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00:00Psychedelics, in the name of science, has a mixed history.
00:04A shocking low came in the mid-20th century, when the U.S. government was found
00:08to have led forced human trials involving the use of psychedelic substances.
00:12But in more recent decades, the story has gradually shifted.
00:16And today, the growing interest in the likes of LSD, psilocybin, and DMT
00:21is increasingly tied to some of the most dramatic theories around.
00:25This is Unveiled.
00:27And today we're answering the extraordinary question,
00:29do we enter a parallel universe when we take psychedelics?
00:34Do you need the big questions answered?
00:36Are you constantly curious?
00:37Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?
00:40And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content.
00:44Psychedelics are a group of substances with the ability to alter perception,
00:48mood, and cognitive processes.
00:50The most widely known examples are lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD,
00:55psilocybin, a compound in magic mushrooms, and dimethyltryptamine, or DMT.
01:00In general, they interact with the brain's serotonin receptors,
01:04leading to shifting sensory experiences, thought patterns, and emotional states.
01:08Extremely vivid visuals are common, as well as auditory hallucinations,
01:12a distorted sense of time, and uniquely deep introspective experiences.
01:17Most psychedelics are not thought to be addictive,
01:20although they are, or can be, highly stigmatized in society.
01:24This originated in the 1960s,
01:27mostly due to their popularity within counterculture movements.
01:30That association bred governmental concern,
01:33leading to the US authorities under Nixon to pass the Controlled Substances Act in 1970.
01:39Project MKUltra, the secret illegal program run by the CIA
01:44depending on the forced use of drugs like LSD,
01:47was happening at the same time, however.
01:49So, it's safe to say that America's official stance on psychedelics is,
01:53and always has been, messy.
01:56Which, again, is why the tide may be turning in the modern day.
01:59The 21st century has seen a renewal of scientific interest and research into them.
02:04Today, many experts believe that psychedelics could have, and do have,
02:08therapeutic benefits for a wide range of conditions,
02:11such as for anxiety and PTSD.
02:14In many cases, the laws are being changed, such as with psilocybin,
02:18which the US Food and Drug Administration has now officially designated as a
02:22breakthrough therapy for depression.
02:24More broadly though, and because of their effects,
02:27it's long been wondered whether psychedelics can be used to
02:30reach the other side, or achieve a higher state.
02:33Despite the furore around them during the latter half of the 20th century,
02:37the fact is that human consumption of psychedelics dates back thousands of years,
02:42with evidence suggesting that the earliest ancient cultures used them.
02:46LSD is a synthetic drug created in the 1930s,
02:49so it's not like the ancients knew anything about that.
02:52But many natural psychedelics, i.e. mind-altering plants,
02:56have existed on Earth for far longer than humans have.
02:59And it's thought that even thousands of years ago,
03:02such plants were used during important rituals and ceremonies,
03:05as medicine, or just as standard practice.
03:09There are cave paintings in Europe and North America that seemingly depict psilocybin,
03:14dating back to more than 9,000 years ago.
03:16There's evidence of indigenous Americans consuming psychedelic substances
03:20from around 5,000 years ago at least.
03:23Moving forward in time, the Aztecs, a Mesoamerican civilization
03:27which flourished from the 14th to 16th centuries,
03:30also considered them to be an important part of their culture.
03:33It's thought that they considered one particular variety of mind-altering mushrooms
03:37to be the flesh of the gods.
03:40It was known as tionanacatl, which translates to mean divine mushrooms.
03:45Meanwhile, for the Huichol, an indigenous group to Mexico,
03:49peyote ceremonies are central to their culture,
03:52with the peyote being a certain cactus that contains the psychoactive substance mescaline.
03:57In ancient times, there seemingly was a belief
03:59that psychedelics had a major role to play in life and the universe.
04:03They were used at important moments,
04:05with paintings and records showing that their mind-altering nature was prized.
04:09Psychedelics today are renowned for their ability to create altered states of reality,
04:13which can be profound and even otherworldly.
04:16At times, hallucinations can be vivid enough
04:19that people see new, never-before-encountered and intricate patterns in the world,
04:24or even completely new landscapes.
04:26Auditory hallucinations include hearing sounds or bits of music that weren't there before.
04:31Time distortion means that minutes can feel like hours, or hours like minutes.
04:36Some report a sensation known as ego dissolution or ego death,
04:40which happens when the boundaries between them and their surroundings blur.
