22. Aldous Huxley on Altered States of Consciousness

In this episode we unpack British novelist and public intellectual Aldous Huxley's 1954 essay "The Doors of Perception." This essay explores... Huxley's experience on Mescalin The Reducing Valve Theory of Consciousness  The human desire to transcend self-conscious self-hood The ethics of the contemplative life Links to Reading & Articles mentioned The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley General Resonance Theory (paper) Entropic Brain Hypothesis (paper) Pivotal Mental States (paper) Nested Observer Windows (paper) The Bhagavad Gita translation by Eknath Easwaran How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan *note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode! Host: Zach Stehura  UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Nikki Johnson   linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-johnson-free-thinker/ Theme Music: Polyenso Timestamps 00:00:00 introduction  00:03:05 background about Huxley’s trip 00:05:58 the challenge of trying to communicate direct experience  00:11:30 Nikki's multi-sphere model of consciousness  00:14:28 the various terms for “God” 00:16:36 the reducing-valve theory of consciousness  00:27:52 types of people who filter out less primary consciousness  00:28:09 The Artist  00:31:26 The Schizophrenic  00:35:40 The Genius  00:36:33 the terror of witnessing God directly 00:43:06 the morality of the contemplative life 00:46:32 Huxley’s conception of enlightenment  00:48:46 the desire for self-transcendence  00:50:45 the war on psychedelics  00:54:27 integrating lessons from past lives 00:56:15 how a psychedelic experience changes a person’s character  00:57:23 wrapping up/outro