In Correspondence #28

Botanical gardens, DMT and AI-me

Dear friends, welcome to another edition of In Correspondence. I’m writing from my home in Totnes, Devon, UK, where now it’s a bit warmer, I’ve started swimming in the sea again (one of my favourite things!) 🌊

What I’ve been up to

• I visited the Helford Passage, the area where the (now sold-out!) Futurecraft Residency will take place, to do some scouting 👀 Photos above from Trebah Garden

• I created an interface where you can ask an AI version of me to write a blog post on any topic you like. Posts are written in the first person and integrate my interests and expertise

• I finished the Seeing Through Dualities, Deepening in Emptiness online course with Yahel Avigur and Susy Keely based on Rob Burbea’s Seeing That Frees: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising

• I created two further knowledgegraphs for Iain McGilchrist and Rob Burbea, and a new index with photos all featured thinkers

• The results of a research study where I and others received intravenous DMT in an MRI scanner were published: “This placebo-controlled multimodal human neuroimaging study offers the most comprehensive view of the acute brain action of psychedelics to date….”

• I had a wonderful time at the True Nature Launch Party & Ecstatic Dance

• I attended two events with the enigmatic Dr. Martin Shaw: Navigating the Mysteries and the Bardskull book launch

• I spoke to Kevin Owocki on the GreenPill podcast about metacrisis.xyz and red/green-teaming web3 tech, with case studies on bioterrorism and nuclear disarmament:

Books I read

• Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity's Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism by Vanessa Machado De Oliveira

• At Work in the Ruins: Finding Our Place in the Time of Science, Climate Change, Pandemics and All the Other Emergencies by

  Dougald Hine

• Wetiko: Healing the Mind-Virus That Plagues Our World by Paul Levy

I’m now reading Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark.

Knowledgegraph

Since last time, I shared 16 items to my knowledgegraph. Some highlights:

• The Revolution Will Not Be Psychologized by Joshua Michael Schrei on The Emerald (highly recommended)

• Sam Altman: OpenAI CEO on GPT-4, ChatGPT, and the Future of AI

• Attention as a moral Act: Iain McGilchrist & Jonathan Rowson in Conversation

• Jamie Wheal on going beyond alpha burner party crowd spirituality

Plans for the future

• Tomorrow, 30th March, I’m co-hosting the Coaching for Collective Transformation launch event featuring Richard Bartlett, Jocelyn Ames and Karl Steyaert

• Weymouth Triathlon 2023

• Festivals:

  • Medicine Festival 2023

  • Somewhere 2023?

  • Boom 2023?

• The Pleasure Journey with Elaine Yonge

• The Eye of the Heart: Tracing a Path to Soulfulness at Gaia House

Dandelion

Dandelion has a new homepage, and as you can see, 51,507 tickets worth over £1.6m have now been sold there. Use it for your next event or gathering or browse upcoming events I recommend

Until next time, with love,
Stephen

p.s. I love to hear from readers of this newsletter! Why not hit reply and let me know what’s on your heart/mind?