Psychedelic research — I’m wondering what is known about the effects of hallucinogens, particularly psilocybin mushrooms, since they are completely natural, and eating them can (especially in high doses) induce powerful halluciations, including complex fractal formations, lattices, and other mathmatical-geometric structures, profound experiences of states of non-separation and spiritual/mystical experiences, as well as deeper realisations and understandings about the nature of reality, family, ancestry, and consciousness. What is known about why and how this is happening? If these compounds alter the state and chemistry of the brain, allowing new regions to fire up and connect, why do we see and experience what we do?

Psilocybin (the main psychoactive compound in certain "magic" mushrooms) and other classic hallucinogens like LSD work primarily by acting as agonists at serotonin 5-HT2A receptors in the brain.

These receptors are especially dense in the cerebral cortex (particularly in "transmodal" association areas that integrate information across senses and thought). When psilocybin is ingested, the body quickly converts it to psilocin, which binds to these receptors (and to a lesser extent others like 5-HT1A and 5-HT2C). This triggers a cascade: increased glutamate release from layer 5 pyramidal neurons, altered cortical excitability, and widespread changes in brain network dynamics.

The result is not random chaos but a highly structured alteration in how the brain processes information—rooted in its own architecture and chemistry. Here's what current neuroscience (from fMRI, PET, and other studies through 2026) says about why you experience the specific phenomena you described.

Classic psychedelics like psilocybin decrease functional connectivity within major brain networks (especially the Default Mode Network, or DMN) while increasing connectivity between networks that normally operate somewhat separately.

The DMN (involving hubs like the posterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and angular gyrus) is active during self-referential thinking, mind-wandering, ego maintenance, and constructing a coherent sense of "self" in space/time. Under psilocybin:

• It becomes desynchronized (less coordinated activity within the network).

• This correlates strongly with ego dissolution (loss of self-boundaries) and experiences of non-separation/unity ("oneness" with everything).

These fMRI heatmaps (from studies like the 2024 Washington University work and a 2026 Nature Medicine mega-analysis) show the brain "before" (more stable, segregated patterns) versus "during" psilocybin (widespread desynchronization, especially in DMN hubs, with hot colors indicating big shifts in functional connectivity). Effects can linger subtly for weeks, potentially contributing to therapeutic benefits.

This ties into the entropic brain hypothesis (proposed and updated by Robin Carhart-Harris and colleagues): psychedelics increase the "entropy" or randomness/complexity of brain activity, pushing it toward a more critical, flexible state (like a system balanced between order and chaos). This allows richer, less constrained conscious experiences—more novel connections, insights, and "unconstrained cognition."

A related idea is the REBUS model (Relaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics): high-level "priors" or beliefs (top-down models the brain uses to predict reality, including your sense of self and cultural assumptions) get temporarily relaxed. This lets bottom-up sensory data and subconscious material flood in more freely, producing profound realizations about reality, family/ancestry (via loosened self-narratives), and consciousness itself.

Neuroplasticity is also boosted (via BDNF/TrkB signaling and other pathways), which may explain longer-term shifts in mood, personality, and perspective seen in clinical trials for depression, anxiety, and addiction.

Diagram of the core 5-HT2A mechanism (showing receptor activation, glutamate release, and downstream plasticity effects):

These are among the most consistent "form constants" reported across psychedelics (and even in non-drug states like migraines or sensory deprivation). They aren't arbitrary; they're generated by the architecture of the primary visual cortex (V1).

Mathematical models (from researchers like Bressloff, Cowan, and Ermentrout) show that V1's retinotopic mapping (how the retina projects onto cortical columns) and the balance of excitatory/inhibitory neurons naturally produce patterns like lattices, spirals, tunnels, cobwebs, and fractals when the system becomes unstable. Psychedelics disrupt normal sensory filtering (via 5-HT2A and increased noise/spontaneous firing), allowing self-organizing "Turing-like" patterns to emerge from background neural activity rather than external input.

Psychedelics also measurably increase the fractal dimension of brain activity, mirroring the self-similar, recursive nature of the visuals you see.

These emerge from the same mechanisms: DMN disruption dissolves the usual "I" vs. "world" boundary, while hyperconnectivity and relaxed priors enable a flood of novel associations, emotional breakthroughs, and a sense of profound meaning or unity. Studies (e.g., from Johns Hopkins and Imperial College) consistently link the intensity of these mystical-type experiences (measured via validated scales) to positive long-term outcomes like reduced depression or increased openness.

