Welcome to the Psychedelic Blog. I write about the Impact of Psychedelics on Grieving, Relationships, Culture & Death. This week, I explore the question at the heart of every Psychedelic journey: Does your brain generate consciousness—or is it simply tuning into something much bigger?
From my experience on many heroic doses I believe that we are antennas for the “dark matter” non local consciousness of the universe. Each of us tuned delicately to our own frequency. Psychedelics simply make available the channels on the radio dial that would otherwise make “normal” daily life impossible if they were always turned on.
All the different chemicals that we use to perturb our state of being have their unique “hue” they place on the experience. I also believe what T. McKenna said about a well of souls that occupy the realms that are opened, the older the usage the deeper the well. Hence Ketamine and its feeling of a void and mushrooms with its connections to eons gone by.
Whether we are meant to ever know or not seems silly after doing countless journeys to the other realms available. “Buy the ticket, take the ride”. HST
Love it! Especially the idea that we're antennas tuned to a specific slice of the broader consciousness field. I’ve felt that too: like Psychedelics don't create new experiences so much as reveal ones that were always there, just filtered out for the sake of functional daily life.
Agree that each compound carries a distinct signature. Ketamine feels like dissociation from self & structure, while mushrooms feel like communion with something ancient.
I believe that Christian religion if not all, I don’t know enough about the others, are all attempts to understand what was happening when the contemporary humans were consuming the same or similar substances (Soma, Mushrooms, Blue lotus) throughout the eons. The “God” that people speak of is right there, take 7g of shrooms and go speak with them!
I don’t think all people should partake, due to the pitfalls we all know exist on the other side, but the doors that are opened reveal the true beauty and meaning of our existence. Not sure if Jesus was a real person, but I fully understand the ethos with which he’s purported to convey after too many harrowing trips through the looking glass and bringing back an ever present message from the “other place”
It was never about me, it’s about all of us and how our energy fits into the greater whole. Good or bad. To take a look backwards at the wake you’ve left behind and ensure it’s not full of destruction and detritus from ones actions. That and huge Cheshire Cat grin from the love and unity that surrounds you, in the right set and setting.
If they were giving out mushrooms caps, instead of Eucharist crackers we get today, I believe that would be a transformational experience for all who were present and the sense of belonging and true love for each other would be inescapable.
Our culture chooses to do that at raves and festivals, while fun as hell, missing the larger part of what is really going on around us.
John Marco Allegro was onto something with Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, that telling makes the most sense to me after my decades of experience with war, religion and Entheogens.
Humans are awesome and absurdly hilarious, and the universe certainly has a sense of humor
Yeah, I generally agree—Jesus to me is far more powerful as a symbol than a literal man. What he represents, the teachings and energy he embodied, that's where the gold is.
I never go as far as saying what others should or shouldn't do either, but I’ve definitely found similar messages in those “other place” experiences. The sense that it’s not about the self, but about how we ripple out into the world. Also fully with you on the mushroom > cracker idea—communion might actually live up to its name that way.
And yeah, I’ve always found Allegro’s Sacred Mushroom and the Cross fascinating—whether or not it’s all accurate, the core thesis resonates more than most traditional interpretations.
This was super interesting Andrew. I am as confused about consciousness as I am about everything else, but I love to think about it. In my psychedelic experiences, panpsychism definitely resonates with me. I absolutely love to see my trees breathing. I am going to read the articles mentioned by "salience". Wonderful job!
ON the Integrated Information Theory of Tononi and the Global Workspace Theory of Dehaene, check out Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience 2nd edition, chapter 12.
It's becoming clear that with all the brain and consciousness theories out there, the proof will be in the pudding. By this I mean, can any particular theory be used to create a human adult level conscious machine. My bet is on the late Gerald Edelman's Extended Theory of Neuronal Group Selection. The lead group in robotics based on this theory is the Neurorobotics Lab at UC at Irvine. Dr. Edelman distinguished between primary consciousness, which came first in evolution, and that humans share with other conscious animals, and higher order consciousness, which came to only humans with the acquisition of language. A machine with only primary consciousness will probably have to come first.
What I find special about the TNGS is the Darwin series of automata created at the Neurosciences Institute by Dr. Edelman and his colleagues in the 1990's and 2000's. These machines perform in the real world, not in a restricted simulated world, and display convincing physical behavior indicative of higher psychological functions necessary for consciousness, such as perceptual categorization, memory, and learning. They are based on realistic models of the parts of the biological brain that the theory claims subserve these functions. The extended TNGS allows for the emergence of consciousness based only on further evolutionary development of the brain areas responsible for these functions, in a parsimonious way. No other research I've encountered is anywhere near as convincing.
