Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg

Major and minor scales of consciousness (with Andrés Gomez Emilsson)

Oct 13, 2021

Andrés Gomez Emilsson, a Stanford-educated psychologist and co-founder of the Stanford Transhumanist Association, dives into the intriguing relationship between consciousness and emotional scales. He discusses the potential of logarithmic scales to reshape our understanding of pleasure and pain, suggesting that these frameworks can inform effective altruism. The conversation explores the neurobiology of emotional states and the harmony of sound frequencies, offering insights into how our brain's patterns can be mapped to enhance emotional well-being.

01:18:14

Creator website

Episode guests

Andrés Goméz Emilsson

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Episode notes

Intro

4min

Understanding Pain and Pleasure Through Scalability

22min

Mapping the Mind: Connectomes and Consciousness

10min

Exploring the Electromagnetic Spectrum of Consciousness

3min

Valence and Consciousness: Harmony in Experience

25min

Exploring the Relationship Between Sound Frequencies and Emotional States

3min

Exploring Pain and Pleasure: Neuroscience Insights

8min

Exploring Heart Coherence and Emotional Well-Being

3min

Read the full transcript here.

Should pleasure and pain be measured on logarithmic scales? How might such a scale affect utilitarian calculations? How do harmonic energy waves in the brain correspond to states of (or intensities of) consciousness? What sorts of conclusions can we draw about brain states given the resolutions and sampling rates of tools like fMRI, EEG, and MEG? What is the symmetry theory of homeostatic regulation, and how does it connect to pleasure and pain? Are uncomfortable or confused mental states computationally useful to us? To what extent can the concepts of musical consonance and dissonance map onto energy states in the brain?

Andrés Gomez Emilsson has a Master's Degree in Psychology with an emphasis in computational models from Stanford and a professional background in graph theory, statistics, and affective science. Andrés was also the co-founder of the Stanford Transhumanist Association and first place winner of the Norway Math Olympiad. His work at QRI ranges from algorithm design, to psychedelic theory, to neurotechnology development, to mapping and studying the computational properties of consciousness. Andrés blogs at qualiacomputing.com.

Staff

Spencer Greenberg — Host / Director
Josh Castle — Producer
Ryan Kessler — Audio Engineer
Uri Bram — Factotum
Janaisa Baril — Transcriptionist

Music

Affiliates

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