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Unselfing: Philosophy of Psychedelics

Chris Letheby

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Guest Introduction

In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Chris Letheby: a philosopher of cognitive science who focuses on psychedelic experience & its implications for our understanding of consciousness.

Chris is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Western Australia and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Adelaide. He has a soon-to-be-published book: Philosophy of Psychedelics.

Along with Philip Gerrans, Chris is behind one of the most interesting theories of what the self is, a theory that explains why the sensation of being a 'self' arises in consciousness, which they call the "predictive self-binding account".

His work goes on to study how high-dose psychedelic experiences disrupt this model of self-consciousness, and weaves the implications into a broader project he calls Naturalizing Spirituality.

Our conversation follows three main topics:

  • What is the predictive self-binding account of self consciousness?
  • How do predictive processing and cognitive binding work together to produce the sensation of being a self?
  • What are the different dimensions of self-consciousness?
  • How do psychedelics disrupt self-consciousness?
  • What is "unselfing"?
  • How do psychedelics change the possibility space of our experience?
  • What can these psychedelic experiences that alter our self-consciousness tell us about the prospects of a naturalized spirituality suited for the 21st century?

This was such a fun conversation, & I find Chris' work absolutely brilliant. Cannot wait to see his work evolve.

Enjoy!

Conversation Topics

  1. The predictive self-binding account of self-consciousness
  2. How predictive processing and cognitive binding produce the sensation of selfhood
  3. Different dimensions of self-consciousness
  4. Psychedelic disruption of self-consciousness
  5. The concept of "unselfing"
  6. How psychedelics alter our experiential possibility space
  7. Implications for naturalized spirituality in the 21st century

Time Map

Part 1: Self-models & predictive self-binding theory

  • 13:20 – What constitutes a self-model and representationalist theory of consciousness
  • 22:00 – Predictive processing mechanics
  • 27:50 – Transparency/opacity in self-models
  • 33:30 – Default Mode Network vs. Salience Network

Part 2: Psychedelics & self-model unbinding

  • 37:40 – Neurochemistry of psychedelics
  • 39:30 – "Unselfing" defined
  • 43:40 – Relation to Robin Carhart-Harris' REBUS model
  • 52:20 – Applications to Mark Fisher's capitalist realism
  • 61:40 – Thomas Metzinger's functional rigidity

Part 3: Naturalizing spirituality

  • 1:03:30 – Naturalizing spirituality
  • 1:17:30 – Moving from value-neutral science to normative consciousness questions
  • 1:21:00 – Epistemic status of psychedelic experience
  • 1:30:50 – Psychological flexibility value

Links from the Conversation