ACX
The Canal Papers
Scott Alexander examines the 'canalization' theory in computational psychiatry and its refinement through deep learning concepts in the Deep CANAL model.
32 min read 4,891 words
A thread through the archive
psychedelics
Essays tagged “psychedelics”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Essays on psychedelics
15 essaysACX
Can People Be Honestly Wrong About Their Own Experiences?
Scott Alexander explores whether people can be honestly mistaken about their own experiences, presenting counterexamples and attempting to reconcile them with the idea that we can't be wrong about our immediate subjective experiences.
13 min read 1,886 words
ACX
On Cerebralab On Nutt/Carhart-Harris On Serotonin
Scott Alexander examines a review of a paper on serotonin receptors, discussing prediction error, suffering, and the effects of different serotonin receptor activations on problem-solving approaches and psychedelic experiences.
10 min read 1,437 words
ACX
Trapped Priors As A Basic Problem Of Rationality
Scott Alexander explores the concept of 'trapped priors' as a fundamental problem in rationality, explaining how it leads to persistent biases and suggesting potential solutions.
33 min read 5,057 words
SSC
What Intellectual Progress Did I Make In The 2010s?
Scott Alexander reviews his intellectual progress in the 2010s across various fields, crediting his blog for accelerating learning.
32 min read 4,854 words
SSC
Mental Mountains
The post explores how emotional learning creates hard-to-update mental models, drawing parallels between psychotherapy, psychedelics, and rationality techniques in overcoming these 'mental mountains'.
31 min read 4,789 words
SSC
Lots Of People Going Around With Mild Hallucinations All The Time
Scott Alexander investigates the prevalence of Hallucinogen Persisting Perceptual Disorder (HPPD) and explores potential connections between perception, cognition, and belief in supernatural phenomena.
14 min read 2,107 words
SSC
SSC Journal Club: Relaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics And The Anarchic Brain
Scott reviews a paper proposing that psychedelics work by relaxing priors in the brain, potentially treating mental illness but also risking side effects.
18 min read 2,690 words
SSC
HPPD And The Specter Of Permanent Side Effects
Scott Alexander explores Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) and other conditions where drugs cause permanent effects, discussing potential mechanisms and their implications.
12 min read 1,820 words
SSC
SSC Journal Club: Serotonin Receptors
Scott reviews a theory about serotonin receptors that explains how they help cope with stress, and discusses its implications and limitations.
12 min read 1,756 words
SSC
It’s Bayes All The Way Up
The post explores how Bayesian processes in the brain might explain perception and various mental disorders, linking neurotransmitters to different aspects of Bayesian reasoning.
25 min read 3,871 words
SSC
Book Review: PiHKaL
Scott Alexander reviews PiHKAL by Alexander and Ann Shulgin, exploring the book's blend of autobiography, chemistry, and psychedelic experiences.
46 min read 7,054 words
SSC
Why Were Early Psychedelicists So Weird?
Scott Alexander examines why early psychedelic researchers often became eccentric, proposing that psychedelics might permanently increase openness to unusual ideas.
12 min read 1,813 words
SSC
Mysticism and Pattern-Matching
Scott Alexander hypothesizes that mystical experiences, hallucinations, and paranoia might be linked to an overactive pattern-matching faculty in the brain.
13 min read 2,008 words
SSC