. That said, David has talked to many illusionists who can do similar things without claiming Psi abilities (in their words "the more layers the easier the trick is"). We noticed there always seemed to be a line sight to the cards/screens described, as if peeking through a small opening between the nose and the mask. People in the audience were generally impressed (including us), but it was rather odd the demonstrator didn't follow David's suggestion of doing the same thing with an "extended mask" (said it was "too heavy" but it isn't relative to the layers they were wearing anyway).So, in this video, David explains what the core idea is. We encourage mindsight practitioners to use an extended mask - in the words of one of the participants, "without something like the extended mask the demonstration leaves too much room for conventional explanations". Thanks you!Cheers and infinite bliss! :-)See: https://www.mindsight.study/science/ for more.* E.g. youtu.be/RCqmendohP8?si=IipMscXxYPSpfdZD and youtu.be/4DmJ30IrT9M?si=L3hxc24DuUo2AV-V
Recreational Metaphysician at Fractal Boston: 2027 Doom via Hivemind Absorption Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-08-27 | (epistemic status: playful, improvised, letting the subconscious take the wheel)Lots of lovely Vibe Camp / Rationalist Adjacent / EA type folks at the gathering. Perhaps a bit shocked to find out their reality will be transformed at the quantum level into something else within a matter of years... and NOT for the standard reasons of AI bootstrapping itself onto grey goo, but because of Axiomatized Minds takeover plays!
DMT Life Review: On Buddha Hive Minds and the Computational Properties of Karmic Evaluators Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-07-05 | Reporting on exotic phenomenology - starting with a recap of core QRI frameworks, and building towards the case for "DMT Life Review" experiences being perhaps more than "just a hallucination" (though I ultimately remain agnostic about their nature).Infinite bliss!
DMT Angels and Demons: How Coagulated Shards of Ignorance Project and Self-Organize Against the Self Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-06-10 | Alternative Title: DMT Entity Survival Guide: From Demonic Twilight Ignorance Muck Shards to Rainbow Transparent Spacious Body - Turning Our Demons Into Allies ~Qualia of the Day: Lavender Tea~ [gotta keep peddling that linalool + linalyl acetate backbone...]In this video I discuss (good and bad) DMT entities from a QRI point of view (valence realism, subagent dynamics, projective intelligence) as well as from a "pragmatic Dharma" point of view (Shinzen's "suffering = pain x resistance", "feeding your demons", "breaking the links of dependent origination").Bottom line recommendations:- Recognize these entities are "manifestations of your own mind"- Apply metta/loving-kindness to all manifestations of your mind (wish them liberation, to "realize their buddha nature", "to be high valence", to flurish, to be free from hunger, thirst, and lust, etc.)- Don't personalize it or give it an essence (they multiply by having you buy into their frames)- Tune into the "rainbow body" type of phenomenology (radiant luminosity and rainbow light where "no self" is understood directly and inherently)Also cover:* How to pragmatically best interact with all DMT entities regardless of kind* Categories of negative entities (some common ones)* Interpretation of their ultimate nature (very highly speculative)* Intersection of this analysis with the "projective intelligence" paradigm (subagents gain "projective geometry capacities")* Brief connection to Buddhist cosmology and pragmatic approaches* Model them as bits and pieces of "coagulated ignorance" (shards super-charged with a sense of self, permanence, and belief in ultimate satisfaction) that have't yet "woken up" to the deeper truths that the "human gestalt" might have already been awakened to* The raw material of their existence being that of a holographic medium of computation that relates the tactile and the visual field (a shared holographic interface) that can in turn be used as a kind of medium to pass on messages (tactile sensations using the visual field as a bridge to pass on tactile waves from one side to another using the visual field as the shortcut)* The explanatory power of the "cel animation" model of DMT hallucinations (cf. Laser Chess as a metaphor for the mind) and how to start combining it with a intuition about holography's causal role* Phases of visual-tactile holography determining the overall quality of the trip more than the details: the "highest dimensional object" in the scene tends to dominate the axis of coordination between gestalts and its happiness encourages coherence across parts.* And implicitly, time dilation as a function of the complexity involved in integrating ordered holograms where tiny phase and frequency changes alter dramatically the displayed scene/embodiment.Related:Aligning DMT Entities: Shards, Shoggoths, and Waluigis - qualiacomputing.com/2023/03/05/aligning-dmt-entities-shards-shoggoths-and-waluigisCel Animation as a Key Metaphor to Model DMT Hallucinations - qualiacomputing.com/2025/03/03/cel-animation-as-a-key-metaphor-to-model-dmt-hallucinationsOn the Topology of Sub-Agents: Non-Linear Optical Computers, Mirror Funhouses, and Laser Chess - youtu.be/sRcg9p4gQF8?si=0AggMbGKfB_b8HcGŚūraṅgama Sūtra- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C5%ABra%E1%B9%85gama_S%C5%ABtra
The Emergence of Self-Awareness: Conscious Holography as an Evolved Hardware Accelerator Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-06-04 | ~Qualia of the Day: Thyme Tea~ (Rich in Thymol, p-Cymene, Carvacrol and terpenes like γ-Terpinene, Linalool, α-terpineol, 1,8-cineole - it reminds me of Mexican style black bean soup)In this video I talk about the inauguration of the California Institute for Machine Consciousness (incl. the extended discussion between Joscha Bach and Steven Wolfram on computational irreducibility) and the project that listening to all of those lectures inspired me to do.Note: these ideas have been brewing at QRI for some time now. But only now I have a crisp view for how to put all of them together in a way that is synergistic with the research that people who believe in computational functionalism want to conduct. In other words, this video explains where the union(QRI, computational functionalism) is to be found and how to crisply distinguish their implications in a hands-on testable way.In brief, I explain how we could show that "holographic encoding" at the interface between sensory fields of different dimensionalities might be the precise place where "bound experience" works as a "hardware accelerator". I also discuss the evolution of Animats in IIT (https://www.iit.wiki/papers/animats), epiphenomenalism, David Pearce's breakdown of the hard problem of consciousness, systems of coupled oscillators as a way to instantiate the Free Energy Principle, and conceptual differences between QRI's view and IIT / CIMC-style theories of consciousness.---Learn more:California Institute for Machine Consciousness - cimc.aiJoscha Bach and Andrés Gómez Emilsson - youtu.be/vyuRCwfK1s0?si=C3JiDiGV1OtcpjDcRoger Thisdell on Pure Perception: heart.qri.org/retreats/2023-canada/roger-thisdell/on-pure-perceptionCube Flipper Post on Path Integrals and Consciousness: smoothbrains.net/posts/2025-06-01-path-integrals-and-orbifolds.htmlAlso by Cube Flipper: Hypercomputation without bothering the cactus people: Software development for the DMT headspace - smoothbrains.net/posts/2024-09-26-hypercomputation-without-bothering-the-cactus-people.htmlTowards Computational Simulations of Cessation by Chris Percy and Andrés Gómez Emilsson - qri.org/blog/cessation-simulationsFrom Neural Activity to Field Topology: How Coupling Kernels Shape Consciousness - qualiacomputing.com/2025/02/09/from-neural-activity-to-field-topology-how-coupling-kernels-shape-consciousnessCel Animation as a Key Metaphor to Model DMT Hallucinations - qualiacomputing.com/2025/03/03/cel-animation-as-a-key-metaphor-to-model-dmt-hallucinations
Having Fun with AI: A Guide for Qualia Nerds to Make the Most Out of Frontier Models (read my lips) Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-06-03 | ~Qualia of the Day: Rooibos Earl Grey~NOTE: Tragically, I seemed to have moved the microphone slightly at 35:52 - and the audio cuts out from there on :-( That said, I decided to upload anyway - very soon AI will be able to read my lips and complete the audio with the click of a button. Perhaps even have YouTube integration. So... yeah. In the meantime, part of the video with the audio recorded is nonetheless still worthwhile and interesting. It's a shame the microphone was _this_ sensitive to small perturbations. I'll take this into account in future recordings. Sorry about that!----Topics covered in this video:* Differential Geometry and Literary Analysis* Subagentic Structure* Deep Personality Radiographies* Latent Space Navigation * Fragrance Analysis, Compression, and Reconstruction* Aligning DMT Entities* Projective Intelligence* How to build intelligences that give rise to self-awareness in a bottom-way wayAnd a few closing remarks about Joscha Bach's new California Institute For Machine Consciousness (cimc.ai/).See: qualiacomputing.com/2023/03/05/aligning-dmt-entities-shards-shoggoths-and-waluigisAlso: youtu.be/ZhAiQ69F_nY?si=k48T_iOiVt7WegG7Infinite bliss!
