Pain & Psychedelics: A World Without Severe Chronic Pain | Andrés Gómez Emilsson | TEDxMiami

NOTE FROM TED: Research around psychedelics and pain discussed in this talk remains an emerging field of study. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/t...

Andrés Gómez Emilsson is one of the co-founders and the director of research at the Qualia Research Institute (QRI), a non-profit that investigates consciousness from a mathematical point of view with the goal of preventing suffering and enhancing wellbeing. He utilizes his education in psychology and professional experience as a data scientist to study exotic states of consciousness and their computational properties. One facet of his work at QRI involves researching psychedelics as a curative to extreme suffering and pain. In this talk, Andrés discusses this unusual application for psychedelics and articulates why this approach to reducing suffering is neglected, tractable, and significant. He argues that this approach has the potential to be as impactful for preventing suffering as the advent of anesthesia was for surgery.

Contrary to popular belief, Andrés makes the case that a world without severe and chronic physical pain is not only desirable, but within reach. If we play our cards right, in a few decades from now, he claims, intense suffering may become a thing of the past. Andres utilizes his education in psychology and experience as a data scientist to study the exotic states of human consciousness. His work at QRI explores psychedelics as a curative to extreme suffering and pain. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx