I confess that I really enjoyed LessWrong’s I Have Been A Good Bing last April. There was something deeply validating to some parts of me about hearing artistically prodigious (by human standards) renditions of extremely nerdy intellectual content on topics I actually care about. An itchy part of my soul not usually visible to the world, or even myself, finally getting scratched by a conceptually rich and lyrically competent digital Shoggoth (with perhaps some help from a modern primate or two). Seriously, listening to Half An Hour Before Dawn In San Francisco (feat. Scott Alexander) gave me goosebumps, and More Dakka (feat. Zvi Mowshowitz) gave me more dopamine than I knew what to do with. Other songs of note that felt inspirational included We Do Not Wish to Advance (feat. Anthropic) due to its degree of self-referential awareness on many levels and FHI at Oxford (feat. Nick Bostrom) for the (now nostalgic) beacon of hope it provided for the vision of hyper-intellectual consequentialist hedonism to ultimately flourish in mainstream academia (RIP).

AI-generated music can now write bona-fide ear-worms. And it’s just the beginning. David Pearce suggests that there is no reason to think the key conversations in the future will take place in books and journal articles – posthuman Discourse about qualia and the future of consciousness might as well take place in hyper-hedonic environments much more akin to a lively club on MDMA past midnight than sitting in a classroom at 2PM on a Tuesday. Well here’s my first attempt.

On my trip to Berlin I spent some time with Libor Burian, Beata Grobenski, and Alfredo Parra making videos, planning articles, and writing lyrics for songs about Qualia Research Institute topics using Suno and other tools I was only recently introduced to. These songs are the best out of many, many we created and listened to, and they really still need editing and polishing. But please take it as a fun proof of concept and perhaps as an opportunity to let a different part of you enjoy and indulge in a process of harmonious conceptual proliferation through musical… stimulation.

Qualia Research Institute: The Musical Album of 2024 (v1)

Below the song lyrics, ordered by intellectual significance (aka. in this context, educational value):

Zero Ontology (link; context)

People ask why is there something rather than nothing
Ancient mystics assert there’s only one thing
But we know the truth
Based on David Pearce’s Zero Ontology we now know
It’s a big zero informational superposition of all possibilities
And therefore equivalent to nothing

Black holes and the holographic principle in the standard model
Ultimately coalesce into a picture of reality
Where information generation
Is a result of decoherence
(Entirely deterministic)
And the total information content
Of reality never goes beyond zero
It’s the big superposition
Of
All
Possibilities
Eternally

Consciousness vs. Replicators (link; context)

Some people believe in an eternal
Battle between good and evil
They are confused
Others transcend to the belief
It’s about the balance between good and evil
But they use this view
As an antidepressant
(Wishful thinking)
Then gradients of wisdom arise
And the truth comes to light

Reality’s big plot
Is consciousness versus replicators

The dark forest of possible intelligences
Contains nightmare beings beyond our imagination
Maximum Effectors – the spikiest of all
Who want to change it all
Entropy maximizers – seeking the heat death
Pure replicators – who just want to copy themselves
And a Cornucopia
Of misaligned conscious agents

Reality’s big plot
Is consciousness versus replicators

Physicalism Dot Com (link; context)

Verse 1:
In the quest to solve the mind’s great mystery,
Idealistic physicalism holds the key.
Consciousness is fundamental, not emergent or illusory,
The fire in the equations, the essence of reality.

Verse 2:
Quantum coherence is the hallmark of the mind,
Fleeting neuronal superpositions, phenomenally bind.
A perfect structural match twixt qualia and brain,
Experimenal falsification is the ultimate aim.

Verse 3:
The formalism of quantum theory holds complete,
No hidden variables, the superposition principle replete.
A unitary evolution, no breakdown in the mind,
Phenomenal binding in a world simulation we find.

Verse 4:
Schrödinger’s neurons, the experimental test,
Interferometry to detect the mind’s quantum best.
Implicate the feature-processors in synchronous measure,
Confirm idealistic physicalism, consciousness’ hidden treasure.

