Humans On The Loop

👁️🧠🎧 210 - Mitch Schultz & Shanta Stevens on Documenting The Next Psychedelic Revolution

Oct 2, 2023

Mitch Schultz, psychedelic film-maker, and Shanta Stevens, experience design consultant, discuss a wide range of topics including AI-human cooperation, consciousness, psychedelic therapy, and the impact of technology on consciousness and humanity. They also explore the future of journalism, the role of independent documentaries, and the nature of reality. They reflect on the need for global cooperation, aligning AI with human interests, and the exploration of inner depths instead of outer space.

01:24:55

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Episode guests

Shanta Stevens

Mitch Schultz

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Aligning AI with human interests is crucial for our survival as a planet and raising children better is a way to achieve this.

Exploring altered states of consciousness and reprogramming our sense of self can lead to personal and collective growth.

Developing cybernetic literacy and understanding the influence of technology on us can guide us in harnessing its potential for the benefit of humanity.

Deep dives

Redefining Humanity and the Importance of Aligning AI with Human Interests

The podcast episode explores the idea that as human beings, we need to recognize the importance of aligning AI with human interests in order to ensure our survival on the planet. The speaker emphasizes that the days of thinking in terms of nations or tribes are over, and we must now think collectively as a planet. Raising children better is suggested as a crucial way to align AI with human interests. The conversation delves into the emergence of large language model AI and the need to raise awareness about its impact on our development. The holistic approach to understanding consciousness and reality is discussed, highlighting the importance of reprogramming our self-perceptions and exploring different states of consciousness in the everyday world.

Introduction

3min

Various Topics and Upcoming Changes

6min

The Impact of Social Media on Self-Identity

9min

Aligning AI with Human Interests

7min

Exploring Consciousness and the Nature of Reality

26min

Human Colonization of Other Planets and Disappearing Civilizations

6min

Reality, Perception, and Humor

25min

Personal Growth, Internal Battles, and Friendly Competition

2min

Subscribe and review at Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify. Or wherever!

This week I welcome back psychedelic film-maker and culture-cultivator Mitch Schultz, Director of the legendary documentary DMT: The Spirit Molecule, alongside our mutual co-conspirator, experience design consultant and psychedelic provocateur Shanta Stevens. The two of them have formed a nucleus at Uniphi Studio around which a new transmedia documentary project is emerging — The Conscious Molecule — which will reflect on the decade-plus since Schultz’s groundbreaking documentary on the science and philosophy of DMT to look at these themes through a MUCH wider aperture. The three of us go deep and broad on a very far-ranging constellation of topics:

(0:00:01) - AI, Psychonautics, Digital Media, Language Models, and The Third Western Psychedelic Revolution(0:17:25) - The Future of AI-Human Cooperation(0:26:42) - Consciousness, Complexity, and Panpsychism(0:31:28) - Randomness, Entanglement, Decentralization, and The Conscious Molecule(0:38:46) - Exploring Consciousness and Futures(0:42:23) - The Future of Journalism and The Role of Independent Documentaries(0:47:55) - Psychedelic Therapy and The Overview Effect(0:51:43) - Transcension Hypothesis, UFOs, and Quantum Physics(0:57:43) - Altered States, Self-Reprogramming, Initiations, and Integration(1:03:32) - Technology's Impact on Consciousness and Humanity(1:13:08) - DataViz, Hyperdimensional Passports, The Future of Identity, and The Role of Community

If that sounds like a whirlwind, it is! Find a cozy recliner — and maybe an eye mask — and book an appointment with your favorite peer support/integration counselor, because this is going to be a ride…

NOTE: I’m delighted to drop this episode in the midst of a smoking hot debate about what does and does not qualify as “pseudoscience” in the research of consciousness (see coverage by Flora Graham and Erik Hoel). LOL

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• Become a patron on Substack, Patreon, and/or Bandcamp for MANY extras, including a members-only FB Group and private channels on our Discord Server• Donate directly: @futurefossils on Venmo • $manfredmacx on CashApp • @michaelgarfield on PayPal• Browse my art and buy original paintings and prints (or commission new work)• Buy (NEARLY) all of the books we mention on the show at the Future Fossils Bookshop.org page• Buy the show’s soundtrack (recorded live at Psychedelic Science 2023) on Bandcamp• Follow my music and awesome, eclectic playlists on Spotify

✨ Special thanks to my friends at Noonautics.org for supporting both the show and pioneering research!

✨ Mentions:

“Cognition All The Way Down” by Daniel Dennett and Michael Levin James Oroc Seth Lloyd David Chalmers DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman Infoboros: Recursion Across Mind, Matter, and Information by Vidur Mishra Darwin’s Pharmacy: Sex, Plants, and The Evolution of The Noosphere by Richard DoyleAlfred North Whitehead Gregory Bateson John Conway Bruce Damer Reggie Watts Melissa Etheridge Tommy Pallotta Klee Irwin ESPD ’55 Wade Davis Dennis McKenna Psychedelic Science 2023 “Corporate Metabolism” by Paco Xander-Nathan William Shatner Mark Nelson Alien Information Theory: Psychedelic Drug Technologies and the Cosmic Game by Andrew Gallimore “The transcension hypothesis: Sufficiently advanced civilizations invariably leave our universe, and implications for METI and SETI” by John Smart Ramana Maharshi Ken Wilber The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life by Robert Kegan Michael Persinger Luminarium by Alex Shakar “Why Ibogaine Is Not The Answer To The Opioid Crisis” by Jonathan Dickinson and Dimitri Mugianis R. Buckminster Fuller Liv Boeree Meditation Death Match

✨ Keywords:

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, Reality, Panpsychic Perspective, Materialist Neurobiological Model, Daniel Dennett, Michael Levin, Cognition All the Way Down, Ethical Implications, Human Development, Information Bombs, Digital Media, Psychonauts, Cyber Culture, Third Western Psychedelic Revolution, Kickstarter, Future Fossils, Album, AI Music Videos, Patreon, Substack, Evolution of Human Beings, Data Streams, Complexity of Systems, Empathy, Life System, Documentaries, Journalism, Hollywood Strike, Unions, Documentary Funding, International Multi-Billion Dollar Psychedelic Industry, UFO Phenomenon, Altered States, Self-Reprogramming, Technology Impact, Humanity, Hyperdimensional Passport, Metaphysical Stamps, Media Ecosystem, Visualizing Data Structures, Neurological Alignment, Spirit Taking Form

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Humans On The Loop

👁️🧠🎧 210 - Mitch Schultz & Shanta Stevens on Documenting The Next Psychedelic Revolution

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Redefining Humanity and the Importance of Aligning AI with Human Interests

Mapping Human Psychological Space and Reprogramming the Self

Technology, Complexity, and Cybernetic Literacy

Exploring the Shifting Nature of Consciousness and its Implications

Capturing Conversations and Themes in an Ambitious Film Project

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts