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Psychedelic Information Theory: Shamanism in the Age of Reason
Psychedelic Information Theory is a formal analysis of the physical mechanisms underlying hallucination, shamanic ritual, and expanded states of consciousness. Written by James L. Kent, this text was researched for over 20 years and includes over 200 references and 31 images related to the latest science in the diverse fields of pharmacology, shamanism, and perception. As a succinct yet comprehensive formal analysis of the nonlinear dynamics of hallucination and shamanic ritual, Psychedelic Information Theory is destined to become the modern textbook on psychedelic phenomena.Chapters include information on the physiology of perception, types of visual hallucination, psychedelic pharmacology, psychedelic neuroplasticity, chaos theory, shamanic therapy, shamanic sorcery, and group mind phenomena related to psychedelic consciousness."Psychedelic Information Theory will prove, no doubt, to be an important work primarily because it provides researchers, in both the sciences and humanities, with numerous new avenues down which to investigate. PIT provides us with a serious, and in many respects successful, recalibration of the different psychedelic knowledge bases. In great respect to the author, I believe PIT will attract both plaudits and criticism with equal fervour and, in doing so, help proliferate serious psychedelic research for some time to come."- Rob Dickens, PsyPressUK.com Review, December 2010"In his new book, Psychedelic Information Theory: Shamanism in the Age of Reason, James Kent has attempted to describe both the experience and underlying mechanisms of consciousness, in the language of classical wave mechanics, with terms like neural oscillators, periodic drivers, wave entrainment, resonance and coherence. His book offers the first steps in developing a more refined and quantifiable theory and terminology of psychedelic action. It suggests many rich opportunities for further research that are bound to reveal some pragmatic and novel applications. Not since "The Invisible Landscape," by the McKenna brothers, have I found a book so original and propitious."- Jedi Mind Traveler, Evolver.net Interview, January 2011"James L. Kent has proven himself to be the 'Mythbuster' of the New Psychedelic Age. His book, Psychedelic Information Theory is the everyman's guide to inner consciousness, unraveling the scientific foundations of altered states. PIT challenged my views on the psychedelic experience: I might not agree with some of the conclusions, but I have a firmer grip on the basics because of it. Kent helps outline the mechanics of the mind, but his reductionist approach also leaves room for further mysteries to grow."- Rak Razam, author of Aya: A Shamanic Odyssey, November 2010"Kent's clear trail through volumes of research gave me a solid understanding of how rod and cone vision, phosphenes, the visual information processing rate, and the brain's pattern-recognition function all come together or come apart to modulate hallucinatory states. Kent deserves a place next to Grof on the psychonaut's, scientist's, and psychologist's bookshelf."- Sheldon Norberg, author of Healing Houses, Erowid.org Review, October 2010
204 pages, Paperback
First published October 5, 2010
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August 26, 2021I'll be critiquing Psychedelic Information Theory from the standpoint of Ken Wilber's Integral Model, which I think is crucial for a topic like psychedelics, where interdisciplinary work is essential for a comprehensive & adequate theory.
The basics of the book are that the psychedelic experience can be best explained by models of information process. Put more minutely+technically; psychedelics interrupt the normal, homeostatic sensory systems of perception by generating nonlinear information. Kent applies concepts of wave mechanics, cymatics, harmonic theory, and chaos theory to explain how the nonlinear hallucinations of the psychedelic experience are generated.
The Control Interrupt Model and the Frame Stacking Model are two crucial ideas he tries to unravel throughout the book. Put in less technical terms then he actually uses; the former model claims that multi-sensory perception is destabilized by the particular hallucinogen's binding to 5HT2a receptors; the latter claims that the erratic, fractal, melting hallucinations typical of psychedelic experiences are explained by how the drug affects visual frame information updating: "psychedelics destabilize smooth frame aliasing by interrupting pathways responsible for multi sensory binding."
Further into the book, once the basic physical models have been laid down, Kent explores shamanism through the same lens of physical information theory. Ultimately he comes to the conclusion that the techniques of shamanism can also be reduced to wave mechanics and the harmony/disharmony of group oscillations. I'm simplifying all of this of course - the model is refined by neuroscience jargon that I have minimal expertise in.