I post because on almost every video and article about the brain and consciousness that I encounter, the attitude seems to be that we still know next to nothing about how the brain and consciousness work; that there's lots of data but no unifying theory. I believe the extended TNGS is that theory. My motivation is to keep that theory in front of the public. And obviously, I consider it the route to a truly conscious machine, primary and higher-order.
My advice to people who want to create a conscious machine is to seriously ground themselves in the extended TNGS and the Darwin automata first, and proceed from there, by applying to Jeff Krichmar's lab at UC Irvine, possibly. Dr. Edelman's roadmap to a conscious machine is at https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.10461, and here is a video of Jeff Krichmar talking about some of the Darwin automata, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Uh9phc1Ow
Appreciate this detailed share—clearly you’ve spent a lot of time with Edelman’s work. I’m intrigued by the TNGS framework, especially the distinction between primary & higher-order consciousness. That evolutionary framing feels intuitively right, even if I’m still not sold on whether it gets us all the way to subjective experience.
I’m hesitant to throw my weight behind any single theory at this point. The landscape still feels wide open—so many models, yet none that can convincingly explain qualia or bridge the hard problem in a way that doesn’t feel like a well-disguised workaround. But I’m genuinely curious to dig deeper into the Darwin automata. Anything that moves theory into real-world behavior is worth watching closely.
You're welcome. I believe the theory and experimental method that the Darwin automata are based on is the way to a conscious machine. I'm sure much other research will be useful and pertinent in that endeavor. The proof will be in the pudding. :-)
Super interesting! I give talks about AI and I get asked all the time about whether / when machines will be conscious. Really hard to predict, given that it's hard to explain.
A while back, Neuroscientists got very excited, when they discovered where in the brain religious activity took place. Well, it's going to be in the brain, anyway. The real question is WHY do we have such experiences?
Loved this—feels like you cracked open my brain and let the cosmos pour in. The idea that consciousness is a mystery to inhabit, not a puzzle to solve, really stuck with me.
From my experience on many heroic doses I believe that we are antennas for the “dark matter” non local consciousness of the universe. Each of us tuned delicately to our own frequency. Psychedelics simply make available the channels on the radio dial that would otherwise make “normal” daily life impossible if they were always turned on.
All the different chemicals that we use to perturb our state of being have their unique “hue” they place on the experience. I also believe what T. McKenna said about a well of souls that occupy the realms that are opened, the older the usage the deeper the well. Hence Ketamine and its feeling of a void and mushrooms with its connections to eons gone by.
Whether we are meant to ever know or not seems silly after doing countless journeys to the other realms available. “Buy the ticket, take the ride”. HST
Love it! Especially the idea that we're antennas tuned to a specific slice of the broader consciousness field. I’ve felt that too: like Psychedelics don't create new experiences so much as reveal ones that were always there, just filtered out for the sake of functional daily life.
Agree that each compound carries a distinct signature. Ketamine feels like dissociation from self & structure, while mushrooms feel like communion with something ancient.
I believe that Christian religion if not all, I don’t know enough about the others, are all attempts to understand what was happening when the contemporary humans were consuming the same or similar substances (Soma, Mushrooms, Blue lotus) throughout the eons. The “God” that people speak of is right there, take 7g of shrooms and go speak with them!
I don’t think all people should partake, due to the pitfalls we all know exist on the other side, but the doors that are opened reveal the true beauty and meaning of our existence. Not sure if Jesus was a real person, but I fully understand the ethos with which he’s purported to convey after too many harrowing trips through the looking glass and bringing back an ever present message from the “other place”
It was never about me, it’s about all of us and how our energy fits into the greater whole. Good or bad. To take a look backwards at the wake you’ve left behind and ensure it’s not full of destruction and detritus from ones actions. That and huge Cheshire Cat grin from the love and unity that surrounds you, in the right set and setting.
If they were giving out mushrooms caps, instead of Eucharist crackers we get today, I believe that would be a transformational experience for all who were present and the sense of belonging and true love for each other would be inescapable.
Our culture chooses to do that at raves and festivals, while fun as hell, missing the larger part of what is really going on around us.
John Marco Allegro was onto something with Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, that telling makes the most sense to me after my decades of experience with war, religion and Entheogens.
Humans are awesome and absurdly hilarious, and the universe certainly has a sense of humor
Yeah, I generally agree—Jesus to me is far more powerful as a symbol than a literal man. What he represents, the teachings and energy he embodied, that's where the gold is.
I never go as far as saying what others should or shouldn't do either, but I’ve definitely found similar messages in those “other place” experiences. The sense that it’s not about the self, but about how we ripple out into the world. Also fully with you on the mushroom > cracker idea—communion might actually live up to its name that way.
And yeah, I’ve always found Allegro’s Sacred Mushroom and the Cross fascinating—whether or not it’s all accurate, the core thesis resonates more than most traditional interpretations.
