I wrote this a while back after a night with no sleep. I think it's an interesting topic and think people here might enjoy it.

Recently I have been thinking about some very interesting relationships involving DMT, Quantum Mechanics(QM), and Parallel Universes(PU). Obviously this is all conjecture but it can open up some interesting ideas about what is experienced during a breakthrough. What I start out with is building up the knowledge points that will be strung back together in the end so try not to get lost.

Before I go any further, I'll attempt to describe QM to the best of my ability for those who don't know what it is. Keep in mind this is meant to be a simple explaination and can probably be described better. I'm no expert in QM so if you find a problem, feel free to let me know.

Quantum Mechanics (QM)
QM is basically the study of matter interacting with energy on the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. You can think of this easier as so: light can display behaviors of both particles and waves, and matter can display behaviors of waves and particles. Two principles of QM that we'll focus on are Quantum Superposition(QS) and Quantum Entanglement(QE).

QS is pretty much describing a particle in an "uncertain" state. For what we are talking about, the best way I can think to describe this is the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment. This can be seen in the Double-slit Experiment where a directed laser beam is split between 2 slits, detected, and recording the resulting pattern. The splitting of the light and resulting pattern indicates behavior of a wave and is not what is expected of a particle behavior. Now if you use a detector to observe each photon, you will see that the photons only move through 1 slit and not both.

QE can be thought of as a Faster-Than-Light data transference. Technically this is not a good way to describe QE but it will work for what we're discussing. If 2 particles are entangled, their states will be dependent on each other. The entangled particles don't actually transfer their data as we can measure the entangled particles through distances that would take light much longer to reach than the entanglement took to measure. Without going into specifics about who measured who first, this will work for now.

Parallel Universe (PU)
Before defining why, I will specify what we mean by PU. Here we will be using the idea that there can be unlimited PUs with even more being created. Each PU can have it's own set of parameters and many of the fixed variables in our universe could be different in another. We are also taking into account that each PU has a definitive "start" to expansion. From these we can conclude that each PU has a limited number of variations that the particles can be configured in but still enough to have relatively similar structure to a number of other PUs.

Now that we have an unlimited set of limited configuration PUs, where are they in relation to each other? Well there is a few important pieces of information that we will be going by.

1. The Cold Spot. This is pretty controversial as being described as the cause of a PU but it remains a possibility. The cause is said to be QE between particles in the universes before separation after the initial expansion. The main thing we can take away here is this, if the Cold Spot is the result of a PU pressing against our current universe, it would make this next piece of information much more likely.

2. QM could be explained with PUs. This theory states that PUs that are next to each other would help better explain how QM works by stating that each universe individually has what we would consider a correctly behaving quantum particle. Going back to QS, this theory can explain QS as when an observation is made, each other "uncertain" state that a particle can exist in will break off and form another PU that is slightly different from its parent PU.


All of this is great but how does DMT fit into this equation?

DMT
So here we have DMT that causes intense experiences and brain activity similar to a seizure. If you are waiting for me to tell you that QM is the cause of our DMT experience, I'm afraid I don't know...

BUT there is one thing we can take away from this...

Assuming that our universe is not alone and it it just one of many universes, one of these universes are "next to ours", and that these two universes creates what we call QM, that DMT has a possibility of actually showing you another physical reality.

If DMT really is the link between these universes, are they on the same energy level as we are? Is it an added layer of visual (3d) dimension? Is what we see just a representation of our place in space time compared to the space time in this other universe? Maybe the barriers between the two create a dimensional static that we perceive as "hallucinations".

How can DMT be a link between PUs?
This is where QE comes into the equation. Up until recently, most physicists believed that QM only applied at the microscopic level and that larger objects had no signs of QM being a factor. Well this notion is starting to change. Physicists and Biologists now believe that QM also happens within macro-objects. This could mean that it is possible for DMT to create an environment within the brain that would be host to behaviors of QE.

Lets assume that DMT somehow creates an environment in the brain to host these behaviors. Does this also happen in the real world? Are there certain environments where QE is more likely to occur? Yes, there is. You can also do an experiment to Detect QE in action. So if DMT also raises the chance of QE happening in the brain, what does this mean?

Assuming that there are PUs as described above and that QM is the result of two or more PUs that are "next" to each other, QE in the brain could be connecting the particles in your brain with the particles from another universe. This has several possible implications.

1. Your brain is picking up signals from an alternate version(or multiple versions) of yourself. If this is the case, you can imagine what kind of chaos this might cause for the person experiencing this. Multiple thoughts, multiple outcomes, if one is dreaming, etc. It would be astounding and very interesting. This alternate version might not even look like you and could look just like the common entities that we see. With the variable universe expansion rates, it could even be coming from another position in time.

2. Your brain is picking up signals from a PU that is far different from our own. Meaning that what we see and experience is just what that PU is at that point in time. In other words, it IS a "physical" place. That PU could be at a very different energy level from our current universe. Different laws of physics would apply, and if life exists within them, the entities we see could be it.

3. QE in your brain could just change the origins and destinations of the signals your brain sends out. This one is less interesting than the others but is still a possibility. Even though you have QE particles roaming your brain, it could mean nothing but mixed up signals, confusing your brain.

4. QE doesn't change your brain at all. In this scenario, the experiences on DMT are all from DMT itself and even if it increases QE in the brain, QE contributes nothing to what we experience.


There are many assumptions here so don't take this as the truth. This was just some thoughts I had a while back and it's an interesting concept to think about. I'd be interested to hear others inputs into this scenario and maybe help clarify a few things.

Edit:
After a bit of searching, I found an article with similar thoughts on the matter. In this article, Stuart Hameroff suspects that the higher chance of quantum effects could be due to an increase in quantum resonance frequency of the water in our brains neurons. Water can be used to create QE so this is plausible.

https://qualiacomputing....-dead-and-alive-on-acid/

You know I've never really grasped the appeal of parallel universes. The universe we currently reside in is beyond gigantic, quite beyond comprehension, and even then our current Big Bang theory and other astrophysical assumptions may turn out to be false - the universe may have no beginning or end and no boundaries either. I'd wager that's actually the case too.

Personally I believe everything is a mental projection of sorts, including the physical universe. That brings explanations much closer to home and for possible inspection also - I'll never own a particle accelerator or space telescope.

By mental projection, do you mean something along the lines of since we are basically our minds, the world could just be a projection of a world that our minds want us to see? Since our minds can block, remove, or even change memories, why couldn't they show us a completely fabricated existence?

I have thought about this as well. I'm not really sold on one explanation of the universe over another but just the though that some of these things could be true is mind boggling.

I find the idea appealing. I think you can spin it on its head. At the end of the day, if we had teleportation and the universe was infinite and home to very different kinds of worlds in itself, it would be like a parallel reality.

I have no idea what I experience with spice but I have few intuitions, or formulation (and the main one was: it's all at once). One of them is that you get to look inside your body with your mind. What does it feel to be a cell?

If you were to be multiple things that are "you" at the same time, it would break the illusion of that very "you". You could physically be things you cannot usually, that are subconscioucly kept, and when it isn't it's an overload, you are too many things at once (but only the inside of your body, not external things). Maybe becoming too complex organic machines this is necessary.

(So it's a bit of a stretch from the usual PU view but U think it relates in that we experience different kinds of selves, and that different kinds of selves do coexist at the same time in the same universe)

PU is great when the way to access them is our very body. At the end of the day, all the ways we perceive reality are still constructs of our minds.

The read was interesting and solid OP, thanks!

Yeah pretty much. Not once in our lives have we perceived what is really there, let alone accurately. Most people know that our senses are limited, that our brains recreate the world our senses perceive, but then their train of thought stops there as if they've solved the conundrum.

If our brains are recreating an image then where is that recreation taking place for us to witness it? On what canvas is the image projected? How is it being witnessed? By whom?

You might find this an interesting read Conquest of Illusion

The double split experiment is even weirder when you do it with single photons at a time.

Regardless I don't see why thinking about alternative universes is necessary to explain DMT's effects. Isn't it more likely DMT is a drug that causes changes in the brain which cause a strange state of consciousness?

My favorite interpretation of quantum mechanics in bold:

Particles have more than one way of existing. However, in our everyday life a particle is simply a particle, not changing. We assume it is a particle at all times, even when we are not near it. This is deeply engrained in our intuition as that is how we experience our world.

This intuitive view works great in every day life. However, quantum mechanics forces us to expand this mode of existence. It is something that can be seen as magical and beautiful, once one gets past their intuitive pre-existing view.

In quantum mechanics you can have particles, but this is not a fixed permanent mode of existing. When a particle finds itself alone and not interacting it exists as something else. It is a cloud of probability. When this cloud is forced to interact with the world, the cloud changes shape (for example, when it goes through a double slit) and in the most extreme interaction (hitting a detector) its existence collapses into the more familiar particle way of being.

This interpretation is pretty cool. It means that particles exist as something else most of the time, and will become ordinary particles when they strongly interact with the real world. Interestingly, the latter is when we percieve stuff, so there is a biass towards missing a big part of reality.

We are a collection of particles. Most of the time, most of our particle collection exists as something alien to us, a diffuse wave of probability. However, our parties regularly interact with the world which forces them to show their point particle nature from time to time. We only percieve when we interact, so we are mostly/only aware of the particle nature of reality, the other side of reality hidden from us. The net effect is an illusion of a stable, unmutable particle existence. However, when our particles are free from interactions, they are free to exist as something else, a cloud of probability with many options.

A parallel to this would be the movie toy story, where toys come alive when no one is observing them. The double slit experiment reveals this nature of things.

We don't understand how conciousmess arises, but perhaps this free intermittent random state is part of it. Some say the brain is a quantum computer.

DMT an psychedelics in general can super-charge this quamtum computer. New connections form among increased activity. This may allow us to reach a better understanding of the true nature of things, beyond our normal waking state and its intuition.

PS: These clouds follow mathematical rules such as being a combination of basic cloud shapes (superposition) and collapsing when observed or constrained, even across large distances (entanglement, which is hard to control since the expanding separating clouds must be protected from contaminating interactions). The math around this is interesting and can make careers, but the math should not obscure the key concept here: that there is a way of existing that is not revealed in our ordinary waking world, where we can fall in a trap of assuming things are a continuous stream of point particles. The reality is that in between our observations and interactions, things are not particles at all, even though everytime we look we percieve them as such. It's all very cool if you ask me.

It's not necessary really, it's just an interesting way to look at things. Another possibility for interpretation.

I love the conversation but I have my doubts about the brain activity. Personally I have used a muse headband to monitor my brainwaves during a hit, it does not measure the detail that an EEG does. I believe it was .022 in a GVG and I will post the picture here.
Also note that in the actual detail of the EEG the "anomaly" last for about 13 seconds.

This link is 5 hours after my first 5-MEO-DMT session

https://www.dmt-nexus.me...&m=891397#post891397

and this one is during a session

https://www.dmt-nexus.me...&m=891400#post891400
Notice that the activity in the second one lasts about 9 minutes
Now, it is no 100 mg hit but I question "brain activity similar to a seizure"



I don't believe We are our minds at all, To me this is like calling a TV the program because that is where we see it. I believe in the theory that the mind is but a receiver/decoder and everything from damage/alcohol/DMT effects the way we receive and decode the data (akasha).

I like this answer


I also love the idea of QE and commend the work of Larry Dossey and Dean Radin on the subject of how our consciousness interacts with all this. There is much we do not understand out here and I believe that we get glimpses of it if we are lucky. I have been extremely lucky to have experienced more than one glimpse and this has lead me on a Buddhist path and ultimately to DMT.

Yea the brain activity post could be wrong. I found it interesting though which was the reason for posting it. Your findings very well may be the correct brain responses.

What I meant by "we are our minds" is that you could poke (not literally, mare like stab/cut) the wrong part of the brain and forget everyones face or forget most of your life. Lobotomies often completely changed the person and brain damage can cause a range of different memory issues.

So by saying, "we are our minds", I was saying that our brains carry (whether in them or like you say, a receiver) the memories and experiences that make who we are and how we think.

I am after the Logos, I will accept any premise that we can put "proof" behind.. though until there is proof, making sure I realize it can all be "deceptive mind".

I think philosophy is the best mechanism for testing premises and propositions as you can "define the box you are working in".

Thought this might be relevant:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih...pmc/articles/PMC5681944/

I think when thinking about DMT and other dimensions its important to think what really is meant when discussing other dimensions. Besides the ones we are normally aware of like the 3 that make up space and 1 for time = 4.

I found these interesting explanations:

https://bigthink.com/phi...how-youd-experience-them

Also:

https://aeon.co/essays/h...at-do-they-do-to-reality

https://phys.org/news/20...universe-dimensions.html

I definitely have had thoughts on high dose psychedelic journeys that I have seen things like those described when trying to explain what it would feel like to experience other dimensions. Which is hard to do and really a lot of math I personally don't understand.

On DMT, lsd, ketamine, mushroom, and related compounds I certainly have had experiences where I felt things like my consciousness would go through every possible example of every possible universe and what that would be like. Its a central theme to a lot of my high dose psychedelic trips. Sometimes I will experience nightmarish realities and their possibilities. Others blissful. Its that moment when you know everything.

Is it real? Is it just a hallucination? Does it have anything to do with other dimensions? Does that even make sense?

I don't really know. But I guess the overall message I'm trying to get across is does it make really make sense when we think about DMT and other realities or dimensions? Are we asking the right question? Other dimensions are different then thinking about parallel universes.

A nice article on QEEG STUDIES OF THE ACUTE EFFECTS OF
THE VISIONARY TRYPTAMINE DMT

I've never thought about it quite like this, but it certainly is a fascinating idea. Quantum mechanics are super interesting. How does a particle know it's being observed/interacting with the "real" world?!?!

I've wondered if DMT and/or other entheogens open us up to a collective consciousness, or another plane of existence etc. that science cannot yet explain. I also believe our ancestors possessed a different type of intelligence than what we consider intelligence in our modern, westernized world. Do we actually have a good idea of exactly how far back entheogen and psychedelic use goes? All of our information directs us to these substances being linked to spirituality. To me, I don't believe individuals that existed in an environment that was dangerous would be partaking of these rather powerful substances just "for kicks."

This is a super interesting topic, but I'm still with burnt on this issue for the moment. I will go with Occam's razor and say that it's most likely just a chemical that significantly changes brain function. But when you get into whether that spawns/accesses parallel universes because of quantum mechanics or other theories...who knows? Great stuff to think about!