Psychedelics and the Coming Singularity: A Conversation with David Jay Brown about his book
Oct. 01, 2024.
20 mins. read.
17 Interactions
Can psychedelics shape the future of AI and consciousness? David Jay Brown's latest book connects the dots between two powerful forces driving human evolution.
It used to be a bit of a secret in tech circles. But given the recent rise in the social and even political acceptance of psychedelic drug and plant use in the USA and elsewhere, now it can be told. Psychedelics and extreme technological change go together like peanut butter and jelly.
This new book of interviews by David Jay Brown casts a wide net. It chases after what the various interview subjects think about the Singularity, but beyond that, as Brown says in my conversation with him, he asks them about, “Simulation Theory… DMT entities… psychedelics and ecological awareness, God, and death.”
A diverse cast of characters are on the receiving end of Brown’s inquiries, and almost every one of them remarks that Brown really asks the big questions. My personal favorite interviewees include the great trippy graphic novelist/comic book writer and bon vivant Grant Morrison, the writer Erik Davis whose recent book High Weirdness looks at far out psychedelic, sci-fi, techno-visions of the 1970s through the lens of the works of Philip K. Dick, Robert Anton Wilson and Terence McKenna, and the almost indescribable Bruce Damer who seems to be engaged in projects related to almost everything –including space science, virtual reality and the origin of life, just to name a few. Damer also curates the DigiBarn in Santa Cruz, which holds libraries and archives of Timothy Leary and Terence McKenna. These are among the many wildly brilliant interview subjects.
I met David Jay Brown in the mid-1980s, back when I was publishing High Frontiers, a predecessor to Mondo 2000 (as Mindplex is its descendent). Since then I’ve been consistently impressed by his output as a writer and interviewer. He has written for Scientific American, Wired and other periodicals. Books include ‘Mavericks of the Mind’, ‘Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse’, ‘The New Science of Psychedelics: At the Nexus of Culture, Consciousness, and Spirituality’ and ‘Women of Visionary Art’.
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4 Comments
4 thoughts on “Psychedelics and the Coming Singularity: A Conversation with David Jay Brown about his book”
Let me be honest here and ask what bothers me for a long time. I am familiar with the belief that psychedelics can lead to higher understanding or unlock other dimensions. However, I am lost on the why? I read and heard here and there that these kind of drugs often cause a powerful hallucinations and the trips are so damn strong that sometimes people report they have 'out of world experience'. However, we also know that drugs and substances like DMT can induce altered states of consciousness, where users may feel connected to the universe, experience ego dissolution, or perceive reality in fundamentally different ways. Isn't this the very nature of drugs, to feel something different? So why do educated people believe that they offer a shortcut to enlightenment or hidden truths? I am open to suggestions here because I think this notion may indeed be a misconception.
As you guys pointed out in the interview, if psychedelics only reveal what’s already inside the mind, then these experiences are just projections of one’s existing thoughts and emotions. In that sense, they might create the illusion of accessing deeper knowledge or other dimensions, but these are still subjective and potentially delusional experiences, shaped by the user’s own psychology.
Henc, relying on such substances for enlightenment is a fallacy because any “understanding” gained may lack objectivity. How can it then translate into actual wisdom or clarity in sober reality?
I aan not saying this is foolish, I am simply asking the how?
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Good to see you here RU! And this seems a must-read book.
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Great staff and the human interest in this is absoluty fantastic.
Well, even if the science is not complete and what we know is very little, I want to emphasize this and repeat the fact that what we know is very little! There is a rational ground that suggests DMT may enhance consciousness by altering neural pathways, promoting greater integration between normally segregated brain regions. This heightened connectivity could increase the brain’s ability to process information in novel ways, leading to profound shifts in perception, cognition, and self-awareness. By temporarily suppressing the default mode network (DMN), the brain’s hub for self-referential thought, DMT may allow for experiences of ego dissolution, enabling individuals to transcend their usual sense of self and access altered states of consciousness that expand their understanding of reality.
Early research insights like this suggest that DMT could offer unique perspectives on the nature of consciousness itself.
Now, any claims other than the above are very subjective and we should take them with tones and tones of salt! For example the notion that DMT is a pathway to non human entities is not scientific at all! Every culture in this planet has a tale of spirits: I am from Japan and we have thousands of tales. South America probabaly is the first place where people have enjoyed psychedelic trips induced by natural DMT for thousands of years and they come up with wonderful tales of non human entities in the DMT trip. Yet, humans have this subjective view of the world which suggests everything has a meaning and a purpose and hence connected. Usually the connection's ultimate goal is to find the path in the afterlife. Well, the truth doesn't care for our feelings, and just because we wish there is life after death, it doesn't mean every thing is connected or that the universe works in a mysterious way. There is no scientific evidence or even credible hypothesis that justifies DMT hallucinations as proof of non human entities.
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Oh, welcome back RU. This is an excellent read. Personally, I am not interested in psychedelics, but I might give the book a try. Thank you for this.
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