Episode 43 - Altered States 01

Send us Fan Mail What if the visions people experience on DMT, psilocybin, and other psychedelics aren't hallucinations created by a malfunctioning brain, but actual windows into something that exists independently of us? Thousands of people across cultures and continents report encountering the same entities, describing identical beings, geometric structures, and, strangely, computer code. A language that looks like programming. Why would hallucinations be so consistent? Why would the human brain specifically generate imagery of computer code? Tonight, we explore altered consciousness across multiple mechanisms: DMT, psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, near-death experiences, sleep deprivation, extreme pain, meditation, and sensory deprivation. We examine the research of psychiatrist Rick Strassman and ethnobotanist Terence McKenna. We meet the witnesses. And we ask the question that neuroscience has largely avoided: Are these hallucinations? Or are they revealing something about the nature of consciousness and reality that materialism cannot explain? Support the show