The Entropic Brain - Mechanisms of the Psychedelic Experience

Wild Entheology

In this episode, we discuss a paper titled The Entropic Brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging with psychedelic drugs, by Robin Carhart-Harris and co.(Link Below). We focus on the underlying mechanisms that sustain our normal waking consciousness, how this changes on psychedelics, and how this is change can be healing and spiritual. We hope you enjoy :)

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0:10 - Introduction of topic, follow us on social media

4:04 - Psychoanalysis - The perception of it historically and the value of interpreting psychedelic experience through this lens

7:26 - What is entropy and how does it relate to consciousness?

12:34 - What criticality is and how the system behaves when this point of entropy is reached

21:55 - Distinction between primary and secondary consciousness and the concept of the ego

26:42 - The developments in the brain that caused the change in consciousness and why they are evolutionarily advantageous

29:24 - The default mode network - what it is, the functions it serves, and the speculation of it as the physical counterpart of the ego

37:52 - Other mechanisms that maintain our secondary consciousness

46:00 - The drawbacks of our evolutionary developments

51:41 - Based on these mechanisms, how are psychedelics healing? What makes it a spiritual experience?

1:12:55 - Why insights feel so real on psychedelics and the potential pitfalls of interpretation

Link to the paper: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389