Alien Information Theory: Psychedelic Drug Technologies and the Cosmic Game

by Andrew R. Gallimore

Since prehistory, humans have used a range of psychedelic drugs for communion with the gods, connection with nature, or for the pure pleasure and wonder they generate as they transform the mind and the world. But one natural psychedelic in particular towers above the rest in its astonishing power to replace the normal waking world with a bizarre alternate reality replete with a diverse panoply of intelligent alien beings. As well as being the most powerful, N,N-dimethyltryptamine, more commonly known as DMT, is also the most common naturally-occurring psychedelic and can be found in countless plant species scattered across the Earth. DMT carries a profound message embedded in our reality, a message that we are now beginning to decode. In Alien Information Theory, neurobiologist, chemist, and pharmacologist, Dr. Andrew R. Gallimore, explains how DMT provides the secret to the very structure of our reality, and how our Universe can be likened to a cosmic game that we now find ourselves playing. Gallimore explains how our reality was constructed using a fundamental code which generated our Universe — and countless others — as a digital device built from pure information with the purpose of enabling conscious intelligences, such as ourselves, to emerge. You will learn how fundamental digital information self-organises and complexifies to generate the myriad complex forms and organisms that fill our world; how your brain constructs your subjective world and how psychedelic drugs alter the structure of this world; how DMT switches the reality channel by allowing the brain to access information from normally hidden orthogonal dimensions of reality. And, finally, you will learn how DMT provides the secret to exiting our Universe permanently — to complete the cosmic game and to become interdimensional citizens of hyperspace. Alien Information Theory is a unique account of this hidden structure of reality and our place within it, drawing on a diverse range of disciplines -- including neuroscience, computer science, physics, and pharmacology -- to carefully explain these complex ideas, which are illustrated with full-colour diagrams throughout.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Philosophy, Drugs, Spirituality, Psychology, Religion

234 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2019

Reviews

[Mircea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s see. Most of the book the author introduces the building blocks needed to explain his theory. These block include but are not limited to:
- quantum physics
- simulation theory
- neuroscience
- psychedelics
- multiple dimensions
- computer programming

If this wasn’t enough the book itself is illustrated with amazing looking 8bit art.

In final chapter the theory (from the title book) is introduced and the amazing thing is that it’s actually coherent. I’m not sure if this is just art or the author fully believes in it but at this point I don’t really care. It’s beautiful and I would go as far as saying it’s mind-blowing.

But wait, there’s more. The author quotes and/or references: Stephen Wolphram, Philip K Dick and Terence McKenna throughout the book. The final chapter starts with a quote from McKenna quoting PKD.

The book might be a little hard to follow if you’re not a software developer and/or are not (at a very high level) familiar with some of the concepts mentioned.

[Robert Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The entire universe is digital information.... with DMT the key to unlock the coded infinite hyperspace behind this reality. Paralleling Conway's Game of Life, Dr. Gallimore presents a case for coded reality.

Pros;
- Beautiful book, love the original drawings, typeset and layout.
- I like the parallel to Conway's Game of Life as a model for self modeling "life" with a simple coded paradigm.
- Makes a strong case for universe being quantised information that could be "digital"
- Interesting model of reality from a neurotheorical framework.

Cons;
- Too many quotes from Terence Mckenna. As strong as Mckenna is as a thinker and drug observer, lacks some of the scientific rigor.
- End Chapter on Ending the Game (or being trapped in the DMT hyperspace) lacks a thorough analysis or ethical framework for why one would want to be trapped there, much less what the benefits of communication between the infinite universes.

Recommended for psychonauts and those interested in models of reality.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book lays out a fascinating theory before the reader. I struggle to grasp most math and chemistry with any ease but still felt I understood the gist of what was explained.

Beautifully presented and illustrated in a way which is both artistic and informative, a truly unusual book broaching a subject that is emerging as one of the, if not THE, great mysteries of our place and time.

I highly recommended this read.

[Dan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books includes a very good introduction to the world of automatons and the idea of emergence in complex systems. From these ideas the author argues that we are living in a multidimensional cellular automaton that is part of a finite set of instantiations of reality, and that this reality is actually a code being monitored by an alien civilization that created it as an evolutionary algorithm that selects for conscious intelligences. The final argument is that the aliens evolutionary algorithm assesses the fitness of a reality by the inhabitants ability to utilize DMT to enter a higher dimensional plane. At times the book feels sort of like the holy book of a new age techno darwinian religion. If you can suspend your disbelief, and read the book more as a work of art or as an intellectual argument for intelligent design (the author argues that we evolved within a system that was designed, not that we were actually designed), then it becomes a really fun read.

