Building a Science of Consciousness

by Qualia Research Institute

The Qualia Research Institute (QRI.org) is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit research group studying consciousness in a consistent, meaningful, and rigorous way. Our goal is to spread the ideas of our institute in a more accessible way and to support the research being done by our members. 

Podcast episodes

  • The Brain as a Non-Linear Optical Computer: Reflections on a 2-Week Jhānas Meditation Retreat

    The Brain as a Non-Linear Optical Computer: Reflections on a 2-Week Jhānas Meditation Retreat

    In this episode, QRI's research director, Andres Gomez Emilsson, describes his experience with a 2-week Jhanas meditation retreat. He talks about what it means to experience higher dimensions, his personal background with meditati...

    02:13:57
  • Thinking Like a Musical Instrument or Psychoactive Substances Give Access to the Nature of Brains

    Thinking Like a Musical Instrument or Psychoactive Substances Give Access to the Nature of Brains

    In this episode, we explore the similarities between the brain and a musical instrument. We illustrate how the brain tissue is represented by metal and how brain activity can be mimicked by sound. We also demonstrate how substance...

    03:42
  • Qualia or When A.I. equals Advanced Incompetence - Transhumanist Satire

    Qualia or When A.I. equals Advanced Incompetence - Transhumanist Satire

    In this episode, we explore the hard problem of consciousness. What is it, and why is it so hard to solve? We'll also discuss the work of the Qualia Research Institute, and what they're doing to try to quantify and map the qualia ...

    14:16
  • Emergent Simplicity or A Toy Model of the 5-MeO-DMT Psychedelic Effect

    Emergent Simplicity or A Toy Model of the 5-MeO-DMT Psychedelic Effect

    In this episode, we explore the idea of emergent simplicity - the idea that adding just one extra component to a complex system can cause it to "tip" into a drastically simpler state. We use the example of adding carbon dioxide to...

    03:32
  • The Ontological Dinner Party

    The Ontological Dinner Party

    In this episode, we discuss with the ontology of reality with Andrés Gómez Emilsson from the Qualia Research Institute, Daniel Ingram from the Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium (EPRC), and Frank Yang (body-builder turned ...

    02:42:56