News AI
August 24th, 2024

Out of Your Head

The article examines the relationship between psychedelics and consciousness, highlighting historical figures like Oliver Sacks and current research on their therapeutic potential and implications for understanding reality and brain function.

Read original articleLink Icon
Out of Your Head

The article explores the intersection of psychedelics and consciousness, particularly through the lens of historical figures like neurologist Oliver Sacks and contemporary researchers. Sacks, who experimented with various hallucinogens in the 1960s, described profound experiences that blurred the lines between imagination and reality, leading him to question the nature of consciousness. The current psychedelic renaissance has sparked interest in how these substances might aid in treating mental health issues and in understanding deeper dimensions of reality. Researchers from diverse fields are investigating whether psychedelics reveal insights about consciousness that extend beyond mere brain activity. The article highlights the experiences of individuals like Gordon Wasson and Chris Bache, who encountered what they perceived as otherworldly intelligences during their psychedelic journeys. Neuroscientists are beginning to explore the neural mechanisms behind these experiences, suggesting that psychedelics may alter brain function and perception. The discussion also touches on the philosophical implications of these experiences, referencing William James and the Mystical Experience Questionnaire, which aims to quantify the qualities of mystical experiences. Ultimately, the article raises questions about the reality of these experiences and their significance in understanding consciousness.

- The article discusses the historical and contemporary exploration of psychedelics and consciousness.

- Oliver Sacks' experiences with hallucinogens led to insights about the nature of reality and consciousness.

- Current research is investigating the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for mental health issues.

- The experiences of individuals during psychedelic journeys challenge conventional understandings of reality.

- Neuroscientific studies are beginning to uncover the brain mechanisms involved in psychedelic experiences.

Related

New study shows reactions in the brain in people who were given psilocybin

New study shows reactions in the brain in people who were given psilocybin

Researchers at Washington University studied psilocybin's impact on the brain using functional M.R.I. scans. Results in Nature showed significant changes in introspective brain areas. Psilocybin's effects lingered post-drug, hinting at mental health benefits beyond placebos.

A scientist took a psychedelic drug – and watched his own brain 'fall apart'

A scientist took a psychedelic drug – and watched his own brain 'fall apart'

Researchers studied psilocybin's impact on the brain, finding it disrupts specific networks related to space, time, and self-awareness. This disruption enhances brain plasticity, potentially aiding in treating conditions like addiction and depression.

A scientist took a psychedelic drug – and watched his own brain 'fall apart'

A scientist took a psychedelic drug – and watched his own brain 'fall apart'

Researchers studied psilocybin's effects on the brain, finding disruptions in key networks enhancing plasticity. This desynchronization may aid addiction, depression, and PTSD treatment, despite varied experiences and acknowledged risks. Valuable insights for psychiatric integration.

Magic Mushrooms May Have Shaped Our Consciousness

Magic Mushrooms May Have Shaped Our Consciousness

A review by the Miguel Lillo Foundation suggests psilocybin may have influenced human consciousness for millions of years, enhancing cognitive functions and cultural practices, with potential therapeutic applications today.

Out of Your Head

Out of Your Head

The article discusses the psychedelic renaissance's potential in mental health, featuring experiences of Oliver Sacks and Christof Koch, while exploring consciousness, reality, and the reconciliation of subjective experiences with scientific understanding.

Link Icon 10 comments
By @mathieuh - 5 months
I agree with Sacks. While taking large doses of LSD or DMT I had experiences with what felt like otherworldly entities, or a sense that some cosmic revelation was imminent, but once I'd come down I didn't think something had been revealed to me or that I had been in contact with some supernatural plane, I just thought "wow I was really fucking high".

It was never a visual manifestation of a recognisable shape, it was just a sense that there was another consciousness in the room with me. I never saw machine elves or anything, I just felt strongly that there was a benevolent female presence in the corner of the room. Why I felt it was female I can't say but in the moment I was absolutely certain.

I am almost pathologically sceptical and I have absolutely zero belief in anything metaphysical. I believe that capability is simply not within me. I can see how other people would believe that there is something beyond though.

By @hrkucuk - 5 months
I don't believe in anything metaphysical, I believe all these things can be explained by what is "real". If I draw a circle and put two dots in it and a curve below the two dots, your brain will immediately recognize these shapes as a human face (smiley face). That means somewhere in your brain there is a mechanism to recognize faces. I believe in everybody's brain there exists such knowledge and reflexes that may become more prominent under the effect of some drugs - there is nothing unusual about that. I do believe this is very mysterious and interesting, and that it must be researched so we can learn more about it. But I find it wrong and dangerous to try to theorize that there is "something out there bigger than our brain". Like no, it is all in our brain - but that does not make this issue any less interesting. Brain is capable of great many things and great number of things can be revealed to an individual when their brain is functioning differently under some drugs. I just don't think this hints towards some metaphysical world of wonders that is otherwise hidden from our normal state of mind.
By @pressentiment - 5 months
I think there's something in how a good shrooms high makes you feel that 'you' are less real, and that something like nature is more cohesive and real than you are used to thinking about it.

But as someone else said, the next day you don't care anymore and you don't actually think you unlocked a new dimension. The experience of what drugs feel like doesn't seem like a valid way to get at the true nature of anything.

By @widowlark - 5 months
All we experience is in our mind alone - psychedelics reveal nothing about the universe but they do reveal everything about our perception of it. It wont make you see colors that you are incapable of normally seeing, or hear things you are incapable of normally hearing, but it will re-arrange your senses to seem that way. IMO, we should not be fooled by these cheap sensory tricks and im disappointed Sacks has been.
By @FrustratedMonky - 5 months
Tangential question.

Is Nautil.us worth the subscription.

I'm trying to find a modern magazine that is like the old "OMNI" from the 70's and 80's. Wondering if this is it?

By @timacles - 5 months
The main thing you get out of LSD and even THC is new pattern associations. Due to the way the brain works, and its constant desire to reduce resource usage, when our life consists of the same patterns, the brain will slowly tune them out. These drugs, by the simple virtue of making you feel "different", will force your brain to reassess all patterns. This is why creative types love these drugs, because they make you see regular things differently.
By @nicbou - 5 months
There was this post from Scott Alexander which I can't find. The gist of it is that some drugs like caffeine and LSD made the brain overvalue patterns and connections, so that epiphanies that honestly aren't.

I can't find it, and I remember that it was just the author's educated guess. Nonetheless it stuck with me.

By @swayvil - 5 months
Your head is like an island. All directions lead out. Which says something about how you might be travelling normally.
By @md224 - 5 months
> Once, after injecting himself with a large dose of morphine, he found himself hovering over an enormous battlefield, watching the armies of England and France drawn up for battle, and then realized he was witnessing the 1415 Battle of Agincourt... The vision seemed to last only a few minutes, but later, he discovered he’d been tripping for 13 hours.

This doesn't make any sense... morphine is not a hallucinogen or a psychedelic. You don't "trip" on it. I have a feeling the journalist mixed something up here.