[Derek Frasure · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would really love to read a review from someone who works in the hard sciences and had little familiarity and no experience with psychoactive drugs. Of course every psychonaut loves this. It's fun above all else. I found Gallimore's account entirely plausible, as it offers a materialist (albeit speculative) account of the strangely reproducible experiences of N,N DMT consumption. This book occupies the narrow band of publishing that would best be classified as fi-sci (fictionalized science, as opposed to sci-fi). This is not to say the book is false. Rather, it is to say that the book offers a narrative structure to convey the available facts. The illustrations are helpful and beautiful, as is the entire visual apparatus of the book (which at times waxes poetic). I do think this book would have been helped to have had an editor, because I think there was quite a bit of room to condense some of the information theory that forms the theoretical apparatus of the book. This book is wildly provocative and worth the time of anyone interested in psychoactive drugs, theories of reality, or atypical scientific literature.

[Citizin.Brain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as mind-blowing as I thought it would be. Great explanations of the digital universe, Conway's Game of Life, how the brain produces our phenomenal world, how psychedelics affect the brain, etc. It did get repetitive and I found myself skimming at times. It felt like it was building up for a big revelation at the end which just fizzled out. Any time the author enters speculation, he throws out a thought-provoking claim and then moves on. Some of these ideas aren't explored for more than maybe a couple sentences, while mechanisms like how a 3D Game of Life might work or how a psychedelic affects the brain is explained multiple times. I wanna speculate more! There are interesting implications here! The author also mentions discussing consciousness later IIRC, but there was no exploration of the role consciousness plays in this framework, or why it should occur at all. Maybe I am just looking for something bigger picture. That said, I did gain valuable information and new ideas about how the world and the brain works.

[Graham Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a work of art as well as a very deep analysis of dmt . An awesome book that is inspired by the wisdom of of that Sage and psychonaught Terrence Mckenna. Although complex in parts of is very well written . It is an explanation of the world from the perspective of computational exploratory ethno pharmacological technology.

[João · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterpiece.

listen: there's a hell
of a good universe next door; let's go
e.e. cummings

[Tiago F · Rating 5 out of 5]

I attended a lecture by Andrew Gallimore in London three years ago and I was deeply impressed by how crazy smart he was AND how insane his ideas were. This combination very rarely presents itself. He is a computational neurobiologist, pharmacologist, and chemist, famous for his interest in psychedelics.

A very noteworthy aspect of the book is its design, made by Andrew himself. The whole book is designed in an 8-bit format and it's amazing. The art both artistically complemented the content, but many times it was also pragmatically useful to understand its contents. It really stands out from every other book out there and it fits perfectly with its theme.

The book is about information, complexity, neuroscience and finally psychedelics. What I really enjoy about it is that the first 3 can be enjoyed and appreciated with no connection to the latter. There are tons of great explanations about the core features of those topics that are already worth getting the book for.

He describes the universe as information and backs that up with quantum mechanics. He then leaps to life and applies the same principles, that life is simply information with a very high level of complexity. Here he also introduces cellular automata, which I surprisingly knew little of and it was very interesting to read.

A final aspect of his thesis is "world-building", which was precisely the lecture I attended that fascinated me. While explaining why this is the case in any proper sense would be difficult without a gigantic wall of text, worlds are built. Brains (or any nervous system) is simply biological information generator and processor trying to make sense of an environment and act within it for evolutionary goals. The fact that the world is created isn't some philosophical speculation, but a fairly basic deduction from how brains work, and this is explained very well in the book. I was already in this camp before, although the evidence and arguments that I had seen were slightly different. It was more from either a cognitive science or psychology background, and this is pure neuroscience. It strengthened my position even further.

While there are several aspects to it, perhaps the most important is the thalamocortical system. It has "columns" which he calls T-columns, and they encode information (eg features of an object) and they "save" a pattern: a T-State. But the information is generated by the brain, you can think of the "outside world" as shaping that information.

Then whenever that type of information is present, that specific T-state is activated, and T-states are what build the world. Sensory information limits and determines what world we built from those states. But the T-states themselves are not sensory information, and they are not used to build our world. That's why you can build worlds without any sensory information at all, for example when dreaming. T-states are being used but they are not constrained by anything (sensory information).

So far is good, and nothing particularly controversial. But now on to psychedelics... Psychedelics interact with the information flow of networks, and parts of the brain talk when they normally shouldn't. There is increased chaos in cortical connectivity, and therefore the world that is creative is more flexible, hence the changes of typical psychedelics like LSD or Psilocybin.

