Mystical Entropy

The Mystical Entropy project seeks to develop a new theoretical framework for the scientific study of mystical experiences and spiritual practices.

A central hypothesis of the project is that the information-theoretic concept of entropy can provide a crucial bridge between the scientific investigation of mystical experiences and the philosophical accounts of them that we find in the world’s wisdom traditions.

This hypothesis has two key motivations. First, there are now several studies indicating that the brain’s entropy increases in response to the ingestion of psychedelics and the practice of meditation — and both of these interventions are known to evoke mystical experiences. Second, when we look at the world’s wisdom traditions, we find various practices that can be construed as increasing the mind’s entropy. Putting these two motivations together, we believe the concept of entropy provides a valuable point of contact between the world’s wisdom traditions and the science of their practices.

Using the methods of analytic philosophy, the project addresses conceptual issues in the science of psychedelics and meditation and seeks to explicate key ideas of the wisdom traditions using the concept of entropy.

More info on the project can be found here: https://aidanlyon.com/mystical_entropy/workshop2023/