Andres Gomez-Emilsson: The Science of Engineered Conscious States

Andrés Gómez Emilsson, director of the Qualia Research Institute, examines consciousness from philosophical and scientific perspectives, describing his journey founding QRI to reduce suffering and enhance experience. He discusses psychedelics, the self as a series of experiences, and how sensory resonance (“impedance matching”) shapes awareness.

0:00 The Most Important Problem
1:49 The Hard Problem and Ontologies
5:15 Journey into Consciousness
9:06 The Qualia Research Institute
10:49 Shattering Realities
17:12 Happiness vs. Meaning
19:15 Defining Happiness
25:28 Psychological Egoism
33:45 Understanding Consciousness
38:01 The Qualia Research Institute's Goals
49:21 Exploring Impedance Matching
58:25 The Dance of Dissonance
1:03:22 The Nature of Suffering
1:10:32 The Concept of Oneness
1:17:02 Zero Ontology Explained
1:27:20 The Nature of Reality
1:28:57 The Self and Sense of Self
1:30:53 Stages of Consciousness
1:37:35 Transformations in Consciousness
1:46:20 The Role of Psychedelics
2:02:01 Exploring 5-MeO-DMT
2:21:03 Psychedelics and Buddhist Philosophy
2:45:32 Insights on Jhana States
2:51:31 Conclusion and Reflections

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RESOURCES:

- Qualia Research Institute (website): https://qri.org/
- Andres’s Qualia profile: https://qri.org/people/andr%C3%A9s-g%C3%B3mez-emilsson
- David Chalmers’s 2024 presentation at Mindfest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r9V1ryksnw
- Bernardo Kastrup on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAB21FAXCDE
- The Hedonistic Imperative (book): https://amzn.to/3Di7Xx5
- Why Does Anything Exist? (book): https://www.amazon.com/Why-Does-Anything-Exist-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0DKBHMC3C
- Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha (book): https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Core-Teachings-Buddha-Unusually/dp/1911597108
- Andres on The DemystifySci Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjWDURKNe2Q
- ‘Replications’ group on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/replications/
- Stuart Hameroff’s Mindfest presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_bQwdJir1o
- The Doors of Perception (book): https://amzn.to/4ijduTb
- From Neural Activity to Field Topology (article): https://qualiacomputing.com/2025/02/09/from-neural-activity-to-field-topology-how-coupling-kernels-shape-consciousness/
- Seeing That Frees (book): https://amzn.to/43fm15m
- Practicing the Jhanas (meditation series): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO6hhaAzLmiqUzBYuLLJQ8FexOTRxz8xF
- The Dalai Lama, Psychedelics & Cher (article): https://tricycle.org/article/dalai-lama-psychedelics-cher/
- Advice to Sigālaka (article): https://suttacentral.net/dn31/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin
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Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science.

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