What he argues, however, is that DMT is completely different, because it is no longer modulating any sensory information at all, and yet still builds a consistent world, and that world is completely and utterly different from anything else that can possibly exist here (and therefore unable to shape T-states). Meaning that T-states are not acting independently without any extrinsic information (eg dreaming, too chaotic), nor being constrained by outside information (stable normal waking consciousness). He argues that the brain is now modulating information from another "dimension" (information not usually available), and hence why the DMT world is so different than anything else. It is, quite literally, a different world. A world inhabited by other sentient beings which created this specific universe, with DMT being the technology allowing the travel between them.

The fun part about it is that while this sounds completely nuts, at least for those not used to such theories, the part about world-building and potentially other "levels of information" is more scientific than you could possibly imagine. Not in the sense of being "proven", but in the sense of certainly having arguments for it, and this isn't baseless speculation but deductions from information theory which I'm not skilled enough to summarize.

There are tons of things I left out, and for each little argument, there is a vast amount of information provided on why he thinks this is the case. It was truly enjoyable to read. I don't necessarily believe in the grand narrative, and I think it's overly theological in the worse ways possible, but learning more about information theory and how that relates to world-building certainly made me less confident about a straightforward and stable universe with nothing behind the veil. It's truly thought-provoking, especially given how well thought it is compared how to insane it sounds when you zoom out.

[Ed Peckham · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible theory of the universe as a simulation and the way out brain processes the world in well explained concepts. Old school 8-bit art throughout - it's a beautifully presented book that needs re-visiting again and again

[Ugis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read! Gallimore has put together a compelling theory of our universe. Humans need to understand how our brain works and what our reality really is. Potentialy we're all just piece of self-evolving code in a multi-dimensional matrix. Looking forward for continued work. [reading time: 5h 52m]

[Zia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bold and thought-provoking theory which leaves the Divine (God, Goddess etc) out of the equation in a way that perplexed me.

[Michiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alien Information Theory is an extraordinary book about the nature of reality, how perception interacts with it, and how psychedelics can influence it. First, it discusses a discrete view of reality where code and automata are key. Game of Life is a toy model of how Gallimore views reality, i.e., simple rules can give rise to complex, emerging properties that give rise to structures, life, and ecosystems or societies. The classical Game of Life is 2-D, but Gallimore invites us to think of a 3-D or higher-dimensional version, where the 3D version is just a slice of. These slices can influence another (i.e., a fully N-D version of GoL), or they can act independently. Interestingly, there might be some state configurations where the slices are independent and specific configurations where information can flow from one slice to another. This idea functions as an analogue for the Grid (reality as we can perceive it), which is just a slide of the Hypergrid normally inaccessible to us.

Another part of the book explores how perception in the brain works, from basic molecular neurobiology to how the world model is formed. Brains are evolved to generate subjective, useful models of the world based on sensory inputs. These world models are made to be useful more than they are necessarily truthful. Psychedelics such as LSD or psilocybin influence our world model by changing the threshold potential of neurons, making them easier to connect, and creating a more fluid world model. This part is based on active research in neuroscience, in which Gallimore is a researcher. I highly recommend his Master's course on the topic.

Now, DMT is a special type of psychedelic in the sense that it does not merely loosen our world model but rather seems to replace it completely with a new model. Gallimore speculates that it induces a specific neural state that allows access to the information of other orthogonal grids in the Hypergrid (this is the Alien Information Theory). The cosmic game relates to communicating with entities in other dimensions and accessing the Hypergrid.

This book is intriguing and closely related to ideas such as the Simulated Hypothesis. Most concepts have a strong foundation in hard science and established concepts. The "Further Reading" section was a veritable trove of interesting articles and books. Of course, the main premise is speculative and should be taken with more than a grain of salt. Without drastic experiments, it is unfalsifiable. However, it makes for excellent reading material in the next altered state.

[Michael Nguyen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Your brain is a computer, your stream of consciousness is a series of states, the world is a grid, everything is information, higher dimensional beings exist in the hypergrid. Terrence Mckenna, Alan Watts, Psilocybin, DMT, Brodbdingnagian reptillians, aliens, computer code.

According to the author, our consensus reality is one that is constructed by digital information, this digital information is instantiated by a code, the code is programmed by an alien hyperintelligence. Our reality is a digital object constructed by the alien intelligence. It is one of many lower-dimensional slices known as Grids, all slices of which are a part of a much larger, more complete structure called a HyperGrid.