PIT as he calls it - Psychedelic Information Theory - is, unfortunately, on paper, a reductionistic theory that critically fails to explain the psychedelic experience in an integral way. "This is spirituality, religion, and group transcendence reduced to wave mechanics" he says in chapter 19. Basically, that's the problem. We're coalescing all phenomenon so that we can subject them to the explanatory power of objectivist systems theory. This is a fallacy of misplaced concreteness. The running assumption, the paradigm of our age, is that this is "not metaphysics, it is harmonic theory and physics." The faulty assumption here is that we are not dealing with metaphysics because we have already DECIDED what our metaphysics shall be; mechanism and materialism (it all comes down to how material systems behave). The psychedelic, visionary, and mystical phenomenon are explainable by the mechanics of the behaviour of objective chaotic systems - that's the partially correct hypothesis that stretches the metaphor. How partially the truth of this model is something that will have to be fleshed out, ideally in the light of a more integrated (4 quadrant) theory.
Later in the book Kent says: "this is not a reductive model, it is a unifying model that knits the field of pharmacology and shamanism together through classical wave mechanics and harmonic theory." Those objectivist approaches certainly have their explanatory place in the integral theory we need - the unifying model we need - but the unification cannot take a partial perspective of exterior processes and reduce interiors to their [objective] relations. Of course a materialist will relentlessly pursue this possibility, but a thorough examination of the philosophical components of that worldview, not to mention the psychedelic and mystical insights themselves, make that an increasingly hopeless program.
Taking note from Ken Wilber's presentation of the integral model - PIT, until it can unravel its metaphysical assumptions about the mind/body relationship and the relationship of the 4 quadrants, will continue to pursue a subtle reductionism of the psychedelic experience and human conciousness in general:
"Within flatland reductionism, there are two degrees: subtle reductionism, which reduces everything to the Lower-Right quadrant (dynamical process systems, chaos and complexity theories, traditional systems theory, social autopoiesis, the Web of Life, etc.), and gross reductionism, which goes even further and reduces those systems to atoms (reduces all phenomena to atomistic units in the Upper Right). Subtle reductionism is also known as exterior holism or flatland holism (in contrast to integral holism, which unites both interior holism and exterior holism). Both gross and subtle reductionism believe the entire world can be accounted for in third-person it-language (i.e., they are both monological, not dialogical or translogical). "
PIT should be commended for its fearless pursuit of the lower-right quadrant aspect of psychedelic ingestion, psychedelic hallucination, and shamanic practise. The psychedelic philosophical community has at times, through the influence of its anarchic and religious vortices perhaps, ignored the importance of critical scientific analysis, i.e how the right-quadrants fit into the big picture. How is it that these "physical" drugs can cause such drastic dynamical changes in perception?
The critical work that needs to done is to account for these perceptual dynamics by really taking in the 4 quadrants (not as Wilberian jargon but as real irreducible features of the world). PIT has given the first major push towards a [somewhat] unified systems theory approach for psychedelics. But there is much work to be done before an *integral* theory of psychedelics can be grown to maturity. A lot more research has to be done, which depends on legal & political factors.
The basics of the book are that the psychedelic experience can be best explained by models of information process. Put more minutely+technically; psychedelics interrupt the normal, homeostatic sensory systems of perception by generating nonlinear information. Kent applies concepts of wave mechanics, cymatics, harmonic theory, and chaos theory to explain how the nonlinear hallucinations of the psychedelic experience are generated.
The Control Interrupt Model and the Frame Stacking Model are two crucial ideas he tries to unravel throughout the book. Put in less technical terms then he actually uses; the former model claims that multi-sensory perception is destabilized by the particular hallucinogen's binding to 5HT2a receptors; the latter claims that the erratic, fractal, melting hallucinations typical of psychedelic experiences are explained by how the drug affects visual frame information updating: "psychedelics destabilize smooth frame aliasing by interrupting pathways responsible for multi sensory binding."
Further into the book, once the basic physical models have been laid down, Kent explores shamanism through the same lens of physical information theory. Ultimately he comes to the conclusion that the techniques of shamanism can also be reduced to wave mechanics and the harmony/disharmony of group oscillations. I'm simplifying all of this of course - the model is refined by neuroscience jargon that I have minimal expertise in.
