Andrés Gómez Emilsson, director of the Qualia Research Institute and a pioneering researcher in the mathematical study of consciousness, explores the nature of awareness from both philosophical and scientific angles. He recounts his journey that led to founding the Qualia Research Institute—aimed at reducing suffering and enhancing experience. He discusses the transformative potential of psychedelics, the view of the self as a series of experiences, and how sensory resonance ("impedance matching") shapes our awareness.
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Timestamps:
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
Links Mentioned:
- 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¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin
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