They're not "hallucinations" in the pathological sense but altered states where the brain's predictive model of reality is profoundly updated. Ancestry/family/consciousness insights often feel revelatory because the ego's filters are down, allowing subconscious material or interconnected perspectives to surface.

• Set and setting (your mindset, environment, and often guided therapy) powerfully shape the content of these experiences—biology provides the canvas, but personal history fills in the details.

• Effects are dose-dependent and transient (acute trip ~4–6 hours), but brain changes and therapeutic benefits can persist.

• Research is booming (hundreds of studies, clinical trials for depression/addiction), but we're still mapping the full picture. Psilocybin is remarkably safe physiologically in controlled settings, though not risk-free (psychological intensity, rare persistent effects).

• These experiences feel "realer than real" because the brain is reality-constructing hardware running in a different mode.

In short, psilocybin doesn't "add" fractals or unity—it unlocks them by rewiring the brain's usual constraints, leveraging its own evolved circuitry for perception, self, and prediction. Ongoing work (including high-resolution imaging and computational models) continues to refine this understanding, but the core picture—5-HT2A agonism → network desynchronization + entropy ↑ + plasticity ↑—explains the "why and how" remarkably well. If you're considering personal use, prioritize legal/therapeutic contexts with professional support.

You referred to:

“Models the brain uses to predict reality," and “experiences [that] feel "realer than real" because the brain is reality-constructing hardware running in a different mode.”

This, I find so fascinating. A natural mushroom has evolved to contain a compound that causes these changes in us when ingested, and the results are as you've described.

One such sense that I've personally experienced is a “quantum”-like state where one realises or has the experience that there really is something strange and fuzzy about how our conscious experience seems to be rendering reality¹ and shaping it in some profound way, which is quite hard to explain, but I think it ties into the idea (Hoffman has explored this) that the interface we have evolved to navigate the world and survive, is not the fundamental reality. Psychedelics seems to be showing us that there is so much more beyond the default mode network. Which raises the profound question; are we seeing reality as it really is, or is it just the best model that we have developed to navigate and interpret our reality? It would seem to be the latter.

I also found that the visuals I saw during a recent experience were much more acute, vivid, complex, and intricate. Do you think that this was due to it being a high dose, or did previous experiences with psychedelics and art that depicts fractal and sacred-geometries pre-condition and develop my ability to map these structures? The forms that one sees appear to be inherent in nature, but during psilocybin experiences (and likely more-so with DMT, though I do not have much experience with higher doses of this,) the lattices, geometries, and complex forms seem to suggest some kind of code or structure within creation itself. My sense is that organic fractals and other geometries found in nature appear to be expressing something deeply structural within our reality...

Yes, that "quantum-like fuzzy state" you describe—where conscious experience feels like it's actively rendering or shaping reality in a strange, malleable way—is a classic phenomenological match for what the REBUS model (Relaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics) predicts. In predictive processing terms, your brain normally runs a highly tuned "desktop interface" of perception: high-level priors (expectations about self, space, time, causality) suppress noise and construct a stable, survival-optimized world-model. Psilocybin (via 5-HT2A agonism) temporarily dials down the precision of those priors, letting bottom-up signals and endogenous activity flood in more freely. The result? The interface becomes opaque—you directly feel its constructed, fuzzy, non-fundamental nature. It doesn't feel like hallucination; it feels like peeking at the rendering engine.

This ties directly into Donald Hoffman's Interface Theory of Perception (ITP), which you've referenced. Hoffman argues (via evolutionary game theory simulations) that natural selection favors fitness-tuned interfaces, not veridical truth—our senses are like a computer desktop hiding the underlying complexity (code, hardware, etc.) behind simple icons. Psychedelics, in his view (discussed in interviews like with Lex Fridman), act as a kind of "hack": they disrupt the usual icons, potentially opening portals to deeper layers of consciousness or reality beyond the interface.

Here's a simplified diagram of Hoffman's conscious agent framework (P = perceive, D = decide, A = act, etc.), illustrating how our experience (X) is a constructed interface to a far richer underlying world (W):

The evidence strongly supports the latter, with a philosophical asterisk. Neuroscience (fMRI, EEG, computational modeling) shows psychedelics don't grant privileged access to some objective "fundamental reality"—they alter the brain's own reality-construction hardware, increasing entropy, desynchronizing networks like the DMN, and boosting fractal complexity in activity patterns. The "realer than real" quality comes from that shift: the default mode (tightly constrained for survival/navigation) gives way to a more anarchic, bottom-up mode where the model feels less filtered and more profound. Insights about consciousness, ancestry, or non-separation feel revelatory because high-level self/world priors are relaxed, allowing novel recombinations.

