Michael Pollan on the New Science of Psychedelics and Consciousness

Michael Pollan is a writer whose books have topped the New York Times bestseller list time and time again. He teaches writing at Harvard and The University of California Berkley. In 2010, Time magazine name Michael Pollan one of the most influential people in the world. His books and essays have historically focused on our interaction with nature and this new book takes that theme to a whole other level. Its title gives you a great idea of what it's about: How to Change your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. No matter how many interviews you've heard of Michael Pollan talking about his new book, our interview will offer you a fresh perspective, things he has not previously discussed and things that you may not have previously considered. The very last concept discussed in Eric's conversation with Michael Pollan will for sure leave you thinking anew.

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In This Interview, Michael Pollan and I Discuss...

• His book, How to Change your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
• How fear is a big motivator in people's action and inaction
• That your obstacles are all between your ears
• How consciousness is a big mystery
• What the newest science tells us about psychedelics
• The way psychedelics affect us by allowing us to look at normal, everyday consciousness in new ways
• The default mode network going quiet during a psychedelic trip
• The ego, idea of self in the brain and our life
• Psychedelics impact on the sense of self
• The experience of the dissolution of the ego
• The mind-expanding power of mystical experience
• The theory of the entropic brain
• How the brain works to reduce uncertainty and surprise
• The narrowing of consciousness by rigid thinking
• The stories our brains tell us
• Insufficient entropy in the brain perhaps leading to mental illnesses
• Psychedelics disordering the brain
• The similarities between a tripping brain on psychedelics and a meditative brain
• An ego-free state of consciousness through the use of psychedelics
• The mistake of seeing spirituality as the opposite of materialism
• The opposite of spiritual being egotistical
• The ego keeps us from having a deep connection with everything around us
• How psychedelics are "wasted on the young"
• That those in the 2nd half of their lives may benefit most from the use of psychedelics
• The importance of breaking the rigidity that growing older brings
• How psychedelics can help us make peace with our death
• Psilocybin benefiting those facing imminent death with great fear
• How psychedelics and a psychodynamic approach are not opposites
• "Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy"
• Positive trauma in the brain
• Administering an experience rather than a drug
• The importance of set and setting when taking a psychedelic
• How a spiritual experience alone doesn't make a spiritual life
• That ego is nothing but a contraction

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