Motivation for Death by Astonishment

In this episode of The Psychedelic Podcast, Paul F. Austin reconnects with computational neurobiologist and author Dr. Andrew Gallimore to explore the mysteries of DMT, intelligence, and extended-state psychedelic technologies.

Find full show notes and links here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-337/?ref=278

They revisit themes from their earlier conversation and dive deeper into Andrew's latest book, Death by Astonishment, examining DMT as an information-gating technology, its relationship to non-human intelligences, and its emerging therapeutic and neuroprotective applications.

Andrew also shares updates on DMTx infusion research and reflects on what extended-state experiences could mean for the future of consciousness science and human evolution.

Dr. Andrew Gallimore is a computational neurobiologist, chemical pharmacologist, and writer based in Tokyo. He holds a master's degree in chemical pharmacology and a PhD in biological chemistry from the University of Cambridge, and has completed postdoctoral research fellowships in computational neuroscience at the Universities of York, Oxford, and Okinawa.

For more than two decades, Andrew has studied the neuropharmacology of psychedelics, with a particular focus on DMT and its implications for understanding consciousness. He is the author of Alien Information Theory, Reality Switch Technologies, and Death by Astonishment (St. Martin's Press, 2025). In collaboration with Dr. Rick Strassman, he helped develop the DMTx continuous intravenous infusion protocol for extended journeys in the DMT space.

Highlights:

• Revisiting the brain as an information-gating system
• DMT as a technology rather than a drug
• "Alien intelligences" and what intelligence really means
• The Intelligence Principle and post-biological minds
• Why extended-state DMT (DMTx) matters
• Continuous infusion as deep-sea diving vs. free-diving
• Psychedelics as tools for expanding intelligence
• Non-human entities and "galactic data networks"
• Neuroprotective effects of DMT during stroke
• The future of selective sigma-1 receptor agonists

Episode Links:

• Andrew Gallimore – Building Alien Worlds
• Death by Astonishment (Macmillan)
• Episode 146 with Andrew: DMT, Alien Intelligence, and Transhuman Ascension

Episode Sponsors:

• The Microdosing Practitioner Certification at Psychedelic Coaching Institute.
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