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Very interesting article, thank you. It made me think about the whole Imperial paper. The only problem I see is that you are assuming that a trip is an 'increased experience'. I would disagree. I'm not sure if you are aware of the 'gate-theory' of hallucinogens (LSD, in this case). This is where, via their action on serotonin receptors, they block the thalamic circuitry, which usually blocks 'unnecessary stimuli'. Therefore, this leads to an increased stimulus entering the brain, which translates to what you say an 'increased 'experience'. However, what this shows is that we have less efficient control systems in the brain, which requires less energy and activity (shown by this study). Therefore, this could be categorised as a decreased experience. Please let me know what your views on this are

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Hi. I'm not assuming anything, I am just highlighting what materialism, as a metaphysics, states: according to it, certain types of brain activity _constitute_ experience. As such, under materialism, an increase in experiential intensity/breadth _is_ an increase in that type of brain activity. So when there is a significant delta in experiential intensity/breadth without any increase in any type of brain activity anywhere in the brain, it becomes more difficult to defend materialism.

Your filter hypothesis is OK but, under materialism, it doesn't change the above. If you take out inhibitory processes, other processes should still become more active for no longer being inhibited. If more stimuli are entering the brain and being experienced, under materialism those extra experiences still _are_ certain types of brain activity that, therefore, must be observed to increase.

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redgreenvines said:

so I think this debunkery is premature.

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i appreciate your thoughts.
I often find myself desperately looking for information that might help explain things i feel are unexplainable by what materialism suggests is possible of reality. I have stopped trying to accurately explain what was so impossible about my experience because it cannot be expressed properly, i dont have the vocabulary to do so.

but im glad my experience has allowed me to keep my mind open to a more abstract interpretation of what is possible of reality.

All of the details of this stuff are pretty much in another language to me so im jealous you can assimilate the information quickly and coherently.
But alas i am young and have a lot of book learning to do if i want to understand what fascinates me

EDIT: I thought this was interesting

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http://www.bernardokastrup.com/2016/04/dispelling-straw-men-does-brain-imaging.html
To put all this in perspective, consider this other brain imaging study. It shows that, if you dream that you are clenching your hand, the brain areas associated with hand motion light up clearly in an fMRI. Now think about it: dreams and psychedelic trances are analogous in that neither can be attributed to sensory inputs. Both experiences are imagined. Yet, in a dream, when you experience something as dull as clenching your dreamed-up hand, the corresponding brain activations can be clearly discerned. But when you undergo mind-boggling psychedelic excursions into other mental universes, scientists can discern no conclusive activations anywhere in the brain. You be the judge of whether this tell us something about the likelihood of materialism being correct. Personally, I think it does.

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SleepyE said:

....
http://www.bernardokastrup.com/2016/04/dispelling-straw-men-does-brain-imaging.html

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SleepyE said:

To put all this in perspective, consider this other brain imaging study. It shows that, if you dream that you are clenching your hand, the brain areas associated with hand motion light up clearly in an fMRI. Now think about it: dreams and psychedelic trances are analogous in that neither can be attributed to sensory inputs. Both experiences are imagined. Yet, in a dream, when you experience something as dull as clenching your dreamed-up hand, the corresponding brain activations can be clearly discerned. But when you undergo mind-boggling psychedelic excursions into other mental universes, scientists can discern no conclusive activations anywhere in the brain. You be the judge of whether this tells us something about the likelihood of materialism being correct. Personally, I think it does.

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dreams makes me gasp in astonishment at how beautiful and complex its form is.

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SleepyE said:

this was the article i believe, he was referencing it, that was his quotee
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20934-dreams-read-by-brain-scanner-for-the-first-time/

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this article does not say what type of scan, nor does it show scan results, (i.e. it is a review article for amateur science buffs, not experimental evidence) although it supports the view that:
the somatosensory cortex has precise locations for each sensation from each part of the body and these same locations will be activated (electrically) when we sense something or when we remember that sensation.

sudly said:

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dreams makes me gasp in astonishment at how beautiful and complex its form is.

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I can often vividly remember my dreams in great detail after keeping a dream journal and sometimes going to sleep with melatonin.

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NachoPhlake said:

I believe dreams serve more purpose than psychedelic visuals. I think dreams are more about showing you what you need to see rather than what you want to see. I also think that is why have have dreams whether we want to or not.

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