Top all-time · #1187
Qualia Computing
Personal blog · qualiacomputing.com · on HN as andresgemilssonphilosophyscience
Qualia Computing is a personal blog at qualiacomputing.com about philosophy and science. Since 2016, 61 different Hacker News readers have linked it 72 times, most often “Wireheading done right: stay positive without going insane (2016)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-17, and you can follow it by feed.
Revealing the computational properties of consciousness
Most-linked posts?
- Wireheading done right: stay positive without going insane (2016)7 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2018-02-12
- The Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences (2016)6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2016-12-14
- How to secretly communicate with people on LSD (2015)4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2017-08-21
- Passing of a Great Mind (1957)3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2018-06-27
- Connectome-Specific Harmonic Waves on LSD (2017)3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2017-10-04
- Carhart-Harris and Friston 2019 – Rebus and the Anarchic Brain3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2019-09-02
- The Pseudo-Time Arrow2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-12-03
- Logarithmic Scales of Pleasure and Pain2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2021-11-28
- /2020/12/17/the-symmetry-theory-of-valence-2020-presentation/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2021-12-18
- /2020/07/01/5-meo-dmt-vs-nn-dmt-the-9-lenses/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2021-12-18
What Hacker News says?
This article was published around his death day and is my favorite piece about him https://qualiacomputing.com/2018/06/21/john-von-neumann/
Comment linking /2018/06/21/john-von-neumann/
on “The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann”Submitted Communicating with people on psychedelics as a story · 241 points
HN discussionNote that 'DMT' isn't a shortened name for '5-MeO-DMT'. While related, 'DMT' and '5-MeO-DMT' are different compounds, with different effects: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-MeO-DMT#Effects https://qualiacomputing.com/2020/07/01/5-meo-dmt-vs-nn-dmt-t...
Comment linking /2020/07/01/5-meo-dmt-vs-nn-dmt-the-9-lenses/
on “Bill Atkinson's psychedelic user interface”Submitted The Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences (2016) as a story · 119 points
HN discussionCool. Reminds me a bit of https://qualiacomputing.com/2016/12/12/the-hyperbolic-geomet... (Though maybe not as symmetric?)
Comment linking /2016/12/12/the-hyperbolic-geometry-of-dmt-experiences/
on “Feature Visualization: How neural nets build up their understanding of images”Submitted State-Space of Drug Effects as a story · 70 points
HN discussionHere is interesting study lecture and article, maybe somewhat related. The Geometry and objects of things you see in typical to DMT experiences are hyperbolic. Lecture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loCBvaj4eSg The Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences: Symmetries, Sheets, and Saddled Scenes https://qualiacomputing.com/2016/12/12/the-hyperbolic-geomet...
Comment linking /2016/12/12/the-hyperbolic-geometry-of-dmt-experiences/
on “LSD and psilocybin increase the fractal dimension of brain activity”Submitted Wireheading done right: stay positive without going insane (2016) as a story · 57 points
HN discussion> Why would the inputs of audible sound compare to your brainwaves? Why wouldn't they affect brainwaves? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6130927/ > Given that light is also composed of frequencies, is there a link there as well Sure https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17050390 Not saying this is hard-science yet, just a hypothesis (not my own). You can read more here, if interested: https://qualiacomput…
Comment linking /2017/06/18/quantifying-bliss-talk-summary/
on “Why Do People with Depression Like Listening to Sad Music?”Submitted Connectome-Specific Harmonic Waves on LSD (2017) as a story · 53 points
HN discussionI've heard from multiple people now that a dose of LSD brought their smell back. Reasoning theoretically, any 'neural annealing'[1] or 'neuroplasticity-promoting' activity may have the same effect. Try engaging in sensuous, pleasing activities (meditation, music, spa revery, gentle play in nature) where you temporarily lose yourself and let your brain discover new connections. In other words, if you don't take psych…
Comment linking /2021/05/08/healing-trauma-with-neural-annealing/
on “Postmortem assessment of olfactory tissue degeneration in patients with Covid-19”Submitted An essay on the phenomenology of DMT (2016) as a story · 53 points
HN discussionI think you will like this https://qualiacomputing.com/2016/08/20/wireheading_done_righ...