04:44They might later describe it as a transcendence,
04:47or else as though they'd obtained a true sense of clarity about their lives,
04:51or about the nature of existence.
04:53The psychedelic experience can be completely immersive,
04:56but still, our understanding of these substances is very limited.
05:00Psychedelic trips can rarely be controlled.
05:03You could analyze them all you wanted and search for meaning,
05:06but it's not as though we have anything close to a guidebook through which we can translate them.
05:10There are no rules. There's very little structure.
05:13The effects appear to be wholly unique and personal, every time.
05:17One of the most significant scientific findings so far
05:20does relate to their impact on brain connectivity,
05:23with brain imaging studies showing that psychedelics
05:25can leave different regions of the brain more strongly connected.
05:29They can produce a more integrated and fluid brain network,
05:32which some suggest could be one way through which users at least gain a higher understanding.
05:37Call it a parallel universe, call it a higher dimension,
05:40it would seem as though psychedelics do at least grant an insight into another layer of reality,
05:45even on a physical level via changes in the brain.
05:49In many ways, however, the potential and seemingly apparent links
05:52between psychedelics and parallel worlds
05:54falls within the same ballpark as those between dreaming and parallel worlds.
05:59The questions arise mostly out of the unknown.
06:01From a philosophical perspective,
06:03the experiences reported during both dreams and psychedelic trips
06:07serve to challenge the traditional understandings of reality.
06:10They trigger speculation regarding the nature of the universe.
06:14But so far, there's no tangible evidence to say that parallel universes do exist at all,
06:19let alone that we can get to them via mushrooms.
06:22It's a question, then, for more metaphysical theories that are out there,
06:26particularly those such as biocentrism,
06:29which propose the existence of a greater cosmic consciousness in some form or another.
06:33Otherwise known as universal consciousness,
06:36if it exists, then it connects all living beings together as one.
06:40It's sometimes visualized as a kind of energy,
06:43and it's never dependent upon the bodies we have now.
06:46Advocates claim that our sentience is not isolated.
06:49We do not think alone, but instead as part of a larger, unified field of awareness.
06:54Most scientists view this kind of thinking with scepticism, though, at best.
06:58The more widely accepted theory is that consciousness is a product of individual brain function,
07:03and therefore that we aren't interconnected in this way.
07:06Which means that, psychedelics or not, there is never a route toward joining a greater, collective mind.
07:12The profound insights that come with psychedelic use are a little more difficult to explain.
07:17Metaphysical interpretations might suggest that these are glimpses into fundamental truths,
07:22or maybe even divine knowledge.
07:24Usually, these views are obscured in everyday consciousness,
07:28but psychedelics provide a pathway to unveiling them.
07:31Various spiritual and religious traditions might also support this claim,
07:35particularly to explain supposed encounters with higher spiritual beings or divine entities.
07:41Again, though, there's very little scientific evidence.
07:44Although perhaps there are comparisons to be drawn here
07:47between reports of psychedelic trips and near-death experiences.
07:51Following an NDE, much of what a person remembers could be considered very similar to what happens on LSD or mushrooms,
07:57with bright lights and out-of-body phenomena regularly being cited.
08:01Many scientists counter, though, that an NDE is only ever the brain striving to interpret the trauma it's going through.
08:08Could something similar be happening with psychedelics as the brain tries to make sense of something new?
08:13Or is there more to it than that?
08:15Finally, and as just a little extra food for thought,
08:18there's the strange case of Terence McKenna's machine elves to consider.
08:22As a famous advocate for psychedelic plants, McKenna is said to have first encountered the elves in 1965 following the use of DMT.
08:30He also referred to them as tykes,
08:32and they were to be found in a different hyperdimensional space on the other side of a membrane.
08:37If McKenna's were an isolated experience, then it might be easy to dismiss.
08:41But it isn't.
08:42Many people claim to have independently met the same or similar entities.
08:46For some, they were even best described as extraterrestrial beings.
08:50So, how can that happen simply by taking a substance on Earth?
08:54Despite all of the scientific doubt at present, could it be that there's still something crucial that's waiting to be uncovered?
09:00For now, psychedelics provide humans with deep, insightful and vivid experiences.
09:05That much is true.
09:07They don't yet provide solid evidence for parallel worlds.
09:10But many believe it's only a matter of time before they will.
09:14What do you think? Is there anything we missed?
09:17Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled,
09:20and make sure you subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.