Subagents (Part 2/2): Periodic Table of Self-Organization, Liquid Crystals, Gears, & World of Light Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-05-19 | I present the Big Picture of my understanding of how subagents come together to create YOU. Part 2 of 2.
Subagents (Part 1/2): Cost of Embodiment, Mereology, Self, Energy Minimization & Physiological Needs Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-05-19 | I present the Big Picture of my understanding of how subagents come together to create YOU. Part 1 of 2.See also: qualiacomputing.com/2023/03/05/aligning-dmt-entities-shards-shoggoths-and-waluigis
The Ultimate 5-MeO-DMT Guide: How to Have a Beautiful, Life-Changing Trip Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-05-17 | ~Qualia of the Day~: Conolidine (ACKR3 inhibitor that boosts endorphinic tone)I discuss my extensive experience with the "God molecule" and share tips for how to make the most out of a trip. 4D Wave Visualizer: qri.org/demo/4d_wave_control.htmlQRI HEART: heart.qri.orgSummary: Factors that greatly increase the chances of a pleasant and wholesome 5-MeO-DMT experience:* Practising loving-kindness daily for some time before the experience* Exercising / being fit* Eating healthy the days preceding the experience* Equanimity - practising letting go deeply* Exposure to Rob Burbea (having a high Burbea-score lol)* Having a positive intention for the trip (such as reciting and meaning "may I learn something useful for the benefit of all beings" and "may I find what I'm looking for" and "may all my parts integrate successfully without resistance")* Doing breathwork right before (a 10 minute Wim Hof/Tummo workout before the experience goes a looong way)* Praying* Exposure to nature, walking barefoot* Talking to a good friend, hugging, cuddling a few hours before the experience* Singing, releasing the sense that you could be doing it wrong somehow* Gratitude (send a donation to a charity / send a thank you note to a friend or family member)Less obviously:* Activating to the point of euphoria any of your chackras and then directing the energy to it during the come-up (especially heart and crown chakras)* Spending some time visualizing high harmony geometric shapes like the Platonic Solids and Mandalas / "Sacred geometry"* Listening to the music you find to be sacred or spiritual* Reading mystical or philosophical literature that vibes well with you (but not literature that you disagree with - it's a very personal thing)* Pleasant scents (big ideological loading here - I have no problem with e.g. a nice Guerlain or Prada perfume, but most people might need the grounding of "naturals" or essential oils because of preconceptions about the nature of "synthetic mixtures" - as always it's more about how your subconscious processes something than about the thing itself)* Petting and spending time with a happy dog for a little while* Going to an inspiring museum a few hours before the experience* Ceremonial aspects: doing it with a very experienced facilitator who does no-bs preparations (if you get the vibes of "charlatan" or they have strong unconventional opinions like "you need to do it while standing" RUN and find someone else)Less conventional and probably cultish but absolutely still helps if you ask me:* Watching 4D rotation lattices while coming up** Playing with coupling kernels/resonance systems/harmonic superpositions during it* Playing a musical instrument before* Being horny (highly activated 2nd chakra)* Coming down from a Jhana* Watching music videos you enjoy (even things like Britney Spears/Justin Beaver - the key is that you *enjoy* it, not what kind)* Getting a massage from your partner* Combining with small amounts of phenibut, gabapentin, or pregabalin (but beware: these are highly addictive and might exacerbate breathing issues at high doses, please be _very_ careful)* Combining with an already euphoric psychedelic trip (LSD, 2C-B, psilocybin)* Combining with low dose ketamineThings that absolutely don't help:* Being stressed out (job, family, reputation)* Caffeine or other stimulants (beyond small doses - I've heard especially bad things about combining with modafinil - don't do it)* Having a fight or stressful interaction with someone * Experiencing guilt or shame (can massively exacerbate it)* Physical pain (especially in small doses - don't quote me on this, but anecdotally 5-MeO has anesthetic effects above a certain dose, but won't work for severe pain so please don't combine)* Combining with salvia (horror horror)* Combining with high dose ketamine* Taking while experiencing a dysphoric psychedelic trip* Combining with nicotine or 'nootropics' (especially things like noopept or pramiracetam will make the trip much more 'tense')* City sounds (cars sound pretty awful in the state)* Pollution* Toxic personalities around you* Sleep deprivation* Eating junk food* Being in a hunted house* Someone around who is out of tune with what you're doing (don't recommend doing it in the same room as someone who is e.g. playing videogames)
Creating the Screen of Consciousness: Cavity Grids, Beam Splitters, and Path Integrals Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-05-12 | ~Qualia of the Day: Benzodiazepine Withdrawal!~Supplements discussed: Palmitoylethanolamide, black seed oil, agmatine sulfate. They provided substantial symptom relief during my latest cold; might broadly be anti-tolerance and helpful for withdrawal/tapers. Let me know if you give the stack a try (not medical advice!).In this video I discuss recent ideas about how "the screen of consciousness" arises. It's early days, but I see a possible way forwards.Infinite bliss!
Scientific Modeling of Psychedelic Visuals - Participate in this QRI Study & get a free QRI T-shirt! Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-04-15 | Link to the survey: qri.org/survey/visual-stimulus-pilotSome background on the philosophy: qri.org/blog/rigorous-reports
Explaining DMT Hallucinations: Laser Chess and Cel Animation as Key Metaphors (cf Non-Linear Optics) Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-04-06 | ~Qualia of the Day~ Earl Grey ("Linalyl acetate and linalool are the major flavouring substances in Earl Grey teas"*)QUALIUS - Join us post the ASSC conference this year (2025) in Greece to explore the cutting edge of scientific research on psychedelic phenomenology: aliusresearch.org/qualius-retreat.html (apply today!! Deadline = end of April)**Cel Animation as a Key Metaphor to Model DMT Hallucinations : qualiacomputing.com/2025/03/03/cel-animation-as-a-key-metaphor-to-model-dmt-hallucinationsElectrostatic Brain Theory (Bijan Fakhri, Chris Percy, Andrés Gómez-Emilsson) qri.org/blog/electrostatic-brain *pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24237351**This post-ASSC 2025 sattelite event will serve as an interdisciplinary workshop retreat to advance research on consciousness, altered states, and computational phenomenology. It will integrate perspectives from neuroscience, VR, computational modeling, and philosophy, fostering collaboration among researchers with a shared interest in non-ordinary conscious states. A key focus will be on the measurement of subjective effects in altered states research, exploring innovative experiential approaches using VR to induce and study these phenomena. The workshop will also highlight neurophenomenological methods that bridge first-person experience with third-person data, particularly at the intersections of art and neuroscience. Through focused discussions, cross-disciplinary talks, and collaborative sessions, participants will explore formal models of consciousness, including mathematical frameworks and neural modeling approaches. The workshop aims to establish a long-term research consortium, promoting sustainable partnerships and open collaboration to bridge empirical and theoretical perspectives in the study of altered states.The retreat is designed as a smaller, more intimate gathering of around 35 researchers with a shared interest in altered states of consciousness. Unlike the main conference, which primarily focuses on published work, this retreat will emphasize ongoing and future research, fostering discussions that lead to new collaborations. The aim is to create a space where researchers can connect organically, exchange ideas, and explore potential synergies—whether intellectual, financial, or infrastructural—through a bottom-up approach driven by participant interactions and shared interests.This approach also informs our selection criteria. Rather than prioritizing traditional academic achievements, we focus on whether applicants’ research interests, ongoing projects, and ambitions align with the retreat’s thematic tracks and contribute meaningfully to productive and interdisciplinary collaboration.
From Neural Activity to Field Topology: How Coupling Kernels Shape Consciousness Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-02-21 | ~Qualia of the Day~: Tulsi Sweet RoseQRI Discord Invite (Live Q&A on the 22nd of February 2025 at noon Pacific Time): discord.gg/wNzmDGttFollow me on twitter: @algekalipsoRelevant links:From Neural Activity to Field Topology: How Coupling Kernels Shape Consciousness - qualiacomputing.com/2025/02/09/from-neural-activity-to-field-topology-how-coupling-kernels-shape-consciousnessAmsterdam QRI Meetup (with list of academic and artistic collaborators): https://lu.ma/lnlr664k (thanks PsyDAO for help funding the event)The Quest for a Stone-Free World (EA Forum post about how to prevent kidney stones by myself and Alfredo Parra): forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/JNNrkeWdTHrS87opd/the-quest-for-a-stone-free-world-chanca-piedra-phyllanthus-1Quantifying the Global Burden of Extreme Pain from Cluster Headaches (EA Forum post about quantifying the total suffering from cluster headaches by Alfredo Parra): forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/geh2g2nKb7Kkp26ze/quantifying-the-global-burden-of-extreme-pain-from-clusterDivisive normalization unifies disparate response signatures throughout the human visual hierarchy - pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2108713118Explanation of Path Integrals in QED: youtu.be/ss0HABVUkeQ?si=nXf5I0LjTtNhtMXAJoscha Bach: http://bach.aiTOE Podcast: youtube.com/@TheoriesofEverything/videos
Coupling Kernel: Short Explanation Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-02-21 | Read more about it here: qri.org/blog/cessation-simulationsSee music video about it: youtu.be/bduyy6Oz36o?si=3o5hwxXdN44Etuyu
4D Meditation: Using the 4D Visualizer to Relax and Linearize Your Experiential Trace Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-02-17 | I just did a podcast with Curt from Theories of Everything Podcast: youtube.com/@TheoriesofEverything/videosThanks to him I got better recording gear, so expect higher-quality videos in the future :-)Felt inspired to share a meditation technique I recently developed that uses a 4D rotating lattice (where color is used to represent displacement along the 4th dimension). Try it out!qri.org/demo/4d_wave_control.html(then copy the parameters below and in the tool where you have the text field past them and click "import parameters"){ "matrix1": [ 0.7, -1, 1.1, -0.9, 0.3, 1, -1, 0, -1.2, 0, 1, 0, -1.2, -0.7, 0, 1 ], "matrix2": [ -0.1, -0.9, -0.1, 0.1, 0.9, 0.1, -0.1, 0.1, -0.1, 0.1, 0.9, 0.1, -0.1, 0.1, -0.1, 1.3 ], "interpolation": 0, "xySpeed": 0.001, "zwSpeed": 0.003, "xyRotationEnabled": true, "zwRotationEnabled": true}
What Makes DMT Experiences Truly Significant: Energy Models, Non-Linear Optics, & Field Computing Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2025-01-14 | What makes DMT experiences scientifically significant? I argue that the information processing properties of DMT-induced states of consciousness are really unusual and they challenge our pre-conceptions for what consciousness is capable of.I go over the main conceptual framework we use at QRI to make sense of DMT phenomenology, namely, energy models applied to fields and systems of coupled oscillators. Rather than focusing on the intentional content (the aboutness of the experience), we focus on the phenomenal character (the structure and dynamics of the experience) and crisply define "what is actually strange" about it. Unlike most commentators, we do not find the semantic content particularly compelling (whether it's interacting with "angels" or "aliens") but we do find specific information-processing features highly unusual and worth double-clicking on.Key links: * Why Does DMT Feel So Real? Multi-modal Coherence, High Temperature Parameter, Tactile Hallucinations - youtu.be/Bgv1ptz1wOc?si=nB7JPzoo8gKrx-xv* Projective Intelligence: How the visual/tactile fields use projective geometry for signal processing - youtu.be/ZhAiQ69F_nY?si=GIs0BnG4k4r2wou7* DMT and Hyperbolic Geometry: 1 Million Views Special - qualiacomputing.com/2022/05/02/dmt-and-hyperbolic-geometry-1-million-views-special------On the topic of the UAP mystery:"Advanced civilizations" might be less advanced than we imagine.On the one hand, it's clear that the age of technology has scarcely begun, and thus it seems logical that if you fast-forwarded the clock a few thousand years, humanity would likely have incredible universe-transforming technology. This suggests that any advanced civilization thousands or (more likely due to the age of the universe and possible distributions of civilization starts) millions of years older than us could easily tile the universe with nanobots and thus be loud "Grabby Aliens" of cosmic proportions. On the face of this, it seems ridiculous (certainly from a LessWrong mindset) that aliens would only be capable of wooing us with pretty lights in the sky doing weird things. What's their deal? Priors here entail all UAPs are explainable through conventional means.On the other hand, we must consider two critical factors. First, Dark Forest-derived game theory, where any civilization intent on surviving who concludes there's a non-trivial chance of other intelligences out there will either go full hunting mode, or full hiding mode, and probably something that combines both. I.e., the default might be "hunting in the dark," so that one can neutralize other visible civilizations that might become hunters but doing so in an untraceable way. And second, that any civilization that realizes there are possible "black balls" along a certain tech tree (a term coined by N. Bostrom for technologies that drastically increase the chances of self-destruction, or, at the very least, drastic change) will rationally enforce rules against their development for the sake of stability.In other words, advanced civilizations may maim/handicap themselves in order to avoid intelligence explosions and prevent the arising of destabilizing game theoretical setups that come with new technologies.Due to anthropic reasons, we won't find ourselves in a patch of the cosmos that went full-on Grabby Aliens. But that doesn't preclude us from being in a patch of the universe where advanced civilizations are self-handicapped, in hiding, and/or hunting.Due to replicator dynamics mixed with Grabby Alien anthropic principles, we might expect that if we are contacted by other intelligences they won't necessarily have universe-transforming technology. Their technology might be capped at various levels, depending on how they managed to both (a) stabilize their Singleton against the entropic forces of nature and the surrounding ecosystem of intelligences, and (b) self-enforce hiding, hunting, and technology development constraints as a civilization. We should not expect breakaway civilizations. Only civilization-wide coherent strategies.In other words, we can expect that they would, for replication/stability enforcement and Grabby Alien avoidance reasons, have both powerful but limited technology that allows them to stay hidden while undermining others at a distance in an untraceable way.Perhaps this could explain the pretty lights and the orbs, if anything. Namely, that their technology would be able to disable humanity's potential to become a threat, but not necessarily transform us into computronium right away. This could be highly undesirable, either because of traceability reasons, intelligence explosion reasons, and/or even the prevention of Scorched Earth scenarios.They might just be babysitting us, in a way.Relevant link:* Kevin Knuth on The Physics of UAP - youtu.be/HlYwktOj75A?si=bPSZhS-ky60_wlNP
Modulating Electric Field Lines with Harmonic Resonance: A Simple But Powerful Model of Attention Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2024-11-29 | Learn all about it here: qualiacomputing.com/2024/11/29/on-attention-as-the-management-of-electromagnetic-field-lines
Electric Field Lines of Attention: Simulating Attentional Dynamics with Electromagnetic Resonance Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2024-11-29 | A quick sharing of a work-in-progress QRI research thread: can we reproduce the behavior of attention using the field lines that arise from weighted sums of electric harmonics? At least intuitively, this seems promising! I also show a work-in-progress electromagnetic simulation that visualizes the electric and magnetic field lines that result from the interaction between weighted sums of harmonic oscillations in the electric field.See also: "The Electrostatic Brain: How a Web of Neurons Generates the World-Simulation that is You" by Bijan Fakhri, Chris Percy, and Andrés Gómez-Emilsson
Connectome-Specific Harmonic Waves: Towards a Secular, Transparent, and Effective Meditation School Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2024-11-29 | I would like to develop within QRI a meditation program specifically constructed around the first 20 brain eigenmodes.This would be an ideal approach to create a secular, transparent, and scientifically grounded meditation system. One where you know exactly what you're doing and why it works, rather than relying on tradition, faith, intuition, or pseudoscience for explanations.We'd begin by recognizing the first 5 modes, which are intimately connected to heartbeat, respiration, and GI processing. Then progress to the next 5, which relate to attention, emotional textures, and multitasking. Finally, we'd explore the following 10, which add richness and nuance to emotions, somatic sensations, and help shape the broad outlines of the visual field.When ready, we'd explore the global mode, which I suspect relates to Dzogchen ("recognize the background awareness that is always already there") and is crucial for explaining 5-MeO-DMT phenomenology.The program would then shift to understanding linear and non-linear interactions between these eigenmodes. Particularly important would be the various couplings between breathing and heart pulse, focused and peripheral attention, and standing waves versus traveling waves.Debugging would become more straightforward and transparent. You could interpret unusual sensations in terms of residual coupling between higher harmonics, absence of a consonant base for stacking higher frequencies, and under or overdamping of individual harmonics.The ultimate goal would be learning to create reliable consonance between these harmonics: from entering the jhanas to juggling while riding a bicycle, all flow states require a consonant stack of harmonics. This would make it an explicit and transparent goal, free from metaphysics or semantic conditioning. Simply music theory of the mind :-)See: https://x.com/algekalipso/status/1856377579487539451~QoD~: Nautica Voyage----Discussed in the video: * Dr Joana Cabral: Oscillatory modes as the basis of a brain melody: youtu.be/6e_1mQalqwY?si=iD9cpe8Qii0wYe7b* Distributed harmonic patterns of structure-function dependence orchestrate human consciousness: nature.com/articles/s42003-023-04474-1* On Connectome and Geometric Eigenmodes of Brain Activity - youtu.be/JjB3xGkS_qU?si=DJRrDwEc29f4Gc0_* Phenomenal Ordination - eliade.substack.com/p/phenomenal-ordinationAlso Relevant: * Modeling Psychedelic Tracers with QRI’s Psychophysics Toolkit: The Tracer Replication Tool - qualiacomputing.com/2020/10/09/modeling-psychedelic-tracers-with-qris-psychophysics-toolkit-the-tracer-replication-tool* Harmonic Gestalt by Steven Lehar - youtu.be/LJiXTCbFtu0?si=AaA4nhfftUe0L3ES
Projective Intelligence: How the visual/tactile fields use projective geometry for signal processing Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2024-10-29 | In this video I discuss how visual-tactile synesthetic representations work through projective geometry.See our simulations: Towards Computational Simulations of Cessation - qri.org/blog/cessation-simulationsCessation states: Computer simulations, phenomenological assessments, and EMF theories (Chris Percy, Andrés Gómez-Emilsson & Bijan Fakhri) - philpapers.org/rec/PERCSCRoger Thisdell on Pure Perception: heart.qri.org/retreats/2023-canada/roger-thisdell/on-pure-perceptionCube Flipper on phenomenal field topology: heart.qri.org/retreats/2023-canada/cube-flipper/5-meo-dmtAsher Arataki's FAQ: heart.qri.org/retreats/2023-canada/asher-arataki/5-meo-dmt-faq
Two Types of Equanimity: Not Resisting (Shinzen Young) vs. Stillness of Body and Mind (Rob Burbea) Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2024-08-31 | In which I explore the distinction between equanimity as formalized by Shinzen Young (e.g. Science of Enlightenment, Suffering = Pain x Resistance, equanimity as the absence of resistance) and as discussed by Rob Burbea (e.g. Seeing that Frees, Practising the Jhanas, stillness of mind and body).Caveat: I'm not qualified to teach meditation in any specific lineage. I just share what I understand to the best of my ability. That's it.See: Purification and Fulfilment: Four Formulas ~ Shinzen Youngyoutu.be/9u9nuSf9g1g?si=0zRkfsuoDWOcRWnj The Fourth Jhana - (Practising the Jhānas) [Rob Burbea]youtu.be/yBX40v9Hh1U?si=cwPmmOdQnHn1rdbz
Why Meditate on the Three Characteristics: A Recipe for Holistic Valence via Meta-Systemic Annealing Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2024-06-26 | In which I explain how the teachings of impermanence, no self, and dissatisfaction are tools to change one's principles of self-organization rather than statements about reality itself. They're a mode of inquiry, a "way of seeing" with many fruits to give, but we must recognize them as such rather than as metaphysical truths. Of course the teachings over time can reveal true aspects about reality along the way. There really is no conflict between rationality and three characteristics meditation practices.See: buddhanet.net/funbud13.htmQualia of the Day: Annealing Salon Trifecta - Exercise then Breathwork then Meditation.See also: qri.org/blog/mettannealing
How Does the Screen of Consciousness Emerge? - Competing Clusters, Blanketing, Rastering, Filling-In Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2024-06-06 | I explain how the careful balance between attentional systems might be responsible for the emergence of the seemingly 3D Euclidean projective space our experience is embedded in.Qualia of the Day: Here's the QRI 2024 Musical Album - soundcloud.com/user-143546163/sets/qualia-research-institute-2024 (the first three songs are parody - but after those three the album is quite serious in a way - lmk what you think!! - thanks to Libor and Berlin for the inspiration)
On the Topology of Sub-Agents: Non-Linear Optical Computers, Mirror Funhouses, and Laser Chess Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2024-05-29 | In which I discuss QRI's model of the brain as a non-linear optical computer, the intricacy of "internal boundaries", and the causal effects of such boundaries as well as their role in simulating subagents.See also (very relevant background):Don’t forget the boundary problem! How EM field topology can address the overlooked cousin to the binding problem for consciousnessUpdated - frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1233119/fullAndAligning DMT Entities: Shards, Shoggoths, and Waluigis - qualiacomputing.com/2023/03/05/aligning-dmt-entities-shards-shoggoths-and-waluigisTry out Laser Chess online! - laser-chess.com
Energy Management: Discussion on Advanced Techniques for Neural Annealing w/ Libor, Beata, & Andrés Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2024-05-22 | Tune in to a free-flowing discussion about Neural Annealing, Metta, Personality Disorders, Neurodivergence, Risks, Meditation & Psychedelics, Equanimity, Attentional Modes, Sociology, Psychotherapy, and Everything Qualia Related.Recorded in Berlin on May 21st of 2024 after the first QRI Berlin Meetup.Participants: Beata Grobenski (stalkerofmusik at twitter), Libor Burian (burny_tech at twitter), and Andrés Gómez Emilsson (algekalipso at twitter).Infinite bliss! Check out: qri.org
The Phenomenology of MDMA: Self-honesty, Authenticity, & the Unraveling of Gnarly Knots in the Field Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-11-26 | In this video I discuss:1. I point out that MDMA is cardiotoxic and likely neurotoxic, with real and significant side-effects when taken often. Don't do that. Respect and honor this beautiful state and save it for when you really need it.2. The phenomenology is often described as "removing layers of conditioning and finding your essential, loving, and pure *core*". It seems to significantly reduce greed, hate, and delusion, for at least a solid 90 minutes.3. I argue that a good frame would be to think of the effects as drastically reducing both reactance and fear. Then you can assess a situation without the distortions of these two mental factors, which tend to generate rather self-serving thought-forms.4. The concept of "authenticity" and its operationalization as a good lens with which to see the effects of MDMA. Big up to Matt Baggott, Co-founder and CEO of Tactogen, who is aiming to perfect MDMA and developed and applied the construct of authenticity in the scientific study of MDMA. Also thanks to Tom Ray, who is in a similar path. Well done! Let's get more people involved!5. Another frame is to think of the state as clarifying what the "substance of thought" is like. We usually live under the illusion that emotional reactions follow Newtonian physics. They don't. A better analogy would be corn starch and water, where applying force quickly can solidify (and even tear) the medium. Thus, we get in our own way and cause a lot of sense of solidity without even realizing it, which will take time and effort to soften and return to normal. 6. Discussion about QRI's Psychedelic Thermodynamics model applied to MDMA.7. Self-organizing principles, such as "repulsion-based algorithms" to undo knots, might explain what is happening to the field on MDMA.8. A possible personality factor might be how "hard" someone is. I discuss personality disorders from a "hardness realism" point of view.9. Emotional processing as a "skill tree" rather than "levels".10. High Entropy Alloys (HEA) are materials made of many metals that, in some cases, lead to really surprising effects, such as a new symmetry space group for their molecular organization (where none of the "ingredients" tend to crystalize that way, but as a whole they do). MDMA might be a bit of a unique HEA that balances serotonin (social anxiety reduction), dopamine (motivation and mental clarity), oxytocin (sense of closeness), and endorphins (bodily pleasure). It is more than the sum of the parts.11. This leads to a speculation where the key high-level effects of MDMA, in addition to reducing fear and reactance, is the presence of courage, love and equanimity. I try to explain these features in terms of MDMA's "vibratory signature".12. Deep discussion about self-honesty and why it develops in the state. I speculate it has to do with the de-modularization of our vascular clusters (or something else, if blood turns out to be a special case).13. This blending of modules with each other results in an uncomfortable but helpful overlap between contradictory faces that we put in social settings. It is ideal to experience this with equanimity and patience, however difficult it is to acknowledge it to ourselves. The other side of this wall is light and beautiful, I promise. 