Arguably the most remarkable property of the human brain is its ability to construct the world that appears to consciousness. The brain is capable of building worlds during waking life, but also [of doing so] in the complete absence of extrinsic sensory data, entirely from intrinsic thalamocortical activity, as during dreaming. . . . [By] regarding this unique molecule [DMT] as equivalent to serotonin . . . DMT’s effects may be explained. Serotonin has evolved to hold the brain’s thalamocortical system in a state in which the consensus world is built. When serotonin is replaced by DMT, the
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