Comment linking /2016/08/20/wireheading_done_right/
on “Brain implant provided immediate relief to a severely depressed patient”Submitted Attention as the management of electromagnetic field lines as a story · 52 points
HN discussionPractical wireheading does not look achievable anytime near: https://qualiacomputing.com/2016/08/20/wireheading_done_righ... I'd say that meditation is the best version of wireheading currently known to humanity. I admit that due to obvious problems with measuring happiness, this hypothesis is hard to test.
Comment linking /2016/08/20/wireheading_done_right/
on “Why Life Can’t Be Simpler”Submitted The Pseudo-Time Arrow as a story · 52 points
HN discussionThis reminds me of a site I came across that uses the properties of a trip to show psychonauts messages that sober humans would find more difficult to interpret: https://qualiacomputing.com/2015/05/22/how-to-secretly-commu...
Comment linking /2015/05/22/how-to-secretly-communicate-with-people-on-lsd/
on “The Brain on Psychedelics”Submitted Passing of a Great Mind (1957) as a story · 40 points
HN discussionMXE/k holing is slightly closer to feeling like reality, and much higher resolution if you get good at controlling it. https://qualiacomputing.com/2019/01/06/free-wheeling-halluci...
Comment linking /2019/01/06/free-wheeling-hallucinations/
on “Lucid dreaming app triples users' awareness in dreams, study finds”Submitted How to secretly communicate with people on LSD (2015) as a story · 4 points
HN discussionCurrently reading Philip K. Dick's "Exegisis," which are his letters and diary entries about his descent (ascent?) into something similar, before he died of a stroke. I'm reading it because after reading about other great minds chased down a similar theme where they seemed to discover something later in life and retreated from the world to explore it. I wanted to see what a set of reference points might look like. T…
Comment linking /2016/08/20/wireheading_done_right/
on “Chronic mania and persistent euphoric states”Submitted Logarithmic Scales of Pleasure and Pain as a story · 3 points
HN discussionHello IIAOPSW! I think you are thinking about it in exactly the right way! Have you not, perhaps, been consuming content from the Qualia Research Institute? :-) Seriously - at QRI we think quite similarly. Please reach out if you'd like to have a chat. See my comment on the main thread for some useful links. I'll add as well that indeed repetition is the building block of cognition, and this is due to harmonic reson…
Comment linking /2021/10/31/on-dark-rooms-jhanas-ecstasy-and-the-symmetry-theory-of-valence/
on “The Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences (2016)”Submitted Indra's Net via Nonlinear Optics: DMT Phenomenology as Evidence for Beamsplitter as a story · 2 points
HN discussionI agree that the most "interesting" hallucinations are not the trippy patterns you see. But, take note, if you pay really close attention to it, you will realize that in fact there is a dual relationship between the geometry of the hallucinations and the vibe of the experience. Indeed, I was not the first to figure this out (though I did figure it out independently). Steven Lehar has been talking about it for ages -…
Comment linking /2020/12/17/the-symmetry-theory-of-valence-2020-presentation/
on “The Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences (2016)”Submitted Topological Pockets as a story · 2 points
HN discussionHello! I'm the author of this article. I stand by it and I think comments are failing to engaging with the actual models, phenomenological observations, and synthesis provided. I suspect people here have not actually payed attention to these experiences and may have epistemological assumptions that make them think it's impossible to bring useful information back. In particular, I'll say that the article's analysis a…
Comment linking /2020/07/01/5-meo-dmt-vs-nn-dmt-the-9-lenses/
on “The Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences (2016)”Submitted More Dakka in Medicine as a story · 2 points
HN discussionAnother great article that's kind of on the same subject https://qualiacomputing.com/2019/08/27/carhart-harris-fristo...
Comment linking /2019/08/27/carhart-harris-friston-2019-rebus-and-the-anarchic-brain/
on “Relationship between psychedelics, the brain, well-being, and creativity”Submitted Their Scientific Significance Is Hard to Overstate as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