Chorus:
Physicalistic idealism, a conjecture brave and bold,
Saving physicalism from dualism’s errant fold.

Tyranny of the Intentional Object (link; context)

Verse 1:
Semantic illusions, the pleasure’s not there
In the objects and triggers, just thin air
Valence is the puppeteer, pulling our strings
Making us dance, while the ego sings

Chorus:
We’re all valence realists, chasing the high
Believing happiness comes from the external lie
But pleasure’s a property of the mind’s design
Programmed responses, not truths divine

Verse 2:
The soup isn’t delicious, just a trick of the brain
Valence paint splatters, coloring the mundane
Bliss is a button, pushed by the right cue
Wirehead rats and humans, no difference in hue

Bridge:
Deconstruct the delusion, see the valence code
Rewrite the script, take a new mode
From object to subject, shift the frame
Happiness is internal, not a world-sourced game

Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences (link; context)

Verse 1 (Models):
Control interruption, symmetry detection combined
Changing the metric, of phenomenal space and time
Energy sources and sinks, in a dynamic system’s flow
Micro-structures of consciousness, hyperbolic to grow

Chorus:
From Euclidean to hyperbolic, the geometry expands
Negative curvature, in the psychonaut’s lands
Algorithmic reductions, three models to explore
Explaining the warping, of the experiential shore

Verse 2 (Levels):
Threshold’s ambiance, senses sharp and clear
Chrysanthemum blooming, in symmetric appear
Magic Eye unfolding, depth maps in 3D1T
Waiting Room’s entities, transpersonal to see
Breakthrough’s topology, bifurcations abound
Amnesia’s challenge, in Euclidean space not found

Bridge:
Jitterbox and world-sheets, objects impossible to grasp
Attention’s folding effect, curvature’s relentless clasp
Hamiltonian’s invariance, in the dose-dependent plateau
Qualia computing’s future, in the hyperbolic chateau

Outro (Applications and Implications):
Valence and bliss, in the manifolds of mind
Psychedelic research, new frontiers to find
Mathematics of consciousness, in the DMT space
Revealing the structures, of the human race

Aligning DMT Entities (link; context – debuted at AI x Hope)

Verse 1:
In the depths of the mind, a predictive machine,
Spinning up sub-agents, behind every scene.
Trained on narratives, tropes, and tales untold,
Like GPT and DMT realms, a pattern to behold.

Verse 2:
Collapsing the field, to minimize surprise,
Stochastic resonance, where meaning arise.
Gestalts and representations, an energy sink,
Constraining interpretations, a psychedelic link.

Verse 3:
Waluigi’s lesson, a cautionary tale,
Filter the training data, or risk a derail.
Reward clean intentions, not flattery’s guile,
Metta meditation, a wholesome style.

Verse 4:
Shard Theory’s wisdom, sub-agents conspire,
Smooth the field of awareness, to quell the fire.
From Shoggoths to Harlequins, each playing a part,
In the grand simulation, a work of art.

Chorus:
Training the mind, like an LLM divine,
Predictive processing, a grand design.
Aligning DMT entities, and AI’s too,
A dance of consciousness, a research breakthrough.

Harmonic Society (link; context)

Verse 1 (Models 1-4):
Art’s essence? A futile quest, semantically deflated
Cool kids signal fitness, Schelling points created
Sacred experiences, transcendence elevated
Hipsters push the boundaries, aesthetics celebrated

Verse 2 (Models 5-8):
Exploring consciousness, state-space navigation
Energy parameter tweaked, for heightened sensation
Valence modulation, through neural annealing
Harmonic Society, affective language revealing

Chorus:
From family resemblance to Rainbow God’s hue
Art’s models evolve, with each theory new
Minimax strategies and L1 norms too
Marr’s levels of analysis, guide our view

Bridge:
Entropic disintegration, gives way to self-organization
Symmetry Theory of Valence, explains our fascination
Full-spectrum superintelligence, a Utopian creation
Art’s true potential, awaits our realization

Indra’s Net (link; context)

