My fascination with 'hallucinogens,' specifically DMT, has always been primarily with their interactions with the brain and how it influences the reality-building system of our minds. I wanted to share some thoughts regarding the psychedelic experience that I don't have the means (or the knowledge) to experiment with, but I think are very interesting in concept and probably the most approachable ways to try even beginning to understand this experience.
What we can first establish is that whether the DMT experience is 'real' (as in it takes place outside of our minds) or not, what we can say quite confidently is that the mind builds it. Whether you are having a dream or looking at the computer screen in front of you, your brain is the one creating these things that you are experiencing. The difference is that when you're experiencing 'reality' your brain is interpreting stimuli to build that reality, while in dreams it is using your memories, imagination, and other internal resources to construct a reality. This isn't where my question lies though, because I think trying to answer such a thing as that is far out of the reach of modern science. However, one question I think is more approachable, and would work regardless of whether the DMT experience is internal or external, is if the molecule changes your dimensional modeling while it interacts with the brain.
Many people claim that the DMT experience is hyperdimensional, which is a notion pretty immediately brushed off in any semi-professional or scientific setting. Most people associate this with the depiction of the soul leaving the body, or think that the existence of a soul at all is required for something such as this. What I propose is that, in fact, what the DMT experience does is in some capacity rewire the brain's modeling system from a 3-dimensional system to a 4(?)-dimensional one. This sounds a little ludicrous, I know, but let me try to elaborate.
When asked what dimension you see the world in, most people would say 3-D. I can reach my arm out and see that it's extended into space, I can tell that my door is farther than the foot of my bed, I can tell that my arm has width, length, and height - I can see in 3-D. You think this, when actually, you can't. It's pretty self-explanatory as to why. Your eyes receive a picture of information - a 2-Dimensional image of the world which only displays it from one angle and from one point of view. In the process of perception, your brain combines the images from both of your eyes to create the illusion that you are seeing in three dimensions. It will use shadows, vanishing points, frames of reference, and your memories to determine the world around you with a sense of 3-D perception. Point being, it's not your eyes that are seeing in 3-D, it's your mind that's perceiving in 3-D. What I'm attempting to suggest is that if the brain is capable of modeling the idea of a 3D visual world despite not having the appropriate stimuli, why should it not be capable of suggesting the idea of a higher dimension in its model when its neurochemistry is altered by something such as DMT?
With the most scientifically plausible explanation, DMT could be facilitating a four dimensional 'dream' of sorts, constructing more complex models impossible within a sober brain state. This 4-Dimensional dream world is then attempted to be perceived by the brain, which will derive archetypes such as the jester, or the elf, or the insect, or the deity, and derive meaning and information relatable to what you already know from the completely alien models the brain started constructing against its will. I think this is a fascinating idea, because even if it is all just a waking dream, the notion that the brain is capable of constructing or perceiving realities completely impossible in the waking state, possibly even extradimensional ones, would be absolutely reality-shattering for our established understanding of perception.
As far as I know, there is no established science as to dimensional or spatial perception other than the explanation of our receptors that provide information to the brain, and theories of why and how the brain interprets things the way that it does. I'm not necessarily saying that the DMT experience is the real world as perceived in the fourth dimension, but at least suggesting that it's possible for the brain to change its world-building model towards that of a 'higher-dimensional perception' considering the neurochemistry of the brain is quite literally being altered and undergoing an experience impossible during sober reality. Science ignores this question because it won't consider answers that have long been used in spirituality.. but maybe these people just need a little change of perception
What do you think?
What we can first establish is that whether the DMT experience is 'real' (as in it takes place outside of our minds) or not, what we can say quite confidently is that the mind builds it. Whether you are having a dream or looking at the computer screen in front of you, your brain is the one creating these things that you are experiencing. The difference is that when you're experiencing 'reality' your brain is interpreting stimuli to build that reality, while in dreams it is using your memories, imagination, and other internal resources to construct a reality. This isn't where my question lies though, because I think trying to answer such a thing as that is far out of the reach of modern science. However, one question I think is more approachable, and would work regardless of whether the DMT experience is internal or external, is if the molecule changes your dimensional modeling while it interacts with the brain.
Many people claim that the DMT experience is hyperdimensional, which is a notion pretty immediately brushed off in any semi-professional or scientific setting. Most people associate this with the depiction of the soul leaving the body, or think that the existence of a soul at all is required for something such as this. What I propose is that, in fact, what the DMT experience does is in some capacity rewire the brain's modeling system from a 3-dimensional system to a 4(?)-dimensional one. This sounds a little ludicrous, I know, but let me try to elaborate.
When asked what dimension you see the world in, most people would say 3-D. I can reach my arm out and see that it's extended into space, I can tell that my door is farther than the foot of my bed, I can tell that my arm has width, length, and height - I can see in 3-D. You think this, when actually, you can't. It's pretty self-explanatory as to why. Your eyes receive a picture of information - a 2-Dimensional image of the world which only displays it from one angle and from one point of view. In the process of perception, your brain combines the images from both of your eyes to create the illusion that you are seeing in three dimensions. It will use shadows, vanishing points, frames of reference, and your memories to determine the world around you with a sense of 3-D perception. Point being, it's not your eyes that are seeing in 3-D, it's your mind that's perceiving in 3-D. What I'm attempting to suggest is that if the brain is capable of modeling the idea of a 3D visual world despite not having the appropriate stimuli, why should it not be capable of suggesting the idea of a higher dimension in its model when its neurochemistry is altered by something such as DMT?
With the most scientifically plausible explanation, DMT could be facilitating a four dimensional 'dream' of sorts, constructing more complex models impossible within a sober brain state. This 4-Dimensional dream world is then attempted to be perceived by the brain, which will derive archetypes such as the jester, or the elf, or the insect, or the deity, and derive meaning and information relatable to what you already know from the completely alien models the brain started constructing against its will. I think this is a fascinating idea, because even if it is all just a waking dream, the notion that the brain is capable of constructing or perceiving realities completely impossible in the waking state, possibly even extradimensional ones, would be absolutely reality-shattering for our established understanding of perception.
As far as I know, there is no established science as to dimensional or spatial perception other than the explanation of our receptors that provide information to the brain, and theories of why and how the brain interprets things the way that it does. I'm not necessarily saying that the DMT experience is the real world as perceived in the fourth dimension, but at least suggesting that it's possible for the brain to change its world-building model towards that of a 'higher-dimensional perception' considering the neurochemistry of the brain is quite literally being altered and undergoing an experience impossible during sober reality. Science ignores this question because it won't consider answers that have long been used in spirituality.. but maybe these people just need a little change of perception
What do you think?
