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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:

  1. What is the predictive self-binding account of self consciousness?
  2. How do predictive processing and cognitive binding work together to produce the sensation of being a self?
  3. What are the different dimensions of self-consciousness?
  4. How do psychedelics disrupt self-consciousness?
  5. What is “unselfing”?
  6. How do psychedelics change the possibility space of our experience?
  7. 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!

Time Map

PART 1 - SELF-MODELS & THE PREDICTIVE SELF-BINDING THEORY OF SELF CONSCIOUSNESS

  • 13:20 - What is a ‘self-model’? What is the ‘representationalist’ theory of consciousness?
  • 22:00 - How do predictive processing & cognitive binding work together to create the experience of being a self?
  • 27:50 - What do ‘transparency’ and ‘opacity’ mean in the context of self-models? What does it mean to make a transparent self-model opaque?
  • 33:30 - The Default Mode Network is a network of brain regions that give rise to the ‘narrative self’, whereas the Salience Network gives rise to ‘minimal or embodied self-hood. Usually, we experience the ‘self’ as a single, homogenous experience, but we can find layers to it. How do these varieties of self-consciousness differ?

37:40 - PART TWO - PSYCHEDELICS & UNBINDING THE SELF-MODEL

  • 37:40 - What’s going on in the brain, neurochemically, when someone takes psychedelics?
  • 39:30 - What is “unselfing”, or the ‘unbinding of the self-model’ under psychedelics?
  • 43:40 - How does your 'predictive self-binding' account of psychedelic experience relate to Robin Carhart-Harris’ ‘Relaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics (REBUS)’ model?
  • 52:20 - Can we apply your predictive self-binding account to Mark Fisher’s theory of capitalist realism to better understand the relationship between socioeconomic systems and our cognition, imagination, and the sorts of worlds we’re capable of envisioning?
  • 61:40 - Applying Thomas Metzinger’s notion of ‘functional rigidity’ to the effect of economic insecurity on mental autonomy and consciousness

1:03:30 - PART 3: NATURALIZING SPIRITUALITY

  • 1:17:30 - How do we move from the scientific, value-neutral practice of ‘unselfing’ to a more normative dimension of taking stances on Thomas Metzinger’s question: “What is a good state of consciousness?”
  • 1:21:00 - How should we think about the ‘epistemic status’ of psychedelic experience? Are these experiences ‘real’?
  • 1:30:50 - On the value of psychological flexibility

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