14. It seems to me that MDMA creates a highly redundant and highly overdetermined Euclidean geometric phenomenal space, where each point "knows" really clearly how far it is from every other point. Psychedelics can sometimes do this for short periods of time, but they usually create complex fractaline phenomenal spaces. MDMA is different - highly "clear and normal" yet unblocked and euphoric.15. The concept of Gnarliness as it relates to the "field knots" that MDMA can help unwind.Relevant links:* Gnarly SF Reality. #1: What Is Gnarl? (Rudy Rucker; h/t Ricci Flow on twitter for pointing me to this) - rudyrucker.com/blog/2013/09/06/gnarly-sf-reality-1-what-is-gnarl* The Phenomenal Character of LSD + MDMA (Candy-Flipping) According to Cognitive Scientist Steve Lehar - qualiacomputing.com/2018/12/12/the-phenomenal-character-of-lsd-mdma-candy-flipping-according-to-cognitive-scientist-steve-lehar* Principles of Vasocomputation: A Unification of Buddhist Phenomenology, Active Inference, and Physical Reflex (Part I) (Michael Johnson) - opentheory.net/2023/07/principles-of-vasocomputation-a-unification-of-buddhist-phenomenology-active-inference-and-physical-reflex-part-i* Acute effects of MDMA and LSD co-administration in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in healthy participants - hnature.com/articles/s41386-023-01609-0* Buddhist Annealing: Wireheading Done Right with the Seven Factors of Awakening (ALGE) - qualiacomputing.com/2021/04/04/buddhist-annealing-wireheading-done-right-with-the-seven-factors-of-awakening* Good Vibe Theory - qualiacomputing.com/tag/psychedelic-thermodynamicsImage credit: twitter.com/TilingBot
Consciousness Isnt Substrate-Neutral: From Dancing Qualia & Epiphenomena to Topology & Accelerators Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-11-15 | In this video I explain why substrate neutrality is so appealing to the modern educated mind. I zoom in on the Dancing Qualia argument presented by Chalmers which seems to show that if consciousness/qualia requires a specific substrate, then you can build a system where such qualia is epiphenomenal. In this video I deconstruct this whole line of reasoning from several complementary points of view. In particular, I explain:1) How substrate-specific hardware accelerators would generate something akin to a mysterious "consciousness discourse" in organisms that have hybrid computational substrates, with the meta-problem of consciousness (partly) explained via the interaction of two very different computational paradigms that struggle to make sense of each other.2) How the Slicing Problem gives rise to epiphenomenalism for functionalist / computationalist theories of consciousness. This is as big of a problem, from the complete other side, as Dancing Qualia, yet somehow it doesn't seem to receive much attention. To avoid epiphenomenalism here you require physical substrate properties to correspond to (at least in magnitude) degrees/amounts of qualia.3) The idea that you can preserve "organizational invariance" by importing the "causal graph" of the system is question-begging. In particular, it assumes that reality breaks down into bit-sized point-like fundamental interactions between zero-dimensional entities. But this is an interpretation of physical facts, which is put into question by precisely things like field theories of physics (e.g. electromagnetism) and at a much deeper level, things like String Theory, where the *substrate* of reality is topologically non-trivial.4) I show that beneath a computationalist frame for consciousness there is an implicit conception of frames of reference that are real from specific "points of view". But as I explain, it is not possible to bootstrap integrated states out of frames of reference or points of view. Ultimately, any non-trivial integration of information that is happening in these ontologies is a projection of your own mind (you're borrowing the unity of your consciousness to put together pieces of information that define a frame of reference or point of view!).And5) How the mind uses phenomenal binding for information processing can be explained with the lens of self-organizing principles set up in such a way that "following the valence gradient will take you closer to a state that satisfies the constraints of the problem". Meaning that the very *style* of problem solving our experience utilizes has an entirely different logic than classical digital algorithms. No wonder it's so difficult to square our experience with a computationalist frame of reference! To end, I encourage the listener to *enrich* his or her conception of *computation* to include irreducible integrated states as valid inputs, outputs, and intermediate states. This way we put on the same "computational class" things like quantum computers, non-linear optics, soap bubbles, and yes, DMT entity computing systems :-) They all use non-trivially integrated bound states as part of their information processing pipeline.In aggregate, these points explain why the substrate matters for computation in a way that satisfactorily addresses one of the biggest concerns that there is with this view. Namely, Dancing Qualia leading to epiphenomenalism - which gets turned on its head with the Slicing Problem (turns out computational theories were the epiphenomenalist views all along), self-organizing principles for computation, hybrid computing systems, hardware accelerators, field topology, and the insight that "reality as a causal graph is question-begging". Reality, is, instead, a network of bound states that can interact in topologically non-trivial ways.-----Relevant links:Absent Qualia, Fading Qualia, Dancing Qualia (David J. Chalmers) - consc.net/papers/qualia.htmlThe “Slicing Problem” for Computational Theories of Consciousness (Chris Percy, ALGE) - degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/opphil-2022-0225/html?lang=enPanel discussion on AI consciousness with Rob Long and Jeff Sebo - forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/pNhc3jensyBY4Hz6u/panel-discussion-on-ai-consciousness-with-rob-long-and-jeffDigital Sentience Requires Solving the Boundary Problem - qri.org/blog/digital-sentienceThe View From My Topological Pocket: An Introduction to Field Topology for Solving the Boundary Problem - qualiacomputing.com/2023/10/26/the-view-from-my-topological-pocket-an-introduction-to-field-topology-for-solving-the-boundary-problemThe Meta-Problem of Consciousness in Light of the Topological Solution to the Boundary Problem - qualiacomputing.com/2023/10/26/the-view-from-my-topological-pocket-an-introduction-to-field-topology-for-solving-the-boundary-problem
Candy Flipping Optimized: Why LSD + MDMA Points to Blissful Nondual Awareness and How to Maximize It Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-08-22 | PLUS FOUR, n. (++++) A rare and precious transcendental state, which has been called a "peak experience," a "religious experience," "divine transformation," a "state of Samadhi" and many other names in other cultures. It is not connected to the +1, +2, and +3 of the measuring of a drug's intensity. It is a state of bliss, a participation mystique, a connectedness with both the interior and exterior universes, which has come about after the ingestion of a psychedelic drug, but which is not necessarily repeatable with a subsequent ingestion of that same drug. If a drug (or technique or process) were ever to be discovered which would consistently produce a plus four experience in all human beings, it is conceivable that it would signal the ultimate evolution, and perhaps the end, of the human experiment.— Alexander Shulgin, PIHKAL, pages 963–965In this video we provide a general "theory of candy flipping" that aims to explain why LSD + MDMA is so synergistic. What makes, say 200 micrograms of LSD and 150mg of MDMA so prone to be spiritual, psychologically healing, and loving? To get there, we address the following three questions:1) How do we improve research on candy flipping?2) How do we optimize candy flipping proper? And how do we generalize candy flipping for even better results?3) What would a general recipe for Shulgin's ++++ be?1- We go over current methodologies used to study candy flipping and why their results are limited (Straumann et al., 2023). Then we explain how a "think tank" approach (e.g. phenomenology club) allows us to create more phenomenologically grounded research paradigms (Gomez-Emilsson, 2021). By weighting in the personal experience of highly precise psychonauts with skills in areas like physics, math, visual art, and signal processing, we can arrive at mechanistic models such as those proposed by Steven Lehar (Lehar, 2010) where MDMA causes your world simulation to vibrate in pleasant ways, which in turn "smooths out the rough edges" of the LSD state, or models involving annealing dynamics (Gomez-Emilsson, 2016; Johnson, 2019; Gómez Emilsson 2021, 2023). This kind of approach would deliver phase diagrams, wave mechanics, and nonlinear effects into the picture.2- Optimizing candy flipping can be done by looking to generate the kind of synergy MDMA + LSD achieve in the best of conditions. Of note, trip reports involving low doses of each together with 2C-B and cannabis are discussed and analyzed. One needs