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&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin

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Episode 153: gotLearning? Growth Over Time