10 things this month
Monthly resource roundup - November 2023
Many good things have come from my online writing, but at the top of the list must be the fact that it played a small part in the development of the $42M Kentucky Ibogaine Plan. Over a year ago, one of my dear readers reached out and asked if I had time for a quick call. He was investigating the potential for psychedelics to combat Kentucky’s opioid crisis and was eager to learn more. I asked him if he’d heard about Ibogaine (he hadn’t). Now, Kentucky is on the verge of allocating $42M to Ibogaine research thanks to his initiative and openness. Read the full story here.
I recently rewatched this short film with beautiful storytelling from
. A captivating thought experiment on human (and cosmic) consciousness that gives me chills every time. Let these 9 minutes take you.California Governor Newsom vetoed the psychedelics bill we were all very excited about. The bill encompassed full legalization of personal possession and social sharing of various naturally occurring psychedelics. It was too much too soon — the Governor instructed Senator Scott Wiener, author of the bill, to come back with an approach for therapeutic services. I suspect we’ll end up with something that’s similar to the Oregon and Colorado bills.
On a more positive note, Antonio Gracias, a former Tesla director, is giving Harvard $16 million to study psychedelics in society and culture. The donation will fund multidisciplinary research across the studies of arts, culture, law, and religion. This is the first contribution of its kind, funding research that extends beyond the clinical sciences.
Psychedelic researcher Manesh Girn is recruiting for an intensive psilocybin neuroimaging study at USFC. If you’re interested, in the Bay area, and believe you are eligible for the study respond to this e-mail and I can put you in touch.
As an occasional cosmic traveler, I continue to educate myself on the realities of multi-dimensionality. The first few chapters of Hyperspace have been nothing short of breathtaking, a deep dive into why math (and physics) predict multiple dimensions, and what we know about them.
There’s a trend going around on TikTok that lights up my heart, and it’s the snail girl era. The snail girl is the antithesis of the girlboss, she embraces slowing down and finding joy in her life outside work. I’ve been snailing for almost two years now, and it’s transformed my quality of life and health. Highly recommend.
On a related note,
wrote an excellent article about a topic that’s been top of mind for a while: the grind of constant self-optimization. Another way of how hustle culture trickled into self-improvement. Well worth the read.This podcast. Yuval Harari talks about consciousness (“the greatest mystery of the universe that we are constantly in touch with”) and the meaning of life (“there is none”). Best thing I listened to in a while.
This song. After I found it I listened to it approximately 15 times. Headphones recommended. Bye, I’m off to space.
PS I also loved the 9 minute film on the Gathering of the Tribe. I see you, Julia! 🙂
Thank you, Julia! Lot’s of interesting stuff. I especially liked the interview with Yuval Harari.
I love how he describes agriculture as a fraud and how hunter/gatherer life, which millions of years of evolution designed us for, was more interesting and healthy, and provided more freedom, than agricultural life.
Not that I want to go back to a diet that includes insects, but I think we could create a society that honors nature and our primal mind while integrating the best aspects of the European Enlightenment (freedom from arbitrary authority) with Eastern Enlightenment (freedom from ego-centered conceptual thought).
Harari gives credit for his amazing insights to his hardcore meditation practice. I love how he distinguishes the real world of experience from the conceptual world of stories that the mind is constantly generating.
Unfortunately, humans are prone to believe mad fictional dramas, like ‘us’ against ‘them’, or we are separate from the earth, or we can have infinite economic growth in a finite world.
Such toxic stories are likely to kill us all, unless enough people awaken from the spell of our current so-called civilization.