to be mindful of annealing dynamics, drug effect arcs including how to handle the MDMA comedown, and pattern-focused readings of wave effects that for lack of a better metaphor could be catalogued as "qualia lensing".And3 - We hypothesize that the key ingredients to catalyze the blissful nondual awareness that comes from high-end candy flipping are (a) a full-spectrum energizer, (b) something that increases interconnectivity, and (c) a deeply relaxing agent. The combination of these three elements gives rise to a highly-nonlinear effect I call "FU§ION (Field Unification Search/Simplify in Invariant Optical Networks; to be fully unpacked at a later date), where all of the "resonant cavities" are fully relaxed, have a high degree of impedance matching between them, and are energized, so that they kick-start a "field harmonization" process that culminates in profound blissful nondual awareness. The energizer shouldn't be narrow spectrum (like cocaine) and the relaxing agent shouldn't be too blunting or non-Newtonian (like opioids). Examples of each:a- LSD, DMT, Mescaline, Psilocybin, 2C-B, 2C-C, etc.b- Cannabis/cannabinoids, 2C-Bc- MDMA, pregabalin, nitrous, ketamine, GHBCombine one of each, carefully dosed, and you might get a ++++. More research is needed :-)-----------------------Relevant Links:Lehar, S. (2010) The Grand Illusion. Excerpt "The Phenomenal Character of LSD + MDMA (Candy-Flipping) According to Cognitive Scientist Steve Lehar". Retrieved from qualiacomputing.com/2018/12/12/the-phenomenal-character-of-lsd-mdma-candy-flipping-according-to-cognitive-scientist-steve-leharGomez-Emilsson, A. (2016) Peaceful Qualia: The Manhattan Project of Consciousness. Retrieved from qualiacomputing.com/2016/03/29/peaceful-qualia-the-manhattan-project-of-consciousnessJohnson, M., (2019) Neural Annealing. Retrieved from opentheory.net/2019/11/neural-annealing-toward-a-neural-theory-of-everythingGómez-Emilsson, A. (2021, May 8). Healing Trauma With Neural Annealing. Retrieved from qri.org/blog/Neural-AnnealingGómez-Emilsson, A. (2023), Neural Field Annealing and Psychedelic Thermodynamics presentation at PhilaDelic 2023. Retreieved from youtu.be/pM9k1I3VPOgStraumann, I., Ley, L., Holze, F. et al. Acute effects of MDMA and LSD co-administration in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in healthy participants. Neuropsychopharmacol. (2023). doi.org/10.1038/s41386-023-01609-0
The Manhattan Project of Consciousness: The Making of the Love Bomb Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-08-17 | In this video we discuss possible meaningful, novel, and non-trivial parallels between something like the Manhattan Project and what we need to do to catalyze a positive breakthrough in our understanding of consciousness.We cover how explosive lenses have a parallel in the "brain as a non-linear optical computer" paradigm developed at QRI. The short explanation is that the "index of refraction" for local field potentials (LFPs) can be modulated with drugs/interventions, and so in principle one can use varying concentrations of things like nitrous oxide, ketamine, and MDMA in order to focus waves of energy to catalyze precisely crafted phase transitions of consciousness. There are also much more subtle parallels.Another one is how the development of the von Neumann computer architecture was a world-transforming significant outcome of the Manhattan Project. In the context of consciousness research, one could envision figuring out the "principles of qualia computing" that allows DMT entities to sample from a wide range of possible "mind designs" as comparable. Arguably most DMT entities are "psychotic", but some of them aren't; the way they copy, mutate, differentiate, and analyze "qualia bundles" hints at a very general set of qualia computing building blocks for alternative qualia-based information processing pipelines. Successful Manhattan Project of Consciousness could in principle lead to a revolution on computing paradigms that generalize to qualia computing systems.In contrast to the atomic bomb, the kind of "phase transition implosion" developed at the Manhattan Project of Consciousness would be deeply relaxing, rejuvenating, and capable of undoing years of trauma in seconds. Using as research leads "candy flipping done right" (usually with some 2C-B/2C-D/2C-C), 5-MeO-DMT, and LSD + nitrous oxide, one has in fact a lot of hints for how to produce instantly relaxing, deeply healing "waves of enlightened qualia". If it takes a bunch of geniuses in the desert to figure out how to optimize this effect, so be it. It would be a really worthwhile investment!~Qualia of the Day: Burning Man Collective Intelligence~---------Relevant Links:Peaceful Qualia: The Manhattan Project of Consciousness - qualiacomputing.com/2016/03/29/peaceful-qualia-the-manhattan-project-of-consciousnessHedonium - qualiacomputing.com/2017/01/05/hedoniumExplosive Lens - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosive_lensMaking Amazing Recreational Drug Cocktails - qualiacomputing.com/2020/03/08/making-amazing-recreational-drug-cocktailsBurning Man (essay about my 2017 experience at the Burn) - qualiacomputing.com/2017/09/12/burning-manBurning Man 2.0: The Eigen-Schelling Religion, Entrainment & Metronomes, and the Eternal Battle Between Consciousness and Replicators - qualiacomputing.com/2018/09/09/burning-man-2-0-the-eigen-schelling-religion-entrainment-metronomes-and-the-eternal-battle-between-consciousness-and-replicatorsUtopia Neuroscience (David Pearce) - superhappiness.comQRI's Guide to Superhappiness - https://superhappiness.xyz/Utilitronium Shockwaves vs. Gradients of Bliss (David Pearce) - qualiacomputing.com/2019/03/20/utilitronium-shockwaves-vs-gradients-of-blissQRI Scents (incl. essay about Hedonium Shockwave) - qri.org/scentsHarmonic Resonance Theory: An Alternative to the "Neuron Doctrine" Paradigm of Neurocomputation to Address Gestalt properties of perception (Steven Lehar) - http://slehar.com/wwwRel/webstuff/hr1/hr1.html
Are DMT Entities and UFOs Connected? Robin Hanson, Alien Politics, and Subagentic Structures Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-08-12 | Robin Hanson explores whatever he finds intellectually stimulating with a chance of being neglected, significant, and tractable (he is a real EA at heart according to this characterization, which I think is true). One of the topics that he explores is that of aliens and UFOs. In this video we bring together three of his models about aliens along with DMT phenomenology and QRI insights about how the mind works.QRI sees DMT entities as "subagents gone wild" (cf. Aligning DMT Entities: Shards, Shoggoths, and Waluigis). The mind wants to predict sensory stimuli, and to do this effectively it needs to model other agents around itself. It's not unlike how GPT-4 spins up agents in order to make predictions. This model allows you to "align" them in various ways, so it is practical. But what if at least some of these "entity contacts" are actually real, not just hallucinations?The relevant Hanson models here are: 1) Grabby Aliens, where it is predicted that aliens that decide to expand will reach us in approximately a billion years. 2) UFOs are trying to domesticate us by making credible displays of high status. And 3) World politics converge on a mega-coalition that needs to spend a lot of resources reducing internal friction. More so, we can infer that these aliens decided not to expand, possibly due to risks (Dark Forest, Scary Singularities, and Rebellion Potential).Well, the most compelling aspect of DMT entities is the *quality* of their experience. Their "vibe" can melt your heart. That's so difficult to fake that it is, in many ways, way more impressive to a human than any kind of fancy clothes, gadgets, or physics displays. It is also unlikely that DMT entities and UFOs would be unrelated if they are both "real". They would paint together a picture of the wider (multi)verse.Based on credible phenomenological reports the kind of entity that you encounter depends on the "level" you go to. But any contact above Waiting Room tends to be really compelling for vibe reasons. It is then hypothesized that these experiences are akin to UFO encounters: the entities are trying to impress us so that we eventually, voluntarily, go along with their agenda.Further reports indicate that if you want to "join as a citizen of the inter dimensional medium" you need to go through some kind of "sensitivity training". We can infer from first principles, thus, that the largest coalition in the galaxy actually spends a lot of resources in reducing internal friction. They have a culture of diversity and inclusivity because that's necessary to maintain enough cohesion across the coalition to stably rule over large distances.I then go ahead and proclaim that, really, we shouldn't be pro-aliens or anti-aliens, but merely commit to "Team Consciousness". In other words, we *still* have no idea if the UFOs and entities out there (assuming they are not just internal hallucinations) are tending towards Pure Replicators or if they tilt towards benefiting consciousness. Without more information, it would be highly foolish to commit one way or the other. So rather than aligning with or against aliens/DMT beings, I simply say that we should continue to cultivate Team Consciousness first and foremost and let the rest sit until we have more information.It is important to note that this model would also predict that there are "rebels" out there. It would be conceivable, thus, that the "malignant" entities some people encounter (either on DMT or UFOs) are members of a rebel coalition that is trying to avoid assimilation into the "Galactic Federation". Hence there really is a good reason to be cautious about "who you talk to" in these spaces.~Qualia of the Day: Royal Copenhagen~ A high-entropy alloy of scent that combines facets of powdery, aldehydic, aromatic, sweet/floral, citrus, honey, wood, musk, and lavender. It is a bizarre art-house non-fragrance fragrance.------------Relevant Links by Robin Hanson: Grabby Aliens - grabbyaliens.comThe Coming World Ruling Class - overcomingbias.com/p/the-coming-world-ruling-classhtmlWould UFO Aliens Be Our Gods? - overcomingbias.com/p/would-ufo-aliens-be-our-godshtmlPanspermia Siblings - overcomingbias.com/p/panspermia-siblingshtml------------Other Relevant Links:Aligning DMT Entities: Shards, Shoggoths, and Waluigis - qualiacomputing.com/2023/03/05/aligning-dmt-entities-shards-shoggoths-and-waluigisMemetic Vaccine Against Interdimensional Aliens Infestation - qualiacomputing.com/2017/03/08/memetic-vaccine-against-interdimensional-aliens-infestationThe Universal Plot: Part I – Consciousness vs. Pure Replicators - qualiacomputing.com/2017/12/20/the-universal-plot-part-i-consciousness-vs-pure-replicatorsDMT and Hyperbolic Geometry: 1 Million Views Special - qualiacomputing.com/2022/05/02/dmt-and-hyperbolic-geometry-1-million-views-special
