Psychedelics temporarily disable the default of network. They just blow it apart, and your model of reality collapses. That's what we call the defalt bo demwork, or the reality hallucination. Reality is out there somewhere. It's some sort of representation of reality that makes it possible for us to function. Some people are permanently helped by that other people may have to go back to the well once in a while.
Dennis McKenna is the founder of the McKenna Academy and has conducted research in ethnopharmacology for over 40 years. He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, and was a key investigator on the Hoasca Project, the first biomedical investigation of ayahuasca. Important Links:
Show Notes:
- ESPD 55 conference
- Goals of the McKenna Academy
- How psychedelics affect our relationship with nature
- Bridging the gap between ancestral and moderns scientific knowledge
- Psychedelics on the safety scale
- Nixon’s war against drugs
- Fear of persecution in the medical community
- LSD being really responsible for the birth of modern neuroscience
- DMT reopening the door to clinical research
- Using psilocybin for end of life applications
- Psychedelics are not just “band-aids”
- Dissipation of knowledge among indigenous tribes
- Reality hallucination
- Therapeutic utility of psychedelics
- Future of psychedelic research
- Making psychedelics more accessible
- Protecting endangered plants
- Forming alliances with indigenous communities
Books Mentioned:
- The Immortality Key; by Brian Muraresku
- How to Change Your Mind; by Michael Pollan
- Psychology and Alchemy; by Carl Jung