PIT as he calls it - Psychedelic Information Theory - is, unfortunately, on paper, a reductionistic theory that critically fails to explain the psychedelic experience in an integral way. "This is spirituality, religion, and group transcendence reduced to wave mechanics" he says in chapter 19. Basically, that's the problem. We're coalescing all phenomenon so that we can subject them to the explanatory power of objectivist systems theory. This is a fallacy of misplaced concreteness. The running assumption, the paradigm of our age, is that this is "not metaphysics, it is harmonic theory and physics." The faulty assumption here is that we are not dealing with metaphysics because we have already DECIDED what our metaphysics shall be; mechanism and materialism (it all comes down to how material systems behave). The psychedelic, visionary, and mystical phenomenon are explainable by the mechanics of the behaviour of objective chaotic systems - that's the partially correct hypothesis that stretches the metaphor. How partially the truth of this model is something that will have to be fleshed out, ideally in the light of a more integrated (4 quadrant) theory.
Later in the book Kent says: "this is not a reductive model, it is a unifying model that knits the field of pharmacology and shamanism together through classical wave mechanics and harmonic theory." Those objectivist approaches certainly have their explanatory place in the integral theory we need - the unifying model we need - but the unification cannot take a partial perspective of exterior processes and reduce interiors to their [objective] relations. Of course a materialist will relentlessly pursue this possibility, but a thorough examination of the philosophical components of that worldview, not to mention the psychedelic and mystical insights themselves, make that an increasingly hopeless program.
Taking note from Ken Wilber's presentation of the integral model - PIT, until it can unravel its metaphysical assumptions about the mind/body relationship and the relationship of the 4 quadrants, will continue to pursue a subtle reductionism of the psychedelic experience and human conciousness in general:
"Within flatland reductionism, there are two degrees: subtle reductionism, which reduces everything to the Lower-Right quadrant (dynamical process systems, chaos and complexity theories, traditional systems theory, social autopoiesis, the Web of Life, etc.), and gross reductionism, which goes even further and reduces those systems to atoms (reduces all phenomena to atomistic units in the Upper Right). Subtle reductionism is also known as exterior holism or flatland holism (in contrast to integral holism, which unites both interior holism and exterior holism). Both gross and subtle reductionism believe the entire world can be accounted for in third-person it-language (i.e., they are both monological, not dialogical or translogical). "
PIT should be commended for its fearless pursuit of the lower-right quadrant aspect of psychedelic ingestion, psychedelic hallucination, and shamanic practise. The psychedelic philosophical community has at times, through the influence of its anarchic and religious vortices perhaps, ignored the importance of critical scientific analysis, i.e how the right-quadrants fit into the big picture. How is it that these "physical" drugs can cause such drastic dynamical changes in perception?
The critical work that needs to done is to account for these perceptual dynamics by really taking in the 4 quadrants (not as Wilberian jargon but as real irreducible features of the world). PIT has given the first major push towards a [somewhat] unified systems theory approach for psychedelics. But there is much work to be done before an *integral* theory of psychedelics can be grown to maturity. A lot more research has to be done, which depends on legal & political factors.
July 19, 2014
This is a wonderful book, quite possibly the first of its kind. Kent puts together all of the available research, both scientific and personal, to describe a model for how psychedelics alter our brains and our consciousness. The psychonauts of this world should find a lot of information here for personal experiments in altered states of consciousness.
The book certainly has its flaws, though. It has a lot of good ideas, but not every claim is backed up with a citation--and some citations are merely to Wikipedia. To Kent's credit, the scientific citations are something of a gold mine for those who are interested in this sort of thing, and if you walk away from this book wanting it to be better, you have the resources at your disposal to check his references, do the same research, and make some improvements.
My biggest beef with this book is that Kent has a narrow, appropriative view of shamanism that I found irritating, having done a fair amount of research in religious studies, and shamanism specifically. His only citations of it in practice are with South American ayahuasca shamanism, which is only one type of shamanism in the world. There is also a lot of cultural appropriation going on: Kent does not seem to understand that shamanism is a form of religion, that a shaman who drinks ayahuasca does not do it to go on some kind of psychedelic journey inside his head. He believes he is really visiting the spirit world, just as much as a Christian might believe they have really seen a vision of heaven or hell.