Electromagnetic Field Topology as a Solution to the Boundary Problem of Consciousness Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-08-08 | Our paper about our solution to the boundary problem has just been published in Frontiers!Find the (open access) paper here: frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1233119/fullTitle: Don’t forget the boundary problem! How EM field topology can address the overlooked cousin to the binding problem for consciousnessAuthors (both are first-authors): Andrés Gómez-Emilsson, Chris PercyAbstract: The boundary problem is related to the binding problem, part of a family of puzzles and phenomenal experiences that theories of consciousness (ToC) must either explain or eliminate. By comparison with the phenomenal binding problem, the boundary problem has received very little scholarly attention since first framed in detail by Rosengard in 1998, despite discussion by Chalmers in his widely cited 2016 work on the combination problem. However, any ToC that addresses the binding problem must also address the boundary problem. The binding problem asks how a unified first person perspective (1PP) can bind experiences across multiple physically distinct activities, whether billions of individual neurons firing or some other underlying phenomenon. To a first approximation, the boundary problem asks why we experience hard boundaries around those unified 1PPs and why the boundaries operate at their apparent spatiotemporal scale. We review recent discussion of the boundary problem, identifying several promising avenues but none that yet address all aspects of the problem. We set out five specific boundary problems to aid precision in future efforts. We also examine electromagnetic (EM) field theories in detail, given their previous success with the binding problem, and introduce a feature with the necessary characteristics to address the boundary problem at a conceptual level. Topological segmentation can, in principle, create exactly the hard boundaries desired, enclosing holistic, frame-invariant units capable of effecting downward causality. The conclusion outlines a programme for testing this concept, describing how it might also differentiate between competing EM ToCs.------------------In this video I walk you through (a) the personal trajectory that led me to the insight that topology might solve the boundary problem of consciousness, and (b) the outline of the paper and the key arguments we present. (a) I credit David Pearce for disabusing me of the notion that consciousness is a "substrate neutral" information-processing phenomenon (functionalism, computational theories of consciousness, causal integration theories, etc.). I credit Michael E. Johnson for introducing Qualia Formalism, the need for frame invariance in theories of consciousness, and making me think about the boundary (rather than binding) problem. And Steven Lehar for giving me the clue that resonance might be a key "glue" that ties together in a causal way different features of our experience.I was finally able to put these pieces of the puzzle together in a sudden realization around 2018 where, staring into the space while having dinner at a restaurant, a vision of looping structures in the electromagnetic field coalesced into a topological boundary that could "trap energy" and thus reveal a causal role for "ontological unity". Later on I incorporated more specific constraints that the solution satisfies "all at once": non-epiphenomenalism, frame invariance, weak emergence, and no strong emergence. Submitted a first draft for The Science of Consciousness 2020.(b) The paper does a deep dive into the (rather scant) literature about the boundary problem, introduces a new carving of the problem into 5 subproblems, and explains how EM topology satisfies them all.~Qualia of the Day: Vibe Camp Recorder (VCR)~ with notes of Rose, Smoke, Fenugreek, Peony, Key Lime, and Vanilla, plus a ton of galaxolide to solve the olfactory binding problem ;-)------------------See also: Solving the Phenomenal Binding Problem: Topological Segmentation as the Correct Explanation Space - youtu.be/g0YID6XV-PQAndres Gomez Emilsson on Digital Sentience, the Binding Problem, and Fields of Consciousness (in Lucas Perry's channel Mu) - youtu.be/xJzBjBo24g8Digital Sentience Requires Solving the Boundary Problem - qri.org/blog/digital-sentienceHunt, T. (2020). Calculating the boundaries of consciousness in general resonance theory. J. Consc. Stud. 27, 55–80. - ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/2020/00000027/f0020011/art00003Wang, J., Valligatla, S., Yin, Y., Schwarz, L., Medina-Sánchez, M., Baunack, S., et al. (2023). Experimental observation of Berry phases in optical Möbius-strip microcavities. Nat. Photonics 17, 120–125. doi: 10.1038/s41566-022-01107-7 - nature.com/articles/s41566-022-01107-7Galaxolide - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GalaxolideImage from: Knots in electromagnetism by Arrayás et al. (2017) - sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0370157316303908
VALENCIAGA: Jhanic Fashion, Tantric Humor, and Compassion Alignment Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-04-11 | Topics discussed:* How fashion is aligned and misaligned with Team Consciousness (largely counter-productive due to the cultivation of craving, selfing, and envy, but also somewhat aligned with qualia-rich aesthetics)* 2nd Jhana related to humor qualia: Sukka as a softer version of Piti and * Bubbly Humor as an alloy of mostly Sukka and a little bit of Piti.* Tantric Humor as a possible way to accelerate the development of Jhanas.* AGI psychosis and how to avoid it.* Clinically significant humor.* Honoring the victims of pain and suffering.* Strong motivation to tackle suffering and aligning the God Realm and the Buddha Realm.~Qualia of the Day~: Non-Alcoholic BeerLinks:VALENCIAGA QRI Meetup - qualiacomputing.com/2023/04/06/valenciaga-qri-bay-area-meetup-on-saturday-april-8th-2023Aligning DMT Entities - qualiacomputing.com/2023/03/05/aligning-dmt-entities-shards-shoggoths-and-waluigisHarmonic Society: 8 Models of Art for a Scientific Paradigm of Aesthetic Qualia (2019 published article about art) - qri.org/pdf/Harmonic-Society.pdfHypermotivation by David Pearce - http://www.hedweb.com/wirehead/hypermotivation.htmlWireheading Done Right - qualiacomputing.com/2016/08/20/wireheading_done_rightHilarity Scale (caution, it's logarithmic!):-2 - The Grinch (actively anti-humor, not in the Andy Kaufman sense, but in the "I hate people having fun" sense)-1 - Anti-humor (grumpy, too much coffee, Spock, hungover, etc.)0 - Zero humor (this can be one of many states, including neutral valence, anhedonia, and focused arithmetic work)1 - Slightly perked (lightly aroused, hint of something being 'slightly odd', realizing your shirt is inside out)2 - Simple fun (the feeling of connection and banter when playing a board game with friends)3 - Slightly funny ("shadows" of joy and laughter, looking goofy, dad jokes)4 - Clearly funny (well-placed puns, garden-path sentence, manifests as singular discrete chuckles separated by silence, feels like the laughter balloon got slightly inflated and deflated but without much of a buildup)5 - Very funny (cracking some jokes with friends after a few beers, being tickled by a sibling, someone poking fun at your outfit so long as embarrassment does not take over - the balloon is inflated and then let go)6 - Slightly hilarious (the moment you realize your friends have been pulling a good-natured prank on you, getting stoned and watching a comedy show by Bill Hicks (among others), the balloon is getting enough air that it stays inflated while it also lets go of air, energy building crosses threshold where the homeostatic equilibrium keeps things funny at a constant level)7 - Clearly hilarious (when you realize that your entire career was a practical joke by your family, bursts of laughter, the balloon's homeostatic equilibrium is medium-filled, self-sustaining feedback loop of laughter, "the engine has been turned on and can't be turned off", Example*)8 - Very hilarious (Crescendos of laughter, orgasmic laughter, being tickled constantly, being amused by common objects like teacups and chairs as is common on LSD)9 - Outrageous ("absurd laughter", laughter with no semantic referent, laughter that undoes years of trauma, laughter that causes hernias, laughter that needs to be stopped for your own good - I recommend smelling turmeric to help you calm down. The laughter's feedback loop leads to higher and higher levels, chaotic attractors, rolling on the floor uncontrollably, clinically significant humor)10 - Cosmic laughter (Laughter beyond existence and non-existence, transcendent laughter, the laugh of the Buddha mind, pure undiluted nondual hilarity, tantric laughter, the balloon explodes and the air inside becomes one with the air everywhere else - reality is humor, humor is reality, emptiness is laughter, laughter is emptiness - you cannot come back from this level, as you get absorbed by the laughing Buddha)*youtu.be/hSFWgKl-O-A
