Psychedelics, the self, and the collapse of materialist assumptions

Psychedelics, the self, and the collapse of materialist assumptions

Christophe Morin, PhD, neuroscientist

Materialist assumptions often ignore or dismiss the role of consciousness in shaping brain activity itself, argues Johns Hopkins’ Dr. Christophe Morin. Neuroplasticity forces us to reconsider this oversight. The brain does not merely react; it is re-organized in response to intention, attention, and behavior. Studies in mindfulness and trauma recovery demonstrate that new neural pathways can form when individuals shift their patterns of thought and belief. These changes are not trivial: they suggest that mind—and the awareness behind it—is a causal force, Dr. Morin maintains.

For much of my scientific career, I operated within the dominant materialist framework. According to this view, consciousness is nothing more than a byproduct of neural complexity, an emergent property of the brain’s biochemical activity. The mind, in this paradigm, is simply what the brain does. As a trained media psychologist and neuroscientist, this was the paradigm I inherited and taught for decades. It was only when direct experience collided with theory that I began to see the cracks.

Years of research into neuroplasticity, immersive psychedelic work, and spiritual inquiry have forced me to reconsider these foundations. Today, I regard consciousness not as something the brain produces, but something the brain participates in. This shift has not only shaped my recent books and academic inquiry, but also inspired the development of a transformative practice called the OPEN model, which blends neuroscience with ritual and spiritual reflection.

In this essay, I argue that psychedelics, neuroplasticity, and intentional practice offer compelling evidence for a new paradigm—one that reclaims consciousness as a fundamental, organizing field of reality. This is not a rejection of science, but a more expansive integration of its scope.