To be clear, I am 100% in favor of using shamanic techniques outside of shamanic contexts, and using them as a way to guide and influence a psychedelic experience. We just need to call it something other than "shamanism." I like the phrase "soul hacking," or "spirit hacking," because of the amount of knowledge and technology that goes into this process. Others might think of their own names for what to call it, but you don't get to call it "shamanism," especially when you think the plural of "shaman" is "shamen."
On the whole, if the cover of this book makes you interested in reading it, then you should definitely read it. But take everything with a grain of salt.
The book certainly has its flaws, though. It has a lot of good ideas, but not every claim is backed up with a citation--and some citations are merely to Wikipedia. To Kent's credit, the scientific citations are something of a gold mine for those who are interested in this sort of thing, and if you walk away from this book wanting it to be better, you have the resources at your disposal to check his references, do the same research, and make some improvements.
My biggest beef with this book is that Kent has a narrow, appropriative view of shamanism that I found irritating, having done a fair amount of research in religious studies, and shamanism specifically. His only citations of it in practice are with South American ayahuasca shamanism, which is only one type of shamanism in the world. There is also a lot of cultural appropriation going on: Kent does not seem to understand that shamanism is a form of religion, that a shaman who drinks ayahuasca does not do it to go on some kind of psychedelic journey inside his head. He believes he is really visiting the spirit world, just as much as a Christian might believe they have really seen a vision of heaven or hell.
To be clear, I am 100% in favor of using shamanic techniques outside of shamanic contexts, and using them as a way to guide and influence a psychedelic experience. We just need to call it something other than "shamanism." I like the phrase "soul hacking," or "spirit hacking," because of the amount of knowledge and technology that goes into this process. Others might think of their own names for what to call it, but you don't get to call it "shamanism," especially when you think the plural of "shaman" is "shamen."
On the whole, if the cover of this book makes you interested in reading it, then you should definitely read it. But take everything with a grain of salt.
October 24, 2012
Though I'm not sure all of the theories presented here would actually hold up under scientific scrutiny, I found this to be the most intriquing explanation of the psychedelic experience I have found. The ideas of perceptual frame stacking and sensory feedback looping as models for psychedelic phenomena were especially interesting. I applaud Mr. Kent's attempt to model subjective psychedelic experiences in such a way that links them to biological process but still validates their potential as a tool for spiritual growth and mental health. Psychedelics are approached as generally neutral substances with both the ability to heal and harm, Mr. Kent points out both the positive results of the John Hopkins psilocybin study and the use of LSD in the brainwashing techniques of dubious cults like the Aum Shinrikyo or the CIA. As a lay scientist, the author could have stood to reference his sources a little better, but hopefully others will be inspired to test some of his models for psychedelic experience. Probably the best book to emerge from the psychedelic underground I have come across in years.
October 11, 2019
I use this model all the time. It applies a kind of control theory and signal processing approach to understanding psychedelic experience.
July 5, 2012
I like this book and it certainly is a unique perspective on psychedelics and how they function in relation to brain wave activity. I would like to see more of a development of this theory and more examples spelled out from references in the book.
The book is quite complex, and it would be difficult for a layperson to follow, although I felt like toward the end of the book I was catching on to the drift of many of these explanations a bit more strongly. I'm not sure most people would make it all the way to the end before putting the book down, however, because some of the vocabulary is incredibly difficult to follow.
I like the basis for this book, but I feel like some of it could have been spelled out in a bit of a clearer fashion for the layperson without taking away from the technical integrity of the text. This text probably isn't really meant for the layperson, but the more educated laypeople can become on these particular subjects probably the better.
The book is quite complex, and it would be difficult for a layperson to follow, although I felt like toward the end of the book I was catching on to the drift of many of these explanations a bit more strongly. I'm not sure most people would make it all the way to the end before putting the book down, however, because some of the vocabulary is incredibly difficult to follow.
I like the basis for this book, but I feel like some of it could have been spelled out in a bit of a clearer fashion for the layperson without taking away from the technical integrity of the text. This text probably isn't really meant for the layperson, but the more educated laypeople can become on these particular subjects probably the better.
March 10, 2011
I lost interest pretty quickly with this one, because I don't think traditional scientific methods can unlock the secrets of psychedelic experience. But this is more or less what Kent attempts to do, even if he brings in the latest-and-greatest insights from bio-informatics theory to bear on his topic of interest. YMMV.
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