Here are two recent talks I gave. The first one is a talk about the Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences I gave at the Harvard Science of Psychedelics Club in mid-September (2019). And the second talk is about QRI‘s models of art, which took place in June (2019) at a QRI party in the Bay Area.

The Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences (@Harvard Science of Psychedelics Club)

Description

Andrés Gómez Emilsson from the Qualia Research Institute presents about the Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences.

At a high-level, this video presents an algorithmic reduction of DMT phenomenology which imports concepts from hyperbolic geometry and dynamic systems theory in order to explain the “weirder than weird” hallucinations one can have on this drug. Andrés describes what different levels of DMT intoxication feel like in light of a model in which experience has both variable geometric curvature and information content. The benefit of this model cashes out in a novel approach to design DMT experiences in order to maximize specific desired benefits.

See original article: The Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences: Symmetries, Sheets, and Saddled Scenes

And the Explain Like I’m 5 version: ELI5 “The Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences”

Presentation outline:

Thermometers of Experience

The Leaf Metaphor

Introduction to Hyperbolic Geometry

DMT Levels

Level 1: Threshold (& Symmetry Hotel)

Level 2: Chrysanthemum

Level 3: Magic Eye (& Crystal Worlds)

Level 4: Waiting Room

Level 5: Breakthrough

Level 6: Amnesia

Energy – Complexity Landscape

Dynamic Systems

Fixed Point

Limit Cycles

Chaos

Noise Driven Structures

Turbulence

Conclusion

Super-Shulgin Academy

Atman Retreat

Wrap-Up

About the speaker: Andrés studied Symbolic Systems at Stanford (and has a masters in Computational Psychology, also from Stanford). He has professional experience in data science engineering, machine learning, and affective science. His research at the Qualia Research Institute ranges from algorithm design, to psychedelic theory, to neurotechnology development, to mapping and studying the computational properties of consciousness. Andrés blogs at qualiacomputing.com.

The Qualia Research Institute (QRI) is a non-profit based in the Bay Area close to San Francisco which seeks to discover the computational properties of experience. QRI has a “full-stack approach” to the science of consciousness which incorporates philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and neurotechnology. For more information see: qualiaresearchinstitute.org

The Harvard Science of Psychedelics Club hosts events on psychedelic research, meditation, neuroscience, students sharing their own experiences, and much more.

Credits:

– Wallpaper group 632 rotating along each symmetry element – Nick Xu

– Many of the images are by Paul Nylander: http://bugman123.com/

– The Hyperbolic Honeycomb images and 3D prints are by Henry Segerman, who also has an awesome Youtube channel where he shows 3D printed math. We used his design to print the Honeycombs we were passing around during the lecture: https://www.youtube.com/user/henryseg

– Space-Time Dynamics in Video Feedback: Jim Crutchfield, Entropy Productions, Santa Cruz (1984): https://youtu.be/B4Kn3djJMCE

Many thanks to Andrew Zuckerman and Kenneth Shinozuka for helping organize this event. And thanks to David Pearce, Michael Johnson, Romeo Stevens, Quintin Frerichs, the anonymous trippers, and many others for making this work real.

And here are the slides:

DMT trip progression Energy-complexity landscape

Dynamic Systems animations:

Harmonic Society: 8 Models of Art for a Scientific Paradigm of Aesthetic Qualia

Description

Andrés Gómez Emilsson from the Qualia Research Institute gives a presentation about how art works according to modern neuroscience and philosophy of mind.

The video discusses eight different models of art: models 1 through 4 have been discussed in academic literature and the current intellectual zeitgeist, while models 5 through 8 are new, original, and the direct result of recent insights about consciousness as uncovered by modern neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and the work of the Qualia Research Institute.

Abstract:

We start by assuming that there are real stakes in art. This motivates the analysis of this subject matter, and it focuses where we place our gaze. We examine a total of eight models for “what art might be about”, divided into two groups. The first group of four are some of the most compelling contemporary models, which derive their strength from fields such as philosophy of language, economics, evolutionary psychology, and anthropology. These models are: (1) art as a word only definable in a family resemblance way with no necessary or sufficient features, (2) art as social signaling of desirable genetic characteristics, (3) art as Schelling point creation, and (4) art as the cultivation of sacred experiences. These four models, however enlightening, nonetheless only account for what David Marr might describe as the computational level of abstraction while leaving the algorithmic and implementation levels of abstraction unexamined. They explain what art is about in terms of why it exists and what its coarse effects are, but not the nature of its internal representations or its implementation. Hence we propose a second group of four models in order to get a “full-stack” view of art. These models are: (5) art as a tool for exploring the state-space of consciousness, (6) art as a method for changing the energy parameter of experience, (7) art as activities that induce neural annealing (which implements novel valence modulation, i.e. surprising pain/pleasure effects), and (8) art as an early prototype of a future affective language that will allow diverse states of consciousness to make sense of each other. These frameworks address how art interfaces with consciousness and how its key valuable features might be implemented neurologically. We conclude with a brief look at how embracing these new paradigms could, in principle, lead to the creation of a society free from suffering and interpersonal misunderstanding. Such a society, aka. Harmonic Society, would be designed with the effect of guaranteeing positive valence interactions using principles from a post-Galilean science of consciousness.

———————–

The 8 models of art are:

1. Art as family resemblance (Semantic Deflation)

2. Art as Signaling (Cool Kid Theory)

3. Art as Schelling-point creation (a few Hipster-theoretical considerations)

4. Art as cultivating sacred experiences (self-transcendence and highest values)

5. Art as exploring the state-space of consciousness (ϡ☀♘🏳️‍🌈♬♠ヅ)

6. Art as something that messes with the energy parameter of your mind (ꙮ)

7. Art as puzzling valence effects (emotional salience and annealing as key ingredients)

8. Art as a system of affective communication: a protolanguage to communicate information about worthwhile qualia (which culminates in Harmonic Society).

The presentation is based on an essay published in the Berlin-based art magazine Art Against Art (see: Issue #6).

Article is posted online here: Models 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, 7 & 8.

See more about the Qualia Research Institute at: https://www.qualiaresearchinstitute.org/

Andrés blogs at Qualia Computing: Top 10 Qualia Computing Articles

Infinite bliss!!!

And here are the slides:

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