This was super interesting Andrew. I am as confused about consciousness as I am about everything else, but I love to think about it. In my psychedelic experiences, panpsychism definitely resonates with me. I absolutely love to see my trees breathing. I am going to read the articles mentioned by "salience". Wonderful job!
Thank you so much, Rick!
Same here—it’s such a fascinating topic to explore.
Every time I start leaning toward one theory, I do a Psilocybin journey and find myself right back in the Panpsychism camp.
And on panpsychism:
https://philosophynow.org/issues/121/The_Case_For_Panpsychism
https://philosophynow.org/issues/121/Against_Panpsychism
https://philosophynow.org/issues/117/The_Private_Lives_Of_Rocks
ON the Integrated Information Theory of Tononi and the Global Workspace Theory of Dehaene, check out Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience 2nd edition, chapter 12.
You can DL the book free here:
https://annas-archive.org/search?q=+Philosophical+Foundations+of+Neuroscience
Thanks for sharing these!
It's becoming clear that with all the brain and consciousness theories out there, the proof will be in the pudding. By this I mean, can any particular theory be used to create a human adult level conscious machine. My bet is on the late Gerald Edelman's Extended Theory of Neuronal Group Selection. The lead group in robotics based on this theory is the Neurorobotics Lab at UC at Irvine. Dr. Edelman distinguished between primary consciousness, which came first in evolution, and that humans share with other conscious animals, and higher order consciousness, which came to only humans with the acquisition of language. A machine with only primary consciousness will probably have to come first.
What I find special about the TNGS is the Darwin series of automata created at the Neurosciences Institute by Dr. Edelman and his colleagues in the 1990's and 2000's. These machines perform in the real world, not in a restricted simulated world, and display convincing physical behavior indicative of higher psychological functions necessary for consciousness, such as perceptual categorization, memory, and learning. They are based on realistic models of the parts of the biological brain that the theory claims subserve these functions. The extended TNGS allows for the emergence of consciousness based only on further evolutionary development of the brain areas responsible for these functions, in a parsimonious way. No other research I've encountered is anywhere near as convincing.
I post because on almost every video and article about the brain and consciousness that I encounter, the attitude seems to be that we still know next to nothing about how the brain and consciousness work; that there's lots of data but no unifying theory. I believe the extended TNGS is that theory. My motivation is to keep that theory in front of the public. And obviously, I consider it the route to a truly conscious machine, primary and higher-order.
My advice to people who want to create a conscious machine is to seriously ground themselves in the extended TNGS and the Darwin automata first, and proceed from there, by applying to Jeff Krichmar's lab at UC Irvine, possibly. Dr. Edelman's roadmap to a conscious machine is at https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.10461, and here is a video of Jeff Krichmar talking about some of the Darwin automata, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Uh9phc1Ow
Appreciate this detailed share—clearly you’ve spent a lot of time with Edelman’s work. I’m intrigued by the TNGS framework, especially the distinction between primary & higher-order consciousness. That evolutionary framing feels intuitively right, even if I’m still not sold on whether it gets us all the way to subjective experience.
I’m hesitant to throw my weight behind any single theory at this point. The landscape still feels wide open—so many models, yet none that can convincingly explain qualia or bridge the hard problem in a way that doesn’t feel like a well-disguised workaround. But I’m genuinely curious to dig deeper into the Darwin automata. Anything that moves theory into real-world behavior is worth watching closely.
Thanks for the links—bookmarking both.
You're welcome. I believe the theory and experimental method that the Darwin automata are based on is the way to a conscious machine. I'm sure much other research will be useful and pertinent in that endeavor. The proof will be in the pudding. :-)
Super interesting! I give talks about AI and I get asked all the time about whether / when machines will be conscious. Really hard to predict, given that it's hard to explain.
Love the work you are doing with AI, brother. The intersection of Consciousness, AI & Psychedelics is a fascinating one to explore.
I'm of the opinion that the universe is consciousness, and that this was in effect, creation, consciousness and that which it can be conscious of.
Hard to argue with that!
A while back, Neuroscientists got very excited, when they discovered where in the brain religious activity took place. Well, it's going to be in the brain, anyway. The real question is WHY do we have such experiences?
Exactly.
Loved this—feels like you cracked open my brain and let the cosmos pour in. The idea that consciousness is a mystery to inhabit, not a puzzle to solve, really stuck with me.
Thanks, brother!
Such a fun topic to explore.
Loved this, Andrew! 🙌
Best essay yet. From the title to the research to your easily accessible explanations
Really well done
Thank you so much, Paul!
Glad the piece landed. This feedback means a lot.
I’ll be honest, the title drew me in. Philosophical and quizzical. Really nice.
The rest of piece kept me glued. Really well written.
Very kind of you to share this!