Andrés Gómez Emilsson, director of the Qualia Research Institute, examines consciousness from philosophical and scientific perspectives, describing his journey founding QRI to reduce suffering and enhance experience. He discusses psychedelics, the self as a series of experiences, and how sensory resonance (“impedance matching”) shapes awareness.

- 00:00 - The Most Important Problem
- 01:49 - The Hard Problem and Ontologies
- 05:15 - Journey into Consciousness
- 09:06 - The Qualia Research Institute
- 10:49 - Shattering Realities
- 17:12 - Happiness vs. Meaning
- 19:15 - Defining Happiness
- 25:28 - Psychological Egoism
- 33:45 - Understanding Consciousness
- 38:01 - The Qualia Research Institute's Goals
- 49:21 - Exploring Impedance Matching
- 58:25 - The Dance of Dissonance
- 1:03:22 - The Nature of Suffering
- 1:10:32 - The Concept of Oneness
- 1:17:02 - Zero Ontology Explained
- 1:27:20 - The Nature of Reality
- 1:28:57 - The Self and Sense of Self
- 1:30:53 - Stages of Consciousness
- 1:37:35 - Transformations in Consciousness
- 1:46:20 - The Role of Psychedelics
- 2:02:01 - Exploring 5-MeO-DMT
- 2:21:03 - Psychedelics and Buddhist Philosophy
- 2:45:32 - Insights on Jhana States
- 2:51:31 - Conclusion and Reflections

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RESOURCES:

- Qualia Research Institute (website): https://qri.org/
- Andres’s Qualia profile: https://qri.org/people/andr%C3%A9s-g%C3%B3mez-emilsson
- David Chalmers’s 2024 presentation at Mindfest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r9V1ryksnw
- Bernardo Kastrup on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAB21FAXCDE
- The Hedonistic Imperative (book): https://amzn.to/3Di7Xx5
- Why Does Anything Exist? (book): https://www.amazon.com/Why-Does-Anything-Exist-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0DKBHMC3C
- Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha (book): https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Core-Teachings-Buddha-Unusually/dp/1911597108
- Andres on The DemystifySci Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjWDURKNe2Q
- ‘Replications’ group on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/replications/
- Stuart Hameroff’s Mindfest presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_bQwdJir1o
- The Doors of Perception (book): https://amzn.to/4ijduTb
- From Neural Activity to Field Topology (article): https://qualiacomputing.com/2025/02/09/from-neural-activity-to-field-topology-how-coupling-kernels-shape-consciousness/
- Seeing That Frees (book): https://amzn.to/43fm15m
- Practicing the Jhanas (meditation series): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO6hhaAzLmiqUzBYuLLJQ8FexOTRxz8xF
- The Dalai Lama, Psychedelics & Cher (article): https://tricycle.org/article/dalai-lama-psychedelics-cher/
- Advice to Sigālaka (article): https://suttacentral.net/dn31/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin
- Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com
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Why Does Anything Exist?

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