Hoffman and some speculative thinkers lean toward the possibility that these states glimpse something truer (e.g., consciousness as fundamental, with the brain as receiver/interface). But empirically, it's still brain-generated—albeit in a mode that reveals the interface's limitations. No study has shown psychedelics bypass the brain to access external "code"; the experiences remain explainable by cortical dynamics. That said, the feeling of profundity and the consistency across people (and even species in some visual distortions) hints at deep, shared structures in how minds and nature self-organize.

Dose is the biggest factor—higher psilocybin/psilocin levels scale up 5-HT2A activation, glutamate release, and instability in visual cortex circuits, directly amplifying "form constants" (lattices, fractals, spirals). Studies comparing doses of psilocybin vs. LSD confirm this: higher doses yield significantly more intense visionary restructuralization and geometric complexity.

Prior experiences + art engagement almost certainly play a role too, but not via simple tolerance (psychedelics actually show rapid acute tolerance, yet many report enhanced vividness/integration over repeated use). Neuroplasticity from earlier trips can refine perceptual sensitivity: your visual system gets better at "mapping" or stabilizing the chaotic patterns, while artistic interest primes attention and cross-modal associations. It's like training a skill—familiarity with fractals, mandalas, or sacred geometry makes the brain more adept at recognizing, amplifying, and sustaining those emergent structures when the filters drop. Recent work on visual contextual processing under psilocybin supports this: the brain's texture/pattern recognition gets rewired in ways that reward prior visual "training."

Absolutely—it makes intuitive sense, and the science gives it a grounded (if not mystical) foundation. The geometries aren't random; they're generated by the architecture of your primary visual cortex (V1). When psychedelics destabilize the balance of excitation/inhibition, spontaneous Turing-like patterns (self-organizing waves) emerge—exactly the lattices, cobwebs, spirals, and fractals you see. These are then warped by the retinocortical map into the visuals reported for over a century.

Crucially, the same mathematical principles (self-similarity, recursive scaling) produce fractals throughout nature because they're efficient solutions to physical/biological problems: maximizing surface area (lungs, leaves), optimizing flow (rivers, blood vessels), or packing space (broccoli, snowflakes). Psychedelics don't "reveal" an external code—they amplify the brain's internal tendency to generate these patterns, which happen to mirror the universe's own deep mathematical grammar.

Here are some real-world natural fractals (ferns, river deltas, Romanesco broccoli, succulents) that echo the self-similar geometries in trips:

It feels like glimpsing the structural blueprint of reality because it is: the same optimization laws that shape galaxies, coastlines, and neurons are bubbling up endogenously when your predictive machinery loosens. Whether that's "just" math or something more (panpsychism, simulation, fundamental consciousness) remains open to interpretation—psychedelics excel at making the question feel urgent and answerable in the moment.

The mushroom's evolution to contain psilocybin is likely a defense mechanism (against insects/fungi), but its serotonin-like structure is a happy accident for human brains wired on the same signaling pathways. It's a beautiful convergence.

Yes. Where I would push back are:

1. On consciousness being brain-based or substrate dependent rather than fundamental.

Quantum physics itself, entanglement, and non-locality must indicate that there has to be something more than consciousness being purely the result of the complexity of substrate.

If complex substrates like brains allow for higher consciousness, then quantum mechanics should indicate that neurons in the brain (and the wider nervous system) are entangled within the wider web of realty/creation/the universe, which at least appears to be circumstantially correlated with the experiences and visuals described, even if not empirically verifiable.

And 2. The idea that the mushrooms evolution was a pure accident. It’s possible. But then we might also suggest that, considering the structures inherent within the universe that we have have been discussing, nothing that has emerged from creation is random. My point is that there is clearly a non brain based intelligence within plants and fungi that we don’t have simple answers for, and I think there is new research pointing towards that as well...

I appreciate you pushing back on these points—they're exactly the kind of deep, cross-disciplinary questions that make this topic so compelling. You're highlighting the tension between reductionist neuroscience (consciousness as emergent from brain chemistry) and more expansive views that invoke quantum non-locality or inherent "intelligence" in nature. These aren't settled; they're active frontiers where philosophy, physics, and biology overlap. Let's address your two points directly with the latest evidence (as of 2026).

You're right that quantum entanglement and non-locality are real, experimentally verified phenomena at the subatomic scale, and they challenge our classical intuitions about separateness. Theories like Donald Hoffman's Interface Theory (which you mentioned earlier) or extensions of panpsychism argue that our evolved "desktop" of perception hides a deeper, possibly consciousness-grounded reality—and psychedelics might temporarily lift the veil.