Reflections on my 2nd (Jhana Meditation) Retreat: From Formless Love to Antivortex Defabrication Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-04-03 | I discuss insights, reflections, suggestions, and speculations from my 2nd Jhana Meditation retreat (note: not a retreat on the 2nd Jhana specifically, but rather, the second time I do a Jhana retreat).I cover:0) Qualia Mastery as the core motivation of the practice: for the wellbeing of all sentient beings, for the sake of experiencing the mystery of consciousness directly, for the sake of developing a genuine intellectual understanding of consciousness and reality.1) How it compared to my first retreat.2) The role of caffeine and breathing exercises in Jhana practice.3) Rob Burbea's teachings of "SASSIE" and sensitivity, responsivity, and attunement.4) Mastery of the Jhanas: the importance of having an adequate conceptual framework in order to contextualize and motivate the specific intentions that arise on a moment to moment basis.5) Pleasure as a kind of "Hebbian Glue" that leaves a trail which can then be used by a kind of "ant colony optimization algorithm". Here, each ant is a moment of experience, and when it finds the "nectar" (bliss/jhanic states) it leave a trail of positive valence around it, pointing the way to future moments of experience that get close. Over time, this builds a large network of valence gradients pointing to blissful states. Without this "supporting structure", accessing those states would not leave a trace and could even be "shocking" to the system as it will fail to integrate them (lack of "qualia tethers" to go back and forth from normal consciousness to jhanic states).6) Why I think the 7th Jhana started to open up to me on this retreat despite still having unreliable access to 1st Jhana: due to a history of intense obsession with questions like "why does anything exist?" I've accessed exotic "parajhanic" states by accident, which created a sort of groove in the mind. This retreat involved a lot of "Piti + nothingness" and "sukka + nothingness" hybrid states that were very blissful.7) Following the idea that the boundary problem is solved with topological segmentation and that local binding is the result of partial topological closures, we can reason (and then experientially test) that the defabrication process involves finding the "anti" version of those topological pockets in order so they "cancel each other out". In particular, we discuss how this plays out with a vortex and an antivortex. In practice, we will need a much more general, refined, and formal mathematical language to point at the anti versions of the topological structures that give rise both to phenomenal objects and bound experiences.8) Relationship between Jhanas and psychedelics:- 2C-B: piti, strobing, hedonic tone- THC: mostly unrelated, except for mild Piti at low doses- LSD/psilocybin: neutral energy at 15-20hz that can *anneal* the system into "dirty" version of all the Jhanas- DMT: mostly neutral energy at 30hz with the issue that it gives rise to too much lateral inhibition, and therefore doesn't allow for homogenous/symmetrical field configurations. Sometimes "dirty" 1-4 Jhana states arise by chance.- Ketamine: Un-knotting and un-winding is common. It can also give rise to formless Jhanas but they are "off-key" (the waves travel slower, so you can't use the states as templates to learn the Jhanas - still useful as hints/glimpses)- 5-MeO-DMT: formless Jhanas are attractors of this state, though they tend to be mixed. Shinzen Young and others confirm that it does in fact lead to the "unfabricated"/"the absolute"/9th Jhana at high enough doses combined with equanimity. The most promising research lead for how to accelerate Jhana practice. Caution advised.9) How the Jhanas make sense in light of a non-linear optical computing paradigm of the mind-brain. I discuss how no current neuroscientific theory can explain Jhanas (let alone DMT!) and how the only framework that to me makes sense (the current leading-edge of thinking at QRI) is that the brain is in fact a non-linear optical computer embedded in a predictive processing neural network with various control systems. The nervous system learns by changing its synaptic weights, but what this learning "is for" involves tuning the parameters of an electromagnetic wave which is in fact isomorphic to one's experience. Jhanic states involve highly coherent configurations of this wave with various levels of self-focusing and winding numbers.~Qualia of the Day~: Kinesthetic FeedbackLinks:* Rob Burbea's Practising the Jhānas - dharmaseed.org/retreats/4496* Buddhist Chant - Heart Sutra Complete Version HD - youtu.be/jhGI0X6jhSQ*Ant colony optimization algorithms - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant_colony_optimization_algorithms* Aligning DMT Entities: Shards, Shoggoths, and Waluigis - qualiacomputing.com/2023/03/05/aligning-dmt-entities-shards-shoggoths-and-waluigis* Wim Hof Guided Breathing Session - youtu.be/Cuxppurd-tw* Metta Loving Kindness (Eng.) - youtu.be/Ee4wLOuMNkM
Roger Thisdell reviews Hedonium Shockwave Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-03-19 | Context: A conversation between Andrés and Roger on the nature of valence: qualiacomputing.com/2021/11/23/the-supreme-state-unconsciousness-classical-enlightenment-from-the-point-of-view-of-valence-structuralismRoger's website: rogerthisdell.com/aboutQRI's Magical Creatures Line of Scents (where you can find Hedonium Shockwave): qri.org/scentsOn Hedonium Shockwave: Hedonium is matter and energy optimized for pure bliss. It is not a shallow sense of well-being but the most profound sense of holistic well-being possible within the laws of physics. Cosmic awe, deep wellness, and rapturous joys are all human emotions and are merely low-dimensional shadows of the real deal. A Hedonium Shockwave is a hypothetical phase transition traveling near the speed of light which changes the very composition of matter and energy by turning everything it touches into Hedonium. Classical Utilitarianism, in its typical formulation, might hold the latent implication that not only would the instantiation of a Hedonium Shockwave be desirable, but we are morally obliged to bring it into existence. QRI’s ethical theories are agnostic, but Hedonium plays an important role in its memetic landscape. Namely, as a theoretical entity that embodies the essence of pure positive valence, it challenges us to consider the nature of value in and of itself and its possible “physical compilation”.Hedonium Shockwave is a scent developed in-house to illustrate this anticipated phase transition in consciousness. The primary “olfactory idea” of Hedonium Shockwave is the synergistic combination of violet, mint, and an accord of pear and honeysuckle. This combination expresses a powerful yet anodyne uplifting mood grounded in a qualia landscape devoid of negative elements—pure olfactory pleasure at last.---Review by Nick Cammarata: "It is, overall, incredibly smooth. My first thought is that it feels like a combination of Metta and Mudita, which are two different Brahmavihara meditations where it’s very soft and expansive for me. It feels very golden and pink. It’s very soft, but it’s a bit sharper, then a really soft sharp. It’s like a combination of metta and cocaine. It hits you, but in a loving way. It doesn’t hold back, but it hits you in a loving way. It’s almost like being woken up. 'Wake up the world is great!' 'Wake up there’s something important!' but a soft, loving wake-up!"
Presenting QRIs Psychedelic Replication Contest: Win the first place and earn $5K! Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-03-18 | Learn all about the three contests here: qri.org/blog/contestImage by: SIMBOLI∆Tt (@simboliatt)
Equanimity as a Tool to Increase the Stress Dissipation Capacity of the Nervous System Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-03-15 | See also: qualiacomputing.com/2021/04/04/buddhist-annealing-wireheading-done-right-with-the-seven-factors-of-awakening
Aligning DMT Entities: Shards, Shoggoths, and Waluigis Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-03-06 | See more: qualiacomputing.com/2023/03/05/aligning-dmt-entities-shards-shoggoths-and-waluigis
Explaining the 3 Supers, 3 Pillars, & 3 Methods: Some Useful Lenses for Breakthrough Qualia Research Andrés Gómez Emilsson 2023-03-01 | I provide three triplets of lenses that can help us answer the question: "how do you orient towards work that is both likely to be intellectually and ethically significant in the field of qualia research?"The heuristics discussed highlight really promising avenues to radically enhance global well-being.
