Dimetiltriptamina - the sprit molecule

Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 67-84, 2007

A Methodology for Studying Various Interpretations of the N,N-dimethyltryptamine-InducedAlternate Reality

Center for Evolution, Complexity, and Cognition, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Computer Science Department, University of California at Santa Cruz e-mail: mrodrig2@vub.ac.be http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/--okramAbstract-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is an endogenous psychoactive chemical that has been shown through repeated human subject experimentation to provide the subject with a perception of an 'alternate reality'. When administered a sufficient DMT dose, subjects have reported the presence of intelligent beings that do not appear to be the projections of their subconscious in the Freudian sense. Furthermore,and of particular interest to this article, many subjects believe that the perceived alternate reality is persistent in that it exists irrespective of their subjective momentary perception. Past research into the DMT-induced alternate reality comes solely from subject testimonies and to date, no analysis has been conducted to understand the objective aspects of these extraordinary subjectiveclaims. This article provides a methodology for studying the nature of the DMT-induced alternate reality by means of various simple information theory experiments. These experiments can be used to test which of the presented interpretations of the DMT-induced alternate reality appear most plausible.
Keywords: DMT-Alternate-Reality-Hallucinogen-Alien EncounterParallel Universe

1. IntroductionN,N-dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is a fast acting, short lived psychoactive chemical that is part of the tryptamine family of psychedelics (Kaplan et al., 1974; Shulgin, 1976). DMT was first synthesized in 1931 by Manske (Manske, 1931). Exogenous DMT can be consumed either by smoking, snorting, ingesting, or injecting (intramuscular or intravenous) it, but unlike related psychedelic chemicals such aslysergic acid diethylmide (LSD) (Hofmann, 1983) and psilocybin (Heim & Wasson, 1958), DMT is an endogenous substance (Barker et al., 1981) suspected to be synthesized by the pineal gland (Strassman, 1991). To date, the most extensive large-scale U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) approved human subjects testing research to be conducted using DMT took placeat the University of New Mexico in the early 1990's under the primary investigation of Rick Strassman

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M. A. Rodriguez

M.D. (Strassman, 2001). Strassman made use of 60 normal (i.e. non-psychiatric) volunteer subjects and over 400 intravenously administered DMT doses during the 5-year study. Of particular interest to this article is the personal testimonies provided by the humansubjects after each administered dose. Twenty percent of Strassman's volunteers, usually at a 0.4 mglkg intravenous dose, reported an 'alternate reality' in which seemingly intelligent beings existed. Furthermore, similar testimonies regarding the perception of alternate alien realities has been published by other DMT-oriented research projects (Sai-Halasz et al., 1958; Szara, 1989). It has beenspeculated that the popular accounts of alien abduction may be caused by the unregulated release of endogenous DMT by the 'abductee' (Strassman, 2001). Whether this alternate reality is a complete hallucination (i.e. a purely subjective synthesis of the human mind) or an actual objective reality is unknown. To date, the various interpretations of the DMT experience are left solely to personal belief. Forthose that have not had direct experience with the DMT-induced alternate reality, all that exists for formulating one's opinion is the extensive pool of human subject testimonies published in research manuscripts, popular science books, and on the world wide web. When intoxicated by DMT, the mind finds itself in a convincingly real, apparently coexisting alien world. Not a world about our...