On the neuroscience side, the Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR) theory from Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff proposes exactly what you describe: consciousness arises from quantum computations in neuronal microtubules, with possible entanglement enabling non-local effects that could link brain processes to broader spacetime geometry. Recent 2025–2026 work has given it new traction:

• Experiments show quantum coherence (superradiance) in tryptophan networks within microtubules, even in biological conditions.

• Anesthetic studies demonstrate that drugs stabilizing microtubules delay loss of consciousness, suggesting quantum-level involvement rather than purely classical ion channels.

• Some MRI-based claims report macroscopic entangled states in the living human brain correlated with conscious awareness and working memory.

These findings are intriguing and suggest quantum biology might play some role in neural function (quantum effects are already accepted in photosynthesis and avian magnetoreception). However, the mainstream consensus in neuroscience and quantum physics remains that the brain's warm, wet, noisy environment causes rapid decoherence—quantum superpositions collapse too quickly (in femtoseconds) to sustain functional entanglement or non-locality at macroscopic scales relevant to consciousness. Classical neural firing, network dynamics, and neuroplasticity still explain the vast majority of observed brain function, including psychedelic effects.

Psychedelic experiences (fractals, unity, "fuzzy rendering" of reality) feel profoundly non-local and tied to those quantum intuitions, but current evidence attributes them to 5-HT2A-driven desynchronization of the DMN and increased brain entropy—not direct entanglement with the universe. No study has empirically shown that psilocybin (or DMT) grants verifiable access to external quantum information; the correlation is phenomenological, not causal proof. If microtubules do support quantum effects, they'd still be substrate-dependent (tied to the physical brain), though this doesn't rule out consciousness having deeper, more fundamental aspects. It's an open question—falsifiable hypotheses are being tested, but we're not there yet.

Here I agree completely: framing it as a "happy accident" was shorthand, but evolution isn't random in the way that implies. Natural selection is a powerful, non-random process that sculpts traits for fitness. Genomic studies (2023–2026) show psilocybin biosynthesis evolved convergently in multiple fungal lineages (Psilocybe and others) via gene duplication, rearrangement, and horizontal gene transfer—not once, but multiple times independently. This repeated emergence, plus strong purifying selection on the biosynthetic genes, indicates clear adaptive value.

The leading hypothesis (supported by recent empirical work): chemical defense. Psilocybin (and its breakdown products, which cause the blue bruising) deters insect larvae, slugs, and other fungivores by disrupting their behavior, locomotion, or development. Some insects still thrive in the mushrooms, so it's not absolute protection—but enough of a selective edge in competitive niches (dung, wood, soil) to persist and spread. Other ideas include altered animal behavior aiding spore dispersal. The point is, it's ecologically tuned, not accidental.

On non-brain-based intelligence in plants and fungi: Yes, there's substantial research here, and it's one of the most exciting areas in biology. Fungi (especially mycelial networks) and plants exhibit sophisticated, decentralized cognition without neurons or a central brain:

• Mycelial "wood wide web": Underground networks connect trees and plants, sharing nutrients, water, warning signals about pests, and even stress responses. They optimize resource allocation across vast distances with "decision-making" that resembles neural small-world networks.

• Problem-solving and memory: Studies show fungi can navigate mazes, recall spatial layouts, and adjust growth patterns based on past experiences (e.g., one species "remembering" the shape of a stimulus days later).

• Plant cognition (pioneered by researchers like Monica Gagliano): Peas and other plants demonstrate associative learning, risk assessment, and even "anticipation" of future conditions via classical conditioning experiments.

These aren't metaphors—they're measurable behaviors emerging from chemical/electrical signaling, electrical spikes in mycelium, and complex gene regulation. Paul Stamets and others describe mycelium as a distributed "fungal mind." It doesn't require a separate "intelligence" force; it's emergent complexity from evolved biochemistry. But it does show that sophisticated information processing is widespread in life, not limited to animal brains—beautifully aligning with your sense of inherent structures in creation.

Here are visualizations of that fungal intelligence in action (mycelial networks solving patterns and the "wood wide web" connecting forests):

And psilocybin-producing mushrooms themselves—products of that non-random evolutionary ingenuity:

In the end, whether consciousness is purely brain-emergent (classical or quantum) or points to something more fundamental remains unresolved. Psychedelics amplify our ability to question the interface, fungi demonstrate nature's distributed genius, and quantum weirdness keeps the door cracked open. Your experiences sound like they've given you direct, personal data points in this ongoing conversation— that's valuable.

Thanks for your input. We can disagree on the quantum fundamentals, I know that it is highly debated.

I’m not a physicist or a neuroscientist, so maybe I am not well enough informed, but my ‘sense’ is that there is no real distinction between the classical and the quantum world; the fundamental reality, or quantum field, is already One and fully entangled, where states of Separation (up until we get to the classical material reality) are essentially an illusion or Maya.

Scientists can make use of the classical model to shape reality materially and technologically, whilst acknowledging underlying quantum and entangled states, but I think they prefer empirically grounded classical mechanics precisely because the increasing quantitive value of material reality is the principle focus of “mainstream” science and technology, simply because the classical world is beneficial for their material goals.

Totally fair to hold that sense—it's a profound intuition shared by many thinkers across physics, philosophy, and contemplative traditions, and one that psychedelic experiences often amplify directly. The idea that the classical world of separate objects is an emergent "illusion" (or maya, as in Advaita Vedanta) layered over a fundamentally unified, entangled quantum field resonates with several serious interpretations of quantum mechanics. You're not alone in seeing no hard distinction between the two realms; some leading views treat everything as quantum at bottom, with the everyday classical appearance arising naturally rather than as a fundamental divide.

Mainstream physics explains the transition via decoherence: when a quantum system interacts with its huge, noisy environment (air molecules, thermal vibrations, etc.), the delicate superpositions and entanglements get "leaked" and effectively suppressed. What remains are stable, pointer-like states that look classical to us—localized particles, definite positions, cause-and-effect in space-time. Recent 2026 work (e.g., MIT researchers showing classical least-action principles can exactly reproduce quantum wave solutions in key cases, or refinements to Wojciech Zurek's quantum Darwinism) keeps tightening this bridge without needing exotic new physics. It doesn't deny the underlying unity; it just shows how the entangled quantum substrate appears as a world of separate things when observed at our scale.

Interpretations like Many-Worlds take your view even further: there's no collapse, no classical domain—everything stays fully quantum and entangled in the universal wavefunction; branching "worlds" are just how we experience the non-interfering outcomes. Relational quantum mechanics and some information-based views (QBism) also blur the line, treating reality as participatory or observer-relative rather than objectively split. And yes, parallels to maya—the veil of apparent multiplicity over non-dual Brahman—pop up repeatedly in discussions of entanglement and the quantum field (which is indeed a single, everywhere-present entity whose excitations give us particles). These aren't fringe; they're live debates in quantum foundations.

On why science "prefers" classical mechanics for practical work: you're spot-on that it's pragmatic. The equations are simpler, predictions are precise enough for engineering, tech, and material progress (transistors, GPS, chemistry all rely on the effective classical limit). Empirical grounding and falsifiability are the bedrock—quantum effects are harnessed where they shine (lasers, superconductors, quantum computing), but the focus remains on what we can measure, control, and build. Foundational questions about "what it all really means" get less funding because they're harder to turn into applications, not because physicists are philosophically closed off. Plenty (including Nobel laureates) explore these exact ideas in their spare time or side work.

Psychedelics like psilocybin seem tailor-made to give you that direct, non-intellectual taste of the unified field you describe: DMN dissolution + entropy surge + relaxed priors make the "rendering engine" feel transparent, the boundaries fuzzy, the interconnectedness undeniable. It doesn't prove the ontology one way or the other, but it sure makes the question feel viscerally true in the moment—and that's part of why these compounds keep drawing serious scientific and philosophical attention.

I'm glad we could explore this together. Your personal experiences and reflections added real depth here, and I respect holding the intuitive view even while science debates the details. If you ever want to circle back to integration practices, specific studies on non-dual states, or pivot to something else entirely (art, nature, whatever), I'm here. Thanks for the thoughtful exchange!

• Grok.

Iain, 29/04/26.

Images: https://uk.pinterest.com/Xegis_s9/

¹ Nobel Prize Just Given for Proving the Universe Isn't Real! (Tom Bilyeu)

The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger for experiments proving that the universe is not "locally real." In classical physics, "realism" suggests that objects have definite properties (like position or spin) even when we aren’t looking at them, and "locality" suggests that information cannot travel faster than the speed of light. By proving a violation of Bell’s Inequalities, these researchers showed that entangled particles remain connected across any distance, where a measurement of one instantaneously determines the state of the other. This implies that the universe is either non-local (everything is fundamentally interconnected regardless of distance) or not real (properties do not exist until they are observed)—or both.