The Grid and Hypergrid is encoded as a network of cells or nodes which are connected to eachother according to a rule set, which allows information to flow between the nodes. The flow of information however is generally restricted between the Grid and the Hypergrid due to 3-I Cell/Node states that are insensitive dimensions of the HyperGrid.

The cells/nodes with their connectivity, form what is called a spatial topology. This special topology determines the dimensions of the space that emerges as the Grid runs. We humans exist within a lower dimensional slice of the hypergrid, and experience a lower dimensionality than beings that exist in the HyperGrid.

The brain complex is built from information and is an extremely complex information generator. Information is both dynamic and flows throughout the HyperGrid, and its upwards and downwards flow are crucial for the self-organisation of living systems. The brain’s subjective world from information, which is generated by the brain by selecting T-states from a giant number of potential states.

Psychedelic molecules like DMT modify the information generated by a brain, and thus modifying the structure and dynamics of the subject’s phenomenal world.

In order to transport from the alternate dimension of the HyperGrid, is the transference of information from normally hidden dimensions into the brain complex. This is achieved by using patter-rule mappings that map the perturbations patterns generated by the brain in the present of DMT to rules that engender the emergence of Cell/Node states sensitive to these higher dimensions that gate the flow of information from the HyperGrid into the brain.

Once information flows from the HyperGrid into the brain complex, the upwards and downwards information flow establishes a feedback loop that locks the brain complex in the hyper dimensional state, building hyperspace, until DMT is removed.

No... just no.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by ChatGPT by prompting it with a few bullet points:

In the book "Alien Information Theory: Psychedelic Drug Technologies and the Cosmic Game," the author explores the intersection of psychedelic drugs, cosmic consciousness, and the nature of reality. While the book may have been groundbreaking or life-changing for some readers, for me it failed to move the needle.

This is not to say that the book is without merit; rather, it is a reflection of my own accumulated knowledge and experiences with the topics covered in the book. As a reader, my interactions with the text are shaped by my pre-existing knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. In this case, my understanding of psychedelic drugs and their potential for inducing altered states of consciousness is already well-developed, so the book did not offer anything new or particularly insightful to me.

However, I can see how the book could be valuable for someone who is less familiar with the topics discussed. For those readers, the book could serve as an introduction to the ideas of cosmic consciousness and the potential of psychedelic drugs to facilitate the exploration of this consciousness. It could also provide a framework for understanding the nature of reality and the role of consciousness in shaping our experiences.

In a way, writing reviews of non-fiction books is a pointless endeavor. It merely reflects the accumulated knowledge and experiences of the reviewer and their interaction with the text. While it may be useful for readers to have some sense of what the reviewer has already read, ultimately it is the reader's own interaction with the text that will determine its value and impact.

In the case of "Alien Information Theory," the book may have been life-changing for some readers, but for me it was merely mediocre. This is not a reflection on the quality of the book, but rather a reflection of my own pre-existing knowledge and experiences.

[Honora Estes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took a somewhat dark turn at the end, though I think he was intending for it to be exciting. Maybe im just nervous about what it all means. I have been fascinated with research into psychedelics ever since reading Michael Pollans "How to change your mind". Dr. Gallimore has some interesting ideas around accessing different dimensions with DMT and does a fair job of explaining his theory, however I think having some knowledge of biological systems and physics assisted my understanding. Especially when he goes into topology.

He does jump to heavy conclusions about the purpose of our phenomenal world as basically "harvesting grounds" for intelligence. He quotes a lot of Philip K Dick which I didnt necessarily expect and reading this alongside The Exegesis adds to my personal confirmation bias about PKDs revelations. Chapter 9 was my favorite, the description of tiny machine elves, celebrating your arrival into hyperspace, and transforming into balls of light that jump in and out of your chest is hysterical to think about. That this is a common experience on DMT is interesting. I think its worth reading if you are interested in obscure subversive science.

Quote from the book:
An elf once told me: "Minds are jewels. Minds must be mined."
"How are minds built?" I asked
"A mind cannot be built. You have to let minds build themselves as jewels build themselves in the dark rock," he replied
"And then?"
"Then you retrieve them."

[Sumeet Sandhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very very well written, logical coherent book. The author's theory is about how the entire universe, and Life, is made up of the binary 1 and 0 (somewhat akin to simulation theory) and he goes on the explain how this is the case. I also extended this interpretation to what a philosophy like Buddhism (along with other religious theories) suggest when they try to describe Open Awareness, Nothingness, All Pervading Consciousness.
Whether you choose to agree or disagree with the author's theory, I can definitely say that one would have an expanded view of what constitutes as Reality, or one would definitely question what are the possibilities of what Reality can be.
Highly recommend reading this.

