James Kingsland is a science and medical journalist with 25 years of experience working for publications such as New Scientist, Nature, and, most recently, The Guardian. On his own blog, Plastic Brain, he writes about neuroscience and Buddhist psychology.  In this episode, Eric and James Kingsland discuss his book, Am I Dreaming: The Science of Altered States from Psychedelics to Virtual Reality and Beyond. But wait – there’s more! The episode is not quite over!! We continue the conversation and you can access this exclusive content right in your podcast player feed. Head over to our Patreon page and pledge to donate just $10 a month. It’s that simple and we’ll give you good stuff as a thank you! In This Interview, James Kingsland and I Discuss the Neuroscience Behind Our Reality, and… His book, Am I Dreaming: The Science of Altered States from Psychedelics to Virtual Reality and Beyond What the best neuroscience tells us about how the brain works That we don’t see the world directly, objectively as it is Our experiential reality as a combination of what we expect to see and the feedback from what our senses are telling us is there Prediction Error Coding How the brain mainly pays attention when you surprise it That the Buddha discovered that we see a conditioned view of the world The types of things that go wrong in the brain Viewing mental illness and addiction through the prediction functionality of the brain How altered states can help when things go wrong in the brain Expanded the flexibility of the brain What happens in the brain during sleep and dreaming  His experience with hypnosis Active Inference James Kingsland Links: Plasticbrainblog.com Twitter BLUBlox offers high-quality lenses that filter blue light, reduce glare, and combat the unhealthy effects of our digital life. Visit BluBlox.com and get free shipping worldwide and also 15% off with Promo Code: WOLF Skillshare is an online learning community that helps you get better on your creative journey. They have thousands of inspiring classes for creative and curious people. Get 2 FREE months of premium membership at www.skillshare.com/feed If you enjoyed this conversation with James Kingsland on the Neuroscience Behind Our Reality, you might also enjoy these other episodes: Daniel Levitin Casey Schwartz Dr. Rick Hanson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices