entheogenic-gnosis wrote:Is it absurd to feel endogenous DMT might play a role in these experiences
"play a role"This is the key phrase here. We actually have a lot of evidence of how the pineal gland works, and a fairly good idea of the pharmacology involved in altered states of consciousness such as meditation, hypnosis, dreaming, and the like.
My issue is the fact that people only focus on DMT, and the evidence is overwhelming that even if DMT is the main facilitator of these experiences (and the evidence is actually strong that it is not) it's still assisted by a cocktail of other compounds. Why does it always have to DMT? Why not melatonin? Why not pinoline? Why not any of the tryptolines? why not any of the harmans? Why not any of the other beta-carbolines? Why not 5-MeO-DMT? Why not 5-HO-DMT? Why not other tryptamines? Why not some kind of mixture of the above (endohuasca)? Why not completely different classes of neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, and neuropeptides entirely such as histamines, cholamines, orexins, glutamates, etc...? There is a ton of evidence for production of/metabolites of all these other compounds in altered states of consciousness, but somehow no one wants to talk about that. Even if it is DMT, the responsible organs/glands could not fire the good doctor's hypothetical bursts without the assistance of some of these other compounds (Strassman refers to this as a shift in "anti-DMT's" when discussing the pineal in the TSM).
My jest was simply to point out the idea that all spiritual experience is caused soley by DMT is just as foolish as thinking that all euphoric experiences are caused solely by anandamide while dismissing the role of serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, etc... It's very lazy, sloppy, and uninformed thinking in the face of the existing evidence, and it's consistently perpetuating misinformation as fact, which in this case, while not necessarily dangerous, is still not in the interest of accuracy of information.
DMT has a very interesting effect when you administer large doses of exogenous material, no doubt, but so do the many of the other endogenous tryptamines, so do many of the other endogenous beta-carbolines. Let's consider the context of the complicated electrochemical biological system we call a brain and try to maintain a bigger picture perspective that goes beyond one single molecule present in nanomolar concentrations amidst a plethora of other ongoing electro-chemical-physiological processes.