In this episode, we discuss the new methods that are helping to bring about a new paradigm in consciousness research. We discuss how taking exotic states of consciousness seriously, and engaging in high-quality phenomenology can help us to understand the mind better. We also talk about the importance of having a critical mass of smart and rational psychonauts, and how generalized Wada tests can help us to understand the state-space of consciousness. Finally, we talk about the importance of cognitive sovereignty, and how it can help us to be more responsible for the information we put out.

In this episode, we analyze the perfume category called "Aromatic Fougère" in order to illustrate the aesthetic of "Qualiacore" in its myriad manifestations. We define the Qualiacore Aesthetic as the practice and aspiration to describe experiences in new, meaningful, and non-trivial ways that are illuminating for our understanding of the nature of consciousness. We also discuss the art of perfumery in light of QRI's 8 models of art, focusing on how the Qualiacore Aesthetic can be used to communicate information about worthwhile qualia.

In this episode, we explore the importance of cognitive sovereignty - the principle that people should be free to think and feel as they wish, that ideas should be owned by those who come up with them, and that information should be shared responsibly. We discuss how this principle can incentivize smart people to focus their energies on having genuinely new thoughts, and how it can help to create the conditions for innovation and creativity.

In this episode, we explore the challenge of thinking wholesome, genuinely useful, and novel thoughts about how to build paradise. Most of the "visions of paradise" we find in our culture, media, and art are projections of implicit aesthetics used for human coordination, rather than deeply thought-out and high-dimensional perspectives truly meant to elevate our understanding and inspire us to investigate the Mystery of reality. Aesthetics tend to put the cart before the horse: they tacitly come with a sense of what is good and what is real. Aesthetics are fast, parallel, and collective ways of judging the goodness or badness of images, ideas, and archetypes. To disentangle ourselves from tacit low-dimensional aesthetics, and inspired by the work of Rob Burbea (cf. Soulmaking), we go over what aesthetics consist of: Eros, Psyche, and Logos. Then, to explore high-quality aesthetics relevant to paradise engineering, we go over 7 camps of a hypothetical "Superhappiness Festival", each representing a different advanced aesthetic: Hedonism, Psychiatry, Wholesome, Paleo, Energy, Self-Organization, and Paradise Engineering.

In this episode, we discuss the Friston's Free Energy Principle (FEP) and how it can be used to explain features of exotic experiences. We talk about how the FEP shows up in the literature today, and how it can be used to explain features of exotic experiences. We also discuss Safron's countermodel of Strengthened BEliefs Under pSychedelics (SEBUS) and the work coming out of Seth's lab.

In this episode, we explore the idea that digital computers cannot be conscious. We discuss the philosophical journey that led us to this conclusion, as well as the classic issues in philosophy of mind that support our position. Finally, we solve the boundary problem with topological segmentation, which allows us to also provide an explanation for what the causal properties of experience are.

In this episode, we explore the problem of other minds and how to solve it using a combination of mindmelding and phenomenal puzzles. We discuss how this approach can be used to increase our certainty of other's consciousness, and how it can address the problem of other minds in a way that even strong skeptics will be satisfied with.

In this episode, we discuss the differences between DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. We look at how they differ in terms of global coherence, valence, and the free energy principle. We also explore 9 other lenses that help us analyze the strange and unique effects of these substances.

In this episode, we take the simulation pill and explore what it would mean for our reality. Once you take the pill, there is no going back, so be sure you're ready for the ride!

In this episode, we explore the idea that you don't need to choose between truth and happiness. High hedonic tone is not incompatible with one's representational accuracy of causal structures. The world, and the existence of experiential heaven and hell, can be understood without curling into a ball and crying your way to sleep. More so, effective and persistent action towards the good requires that you don't believe in this false dichotomy, for sustainable altruistic productivity necessitates both accurate models and positive motivations. Thus, the aspiring paradise engineer ought to be willing to take the Purple Pill to move onwards.