NDEs and DMT

Above posts were posted in the wrong thread, Maybe Laird or Ian could clean this up, many thanks !

But yes, this doesn't mean anything right now, maybe if they find out humans get a big pump of DMT when they die that's enough to make you trip balls we'll have something to talk about.

Really? what makes you think that?

I think we need to get our feet back on the ground and recognise that a non-functional brain is a non-functional brain. Stick DMT or anything else in there, the brain is still non-functioning. Just how do you propose that a brain which is shut down would "make you trip balls"?

Okay but jargon is not a good thing, is it ? I don't care for it, personally because I suspect it's simply pretentious and there to impress rather than inform.

Depends on the person, I guess. If you're in a profession with a lot of specialization, jargon can be useful shorthand.

Depends on the person, I guess. If you're in a profession with a lot of specialization, jargon can be useful shorthand.

Shorthand is precisely what it isn't, I would have thought.

[Laird]

Above posts were posted in the wrong thread, Maybe Laird or Ian could clean this up, many thanks !

No problem, tim: posts permanently deleted.

Really? what makes you think that?

I think we need to get our feet back on the ground and recognise that a non-functional brain is a non-functional brain. Stick DMT or anything else in there, the brain is still non-functioning. Just how do you propose that a brain which is shut down would "make you trip balls"?

They don't have to give an explanation, Typoz. All they have to do is say something (anything) that sounds even remotely plausible and before you can say 'NDE's are a load of baloney', it takes on a life of it's own. (sceptic bashing day, sorry  )

What percentage of rats?

Really? what makes you think that?

I think we need to get our feet back on the ground and recognise that a non-functional brain is a non-functional brain. Stick DMT or anything else in there, the brain is still non-functioning. Just how do you propose that a brain which is shut down would "make you trip balls"?

Sorry Will I don't know, I couldn't find it among all the jargon.

And yes, a non functioning brain is non functioning, but NDEs don't always happen when the brain is non functioning. Plus, drug trips can be signalled by a drop in brain activity, so how can all of this relate? I feel like if we're going to defend NDEs seriously we've got to properly take apart these attempts to explain them and that involves maybe giving them a bit more weight then they deserve, so we can better take them down. Can't just become complacent and get sideswiped by some brand new discovery or something. Example being like a said, drugs generally drop brain activity, except in DMT where it drops it while also making it wildly chaotic, unlike what NDEs are generally like, another point against it.

Found this article on Reality Sandwich. It's from a guy who, at least based on his very small YT channel, studies psychedelics, altered states of consciousness and philosophies of consciousness. 

https://realitysandwich.com/does-the-hum...-make-dmt/

According to him, based on comments from Nichols and Borjigin regarding the 2019 study, the brain possibly does produce DMT, but not necessarily enough to be comparable to an NDE, and the rest is just speculative based on the rats in cardiac arrest. This came out in January 2021 and mainly references Borjin, Nichols and Straussman. 

This isn't the first time he's addressed DMT in the brain, and NDEs, either: https://realitysandwich.com/near-death-experiences/
In this article he takes a more balanced approach, mainly to NDEs. 

Anyways, focusing on the first article, is there anything in there to take note of/be concerned about?

I think skeptics are making a mistake leaning too hard on the DMT explanation, seeing as DMT is the "spirit molecule" associated with shamanic visions, OBEs, Psi enhancement, etc.

I mean the neurobiologist Galimore who's doing a lot of work trying to make DMT trips extended via some kind of drip flow mechanism thinks the whole universe is some kind of Simulation video game.

Radin from what I understand is waiting for drug scheduling reform so he can try to do more research into the Psi enhancement aspect, and I assume Strassman is hoping to do more research beyond his original 90s stuff that helped kick off the DMT/Ayahuasca popularization in the Western World.

And what happens when DMT is used in therapy sessions, and suddenly the reports of the Harlequin go up by the thousands?

Much like their overly forceful antagonism toward consciousness theories that invoke quantum biology, I think this is gonna embarrass [the skeptics] and further hurt their credibility. [Not that the public cares much about them, going by even more than likely fake mediums getting TV shows.]

But then they say never stop your enemy from making a fool of themselves...

Found this article on Reality Sandwich. It's from a guy who, at least based on his very small YT channel, studies psychedelics, altered states of consciousness and philosophies of consciousness. 

https://realitysandwich.com/does-the-hum...-make-dmt/

According to him, based on comments from Nichols and Borjigin regarding the 2019 study, the brain possibly does produce DMT, but not necessarily enough to be comparable to an NDE, and the rest is just speculative based on the rats in cardiac arrest. This came out in January 2021 and mainly references Borjin, Nichols and Straussman. 

This isn't the first time he's addressed DMT in the brain, and NDEs, either: https://realitysandwich.com/near-death-experiences/
In this article he takes a more balanced approach, mainly to NDEs. 

Anyways, focusing on the first article, is there anything in there to take note of/be concerned about?

Thing is, we don't actually know how psychedelics work to begin with. Most assume they just create hallucinations, although all information is correlational. The problem is, we know from studies that these drugs lower brain function whilst heightening the lucidity of experience. For instance, Ketamine effectilvely turns off a part of the brain called the default mode network which is responsible in some way for our sense of separate self. Notice that the effects only take place once this area is SWITCHED OFF, which to me suggests that the more natural state is the ketamine induced one. So I would argue that DMT and other psychoactive chemicals are kind of metaphorically opening a doorway to the spiritual, or lessening the filtering capability of the brain. If DMT is produced in enough quantities in Near Death states, this could just easily be the medium through which we disassociate from the body.