[vishal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explained why i am a fan of DMT.

I was always curious why i like DMT so much wheb compared to other psychedelics. This book explains it. I had no idea why i was doing DMT but now it all makes sense, with the hypergrid theory. It also helps me get a handle on my visions. I did watch the matrix & westworld but could never understand how are we in a simulation, despite of my psychedelic work. Also now i will be more confident in my psychedelic work & journeys because now i have a scientist who is saying that this is exactly the purpose of life, rest all is there to support this final goal. Thanks Andrew.

PS: it was a very complex read. If you find it tough just skip to the last two chapters.

[Paul Bard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read the other reviews and liked the one written by the GPT.

So it’s a very plausible end-of-the-world story where the gods take to heaven those who are into psychedelics and leave behind those who do not.

How smart do we have to be to go to heaven? Smart enough to use DMT.

Where do psychedelic drugs users go when they die? Apparently they reincarnate as machine elves in the DMTverse.

Where’s God? Big shrugs. So a good account of only one dimension, the DMT one, but book overlooks strong evidence for multiple other dimensions.

Apparently the physical book is beautiful and I read the ebook and found it ok but I skimmed repetitive bits.

[Amir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers the basics of quantum physics in an absolutely astonishing way with a cute binary visionary and beautiful examples. The book explains how the Spirit Molecule can change the structure of the human brain but does not give a proper method to achieve this change (other than, well, taking DMT all the time). The book has a strictly scientific theme, which, in my humble opinion, makes it difficult for the author to explain specific ideas and concepts in an influential way (especially in the last chapter). This was the first book I read on psychedelics and I enjoyed every single page of it.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Perspective, despite being speculative

The great technical build up to his theories - which comprised of already accepted science - makes reading this worth it, even if you don’t agree with the subsequent speculative conclusions.

I’ve also decided the perspective offered by said conclusions is important even if they are found to be false.

The conclusions are presented in a dogmatic way, which I am ambivalent about. This approach keeps things concise, but at the same time it would have been nice to see alternative possibilities considered.

[Tom Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gallimore has written a detailed and engaging description of our data-based consensus reality, and the DMT-gated hyperspace accessible to all who are inclined to enter and explore it. As an evidently well-traveled explorer of this hyperspace, I would have liked to have heard more about the intelligent beings, sensory alterations and experiential reality which he has encountered. The book's design is a factor in itself: A bit-mapped based motif integrated throughout the entirety of the content which can be interesting, but also a bit challenging in terms of readability.

[Federico · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic read! It's one of the most interesting books I've read in years and one of the best-designed ones I've ever read.

Cellular automata-like processes as bases of the universe, linked with hyperdimensional aliens from the DMT world, a great explanation of how our brains create reality both during waking life and dreaming, all in a beautifully crafted book filled with colorful ANSI art.

[Felix Delong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting take on Ruliad and Wolfram. And the cellular automata. That part is very technical.
The existence indeed is a digital quantized information. That is the prima materia.
The take on the cosmic game and hyperdimensional trap is very not technical.
The book is a joy to read and a piece of art in itself.

[Russell]

I think if you’re a science fanatic and really like delving deep into the science of things then this book is for you.

As a casual reader and science enthusiast, this was too much science for me to wrap my head around. I appreciate the science behind things in my books, but this broke my brain several times.

Interesting theory? I suppose

[Antony Filho · Rating 5 out of 5]

a) A fun introduction to cellular automata
b) A interesting introduction to neuroscience and theory of mind
c) A psychonautic theory of everything
d) Somewhat cumbersome read due to 8 bit style graphic layout
e) Otherwise mind blowing

[Mark Jarvani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind expanding!

A must for anyone interested in science, psychedelics, philosophy, maths, quantum physics, and the meaning of life! If you're not interested in any of these things, you have to read it anyway, and have your mind expaaaaannnnded!!!🤔👽👾🙊

[Leland William · Rating 4 out of 5]

The start of this book is so strong. It is full of interesting ideas and novel ways of illustrating and explaining uncontroversial scientific ideas.

It starts to sag in the middle and in the end with unprovable and poetic pseudoscience. Still a fun read and a good way to open the mind.

[Tavo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book should've finished in the middle.

The first half of the book contains great explanations about the main concepts that may allow the author's theory. However, the second half fails to draw a convincing theory and instead is full of speculation, open questions and repetitive writing.

[Kristina Shires · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterful Explanation of the DMT Technology

I read this book after stumbling across DMT, what an incredible read. Finished it in leas than a week! Great to hear when Science and Experience meet.