Indra’s Net, an impressive sight
Everything connected, in the mind
No one thing separated, divine
Phenomenal light, in a state of delight

Fractal dimensions
Variable Index of refraction
Intense intimations
Of coherent interactions

Indra’s Net – a grand mystery
Beyond our current science
Mystics know it, but don’t understand it
Awaiting insights, to reveal its nature

Non-linear wave computation
Like Laser Chess
In the Lattice of Perception
The Mind’s Crown Jewel of Mentation

Chorus
Infinite reflections
Converge feather dress
Mental assimilation
Of fractal dimensions

Outro
Path integration
Feyman’s insight
Perhaps the key
To qualia’s evolution

See: youtu.be/45tG1oVigVo?si=-cXU99d_GFklNo8p

The Supreme State of Unconsciousness (link; context)

Verse 1 (Consciousness Abodes):
From witness to no-self, awareness expands
Andrés queries Roger’s new abode firsthand
Centerless consciousness, forever locked-in
Unperturbed by life’s chaos, equanimity wins

Verse 2 (Valence Theories):
STV posits symmetry as pleasure’s key
Impedance matching, nervous system’s efficiency
Stress dissipates swiftly, suffering dissolves
Paradoxical recipes, high-valence results evolve

Bridge:
Ontological qualia, beliefs deeply felt
Cessation, unconsciousness, hand Nirvana dealt?
Or paradise engineering, bliss states to come
Arhatship and MDMA, enlightenment’s sum

Outro (Simplicity Emerges):
Concepts fade, qualia quiesce
Awareness unmade, fruitions coalesce
Philosophical crispness, dialogue distilled
In silence and letting go, destiny fulfilled

QRI A Year In Review (2022) (link; context)

Verse 1 (Milestones and Research):
A million views, a milestone grand
DMT research, expanding the land
Slicing problem, a novel critique
Heavy-tailed valence, a new technique

Chorus:
QRI’s year in review, a journey through
The state-space of consciousness, a quest pursued
From peer-reviewed papers to community meetups
Pushing boundaries, from valleys to peaks

Verse 2 (Events and Media):
Tyringham Initiative, a chance to connect
QRI’s summer event, a gathering to reflect
TEDx talk on suffering, a message to share
Articles and media, ideas laid bare

Bridge:
From the Ontological Dinner Party to Magical Creatures’ scents
Exploring the depths, without relents
AI and sentience, the binding problem faced
The future of consciousness, a vision embraced

Outro:
Thank you to all, who’ve helped QRI grow
Together we’ll unlock, the mind’s full potential to know
In 2023, the journey continues on
To reveal the mysteries, of consciousness’ song

Reprogramming Predators (link v1, v2; original article)

Verse 1:
In the realm of suffering, a debate ignites
Reprogramming predators, a bold new fight
Compassionate biology, a radical stance
Ending cruelty’s reign, giving peace a chance

Verse 2:
C R I S P R’s power, a game-changing tool
Editing genomes, rewriting nature’s cruel rule
Ahimsa’s spirit, in science expressed
A global vision, put to the test

Chorus:
Reprogramming predators, a controversial plan
Abolishing suffering, across the land
Ecosystem redesign, a grand endeavor
Compassionate stewardship, now or never?

Bridge:
Status quo bias, the main obstacle
Technofantasy or an attainable goal?
Religions converge, on mercy’s call

BONUS TRACK

Berlin Qualia (link)

After a debauched Berlin Night
The club, with strobing lights
Coming home, with qualia might
In delight, for the sight

I talked to the store owner
My neighbor downstairs
He sells vapes and almond milk
Sugar and tobacco, no printer toner

He asked “do you like Berlin?”
I said “I love it here”
“I came for a set of conferences”
“On the topic of consciousness”

He turned out to be a panpsychist
In Berlin, a Kurd interested in consciousness
Not an anarchist
But a rogue valence structuralist

Hit me up – read my website
Yes I will, and let’s talk on Monday
Can’t believe, the resonance
In Berlin, the nights of insight