We’re deeply grateful to have you with us on our expedition through the state-space of consciousness. It’s been an exciting and productive year, and we’re thrilled to share our updates and accomplishments. None of this would have been possible without support from sentient beings like you.
1+ Million Views
First of all, we’re thrilled to announce that our presentation on DMT & Hyperbolic Geometry has reached a fantastic milestone of 1+ million views this year. We highly appreciate the support and engagement of the community. This presentation has also helped to catalyze some incredible collaborations.
Check Out QRI’s Latest DMT Research
“I interpret QRI as coming at the problem from the opposite direction as everyone else: normal neuroscience starts with normal brain behavior and tries to build on it until they can one day explain crazy things like jhana; QRI starts with crazy things like jhana and tries to build down until they can explain ordinary behavior. This is naturally going to be shakier and harder to research - but somebody should be trying it.”
- Scott Alexander, Astral Codex Ten1
Peer-Reviewed Research Publication Pipeline
Our Slicing Problem paper, which provides a novel critique of computational theories of consciousness, has been accepted to the journal Open Philosophy.
We’ve also recently submitted a paper on our Heavy-Tailed Valence Hypothesis (read the preprint), which is the latest iteration of our Logarithmic Scales of Pleasure and Pain - a key foundational piece for the field of valence research.
QRI has been working on building this field since 2015, and we are proud to continue pushing the boundaries of knowledge in valence research. We are just getting started!
Up next: QRI’s solution to the Boundary Problem of Consciousness and a hypothesis piece for the Symmetry Theory of Valence and how it might be tested!
Tyringham Initiative
In addition to our research efforts, we’ve had the opportunity to connect with others in the DMT research community. Our Director of Research, Andrés Gómez Emilsson, presented at the Tyringham Initiative, and we held a meet-and-greet in London with approximately 40 attendees, including some of QRI’s earliest supporters. We are thrilled to see such a strong interest in building a worldwide “qualia research community”, and we look forward to hosting more meetups in the future.
QRI Discord Server
QRI now has an unofficial Discord server which has already gathered over 1000 members and has fostered engaging discussions related to QRI, attracting notable figures in the field like Roger Thisdell and the founders of PsychonautWiki.
QRI Summer Event
One of the highlights of the year for us was getting to host a QRI event in the San Francisco Bay Area, attended by over 200 people. It was a great opportunity for us to showcase some of our latest tangible innovations, such as our scents and a demo of our Light-Sound-Vibration system. We also had a speech about the Future of Consciousness, which generated some thought-provoking conversations.
QRI TEDx Talk
QRI’s first TEDx Talk got published, which discusses interventions that will have as much, if not more, impact in reducing suffering as anesthesia. The most innovative part of the talk was about anti-tolerance drugs. We believe that we are the only organization in the entire world talking about anti-tolerance drugs as a dedicated field of study with enormous implications rather than as a mere biochemical oddity.
QRI Articles
Just Look At The Thing!
A thorough explanation of how the science of consciousness and valence structuralism inform ethics and what the Effective Altruism movement is missing.
Digital Sentience
Digital computers will remain unconscious until they recruit physical fields for holistic computing using well-defined topological boundaries.
QRI Media
- The
Ontological Dinner Party
- w/ Daniel Ingram, Andrés Gómez Emilsson, Frank Yang, & Ryan Ferris
- Reflections on
a 2-Week Jhāna Meditation Retreat
- A deep phenomenological reflection of Pīti and the 1st Jhāna through a QRI-theoretic lens.
- Harmonic
Gestalt
- Steven Lehar provides an overview of the core insights of his life’s work.
- Exploratory
Haptic Research
- Valence, Arousal, Phenomenal Complexity, and Loving-Kindness
- The
History of HedWeb
- Andrés Gómez Emilsson interviews QRI Board of Advisor and author of the Hedonistic Imperative, David Pearce.
- The
Aesthetic of the Meta-Aesthetic - On the Stoa
- This talk explores modeling the generator of each aesthetic in order to create a network of “compatibility between aesthetics” that minimizes dissonance between them while emphasizing their synergies as well as their unique and valuable contributions.
- Andrés
Gómez Emilsson & Roger Thisdell - WystanTBS
- Discussion on indirect realism, phenomenal time, qualia formalism, exotic phenomenal spacetime in psychedelic and meditative phenomenology, the effects of persistent subject-object nonduality on phenomenal spacetime and hedonic valence, and more!
- Stephen
Snyder & Andrés Gómez Emilsson - WystanTBS
- A wide-ranging discussion and sharing of perspectives covering jhāna, Brahmavihārās, comparisons with psychedelic states, and the journey to and from the Absolute.
- Leigh Brasington & Andrés Gómez Emilsson - WystanTBS
- AI,
Sentience & the Binding Problem of Consciousness - Adam Ford’s
Science, Technology & the Future
- Is Google’s LaMDA sentient? The phenomenal binding problem asks us to consider, ‘how can a huge set of discrete neurons form a unified mind?’ Is topological binding a requirement for AI to be sentient?
- The
Future of Consciousness - Adam Ford’s Science, Technology & the
Future
- A positive vision of the future that is both viable given what we know, and also utterly radical in its implications.
Listen to QRI on the Go!
Supporting QRI
Purchase a scent pack from QRI’s new scent line “Magical Creatures”. This line of scents explores the complex and often puzzling interactions that exist in the state-space of olfaction, highlighting the exotic and unique qualities that can emerge in this space.
Please feel free to donate to QRI independent of our Magical Creatures campaign.
We want to thank everyone who has helped QRI in any way, including our collaborators, donors, readers, video watchers, and event attendees. Our efforts wouldn’t matter or be possible without you. May you all be prosperous, energized, and access the full-state of consciousness for the benefit of all beings!
Additional QRI references on Astral Codex Ten this year: - Book Review: Rhythms Of The Brain - Unpredictable Reward, Predictable Happiness - Nick Camarata on Jhanas - Highlights From The Comments On Jhanas - Can People Be Honestly Wrong About Their Own Experiences?↩︎