Designing Consciousness: Psychedelics as Ontological Design Tools for Decolonizing Consciousness

Falcon, Joshua

doi:10.1080/17547075.2020.1826182

Cited by 6 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Second, what is the state of consciousness that makes us more sensitive to the world around us, that makes us feel like semipermeable membrane and gives us intimate encounters with the world around us? Joshua Falcon calls what Nelson is proposing “new ontologies of interrelatedness” (2021a, 1).…”

Section: Indigenous Relations To Other‐than‐humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Psychedelics and Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Falcon “examines the role that alternate states of consciousness may play in the formation of [these] new ontological designs” (Falcon, 2021a). He argues “that psychedelic experiences and states of consciousness can potentially serve as decolonial tools for designing consciousness” and thereby move us “toward [these] ontologies of relatedness and interconnectedness” (Falcon, 2021a). Falcon suggests that “our normalized modes of consciousness have themselves been designed according to a particular matrix of colonial power” and that psychedelics expand our “senses of subjectivity” (Falcon, 2021a).…”

Section: Psychedelics and Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Expanding identity beyond the human

Mehl‐Madrona

2023

Anthropol of Consciousness

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Ecofeminists, environmental activists, and ecologists are calling humans to change our relationships to other‐than‐humans and more‐than‐humans. Indigenous people and knowledge systems are often exemplified as ways for non‐Indigenous people to relate to these entities. While Indigenous people have historically participated in epistemologies and modes of perception that rendered them more able to connect to non‐humans, these relationships have not always been peaceful or mutually advantageous. Examples are cited in which annihilating all beavers was the goal, and the fur trade is cited as a time when Indigenous people in North America gained mastery over animals that had previously threatened them, leading to near extinction for some species in some locations over a short time. Bear–human marriage stories provide us with another way to view the human–animal relationship, which is sometimes violent. Through multiple conversations with Elders over time, I have been accumulating a sense of Indigenous North American (INA) theories of mind, self, and consciousness. I apply the results of my discussions to the question of whether we are creating a new consciousness of relations with non‐humans that has not previously existed in INA thought, though it has its progenitors. I also apply insights from recent literature on psychedelics. This new thought arises from the current domination of the planet and animals by human beings and the relative lack of threat to humans from animals. Indeed, we are more dangerous to them than they are to us. Within this context, we can construct a new consciousness of non‐humans, which has its historical antecedents and which is also entirely new.

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Section: Indigenous Relations To Other‐than‐humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Psychedelics and Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Psychedelics and Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Expanding identity beyond the human

Mehl‐Madrona

2023

Anthropol of Consciousness

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“…Scholars such as Dev (2018), Fotiou (2020), and Falcon (2021a, 2021b) call for decolonizing psychedelics. For Fotiou (2020, 20), this means "allowing multiple perspectives to coexist and contribute equally to our efforts going forward."…”

Section: Land Back Psychedelics and Decolonial Futuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Fotiou (2020, 20), this means "allowing multiple perspectives to coexist and contribute equally to our efforts going forward." Falcon (2021a, 2021b) proposes that psychedelics can help to decolonize our consciousness to shift away from harmful and entrenched Western epistemes. Laura Dev (2018) recommends the use of Indigenous methodologies and multi‐species ethnographic approaches in psychedelics research.…”

Section: Land Back Psychedelics and Decolonial Futuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous Philosophies and the "Psychedelic Renaissance"

Williams¹,

Romero²,

Braunstein

et al. 2022

Anthropol of Consciousness

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The Western world is experiencing a resurgence of interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, most of which are derived from plants or fungi with a history of Indigenous ceremonial use. Recent research has revealed that psychedelic compounds have the potential to address treatment‐resistant depression and anxiety, as well as post‐traumatic stress disorder and addictions. These findings have contributed to the decriminalization of psychedelics in some jurisdictions and their legalization in others. Despite psychedelics’ opaque legal status, numerous companies and individuals are profiting from speculative investments with few, if any, benefits accruing to Indigenous Peoples. In this paper, we suggest that the aptly named “psychedelic renaissance,” like the European Renaissance, is made possible by colonial extractivism. We further suggest that Indigenous philosophical traditions offer alternative approaches to reorient the “psychedelic renaissance” towards a more equitable future for Indigenous Peoples, psychedelic medicines, and all our relations.

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Design Discourses of Transformation

Prendeville

Koria

2022

She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation

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Designing Consciousness: Psychedelics as Ontological Design Tools for Decolonizing Consciousness

Cited by 6 publications

References 52 publications

Expanding identity beyond the human

Expanding identity beyond the human

Indigenous Philosophies and the "Psychedelic Renaissance"

Design Discourses of Transformation

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