Rise of the Psychonaut: Maps for Amateurs, Nonscientists and Explorers in the Psychedelic Age of Discovery (Houot, 2025)

Michael Hoffman, 7:30 pm Dec. 23, 2024, received paperback Dec. 29, 2024

Contents:

About My Review
My Book Review of Rise of the Psychonaut (Houot, 2025)
todo
Why No Mention of Surrenderism?
Citation and Link
Outline of Headings
Parts and Chapters
All Headings
Template for Fast & Good Reviews of Books
Email to Book Club 2024/12/29
Available and Not Available, in Dec. 2024
Best Format for Book Reviews
Benefits of 3 Book Formats
Words to Search for in Ebook of Rise of the Psychonaut
Keyboard Shortcut for Houot Book with Amazon URL (new type!)
Preview Sample
Pollyanna “Can-Do” – True, but {gate}
Genesis 3:23-24
Rev 22:14
Houot’s Weblog Posts
Ibogaine Podcast by Houot
My Posts Discussion with Houot at Academia.edu
My Book Review Draft Notes
Can We Have Stable Control? As Stable as Pre-Existing Control-Thoughts Frozen in Rock ()
Rise of the Hubristic Psychonaut (Ooh-Oh, 2025)
“Myth Is Stupidity” – Ooh-Oh p. 37
Reject “Naturalism”, by the Same Token as Reject “common-core mysticism” and “Perennialism”
What Page # Is “Myth Is Stupidity”?
Piling Insult Upon Insult, Talking Down to Popular Audience, He’d Never Insult His Two Previous Articles’ Professional Audience Like This!
The Ship Travel Metaphor/ Analogy
Scientist Houot Fails to Even THINK about Etymology of the Most Key, Central Term, ‘Cyber’
No Mention of Meditation [p. 86] or Thought-Watching, Shows Houot’s Inappropriate Focus on the External, Physical World
Condensed Voice Transcription of My Fav Pages that Give Contradictory Takes on Religion
Houot’s Contradictory Takes on Religion
I Believe for Control Stability
Beware of etcloc! (the experience of the threat of catastrophic loss of control) [badass abbrev. award ]
Asked Simon Yugler in Person About His Approach vs. Houot’s Approach
No One at the Bridge (Rush, 1975)
Cygnus X-1 (Rush, 1977)
See Also
- Related Houot Articles
  - The Psychonaut’s Ship: Pairing Technologies with Psychedelics to Augment User Agency (2022)
  - Phenomenology for Psychedelic Researchers: A Review of Current Methods & Practices (2021) [end of move down

Edited revision of review

bold = rev; edited at Amazon to read as follows:

Alan Houot’s basic idea in Rise of the Psychonaut is that instead of restricting psychedelics to the therapy approach and the mysticism approach, we should also (or, instead, exclusively?) use the “Science explorer discoverer, using tools and technology” approach to psychedelics. 5 of 5 stars for Houot’s much-needed basic idea.

But, be warned! In adversarial fashion, on p. 10, Houot implies that you are immature, irrational, mentally ill, and unfit to do science exploration discovery, if you are at all in any way interested in esotericism/ myth/ religion/ mysticism/ spirituality, or if you use any other approach to psychedelics for any purpose and motive other than “Science” and “Technology” exactly as the author conceptualizes it — which is, approaching psychedelics as if exploring the physical external world like ships in the 1400s, and alien entities contact in the psychedelic state, like NASA.

A psychedelic church’s astute book club immediately picked up on this false-dichotomy, adversarial quote:

“Please put this book down if you’ve never ingested psychedelics or if you take them for therapeutic, recreational, religious, spiritual growth, personal growth, cognitive enhancement, creativity-inspirational, or self-actualizing purposes. It’s not for you … With that said, my message will not resonate with everyone.” – p. 10

Later in the book, Houot writes that we should not entirely write-off religion, because that would be closed-minded.

Houot covers analogy, and calls for mapping experiential phenomenology of the altered state, without discussing how Science uses analogy, like religious myth, to explain and clarify the dynamics of altered-state experiencing. I’d like to see more discussion of using Engineering product development to usefully package the findings of Science, and analogy, used well, would be part of such a technology and mapping.

Houot’s particular conceptualization of Science and exploration (as well as his rational atheist-brand conception of Religion and mysticism) is narrow and quirky.

It’s unclear what useful, relevant tools and technologies are provided so far, by Houot’s approach. How exactly does reading Houot’s publications help the psychonaut during the peak window of the intense mystic altered state, to have viable, stable control? Mystical surrender is not an option, theorizes Houot, but we could use shamans’ successful technologies such as dance and drumming.

My book review includes, as background, Houot’s interests per his dissertation and article: Toward a Philosophy of Psychedelic Technology: An Exploration of Fear, Otherness, and Control; The Psychonaut’s Ship: Pairing Technologies with Psychedelics to Augment User Agency.

To develop his model, Houot can model the dynamics of “surrender” to produce stable control in the altered state, per a book of useful even if merely folk wisdom that I can recommend, Michelle Janikian’s book Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion: An Informative, Easy-to-Use Guide to Understanding Magic Mushrooms.

I wish Rise of the Psychonaut treated Houot’s next-favorite topic after alien entities contact, his critique of ‘surrenderism’, contrasted against shamans, who have full self-control in the psychedelic state due to their superior technology, and never need to do something like ‘surrender’. It would be really interesting to analyze and discuss the concept of ‘surrender’ with Houot: what are the dynamics there, to produce stable control? How does personal control transform, rather than just staying as-is and handing over the wheel of control, untransformed, as-is, to the revealed level of control that’s hidden behind the scenes?

Houot doesn’t engage with altered-state based Rock lyrics reporting problems with steering a ship (Rush: No One at the Bridge; Ozzy: S.A.T.O.), or the myth of Dionysus and the pirates, where the captain doesn’t honor Dionysus and is killed, while the pilot honors Dionysus and is saved.

Houot should question whether shamans have full stable self-control, and should approach myth/ esotericism/ religion as analogy to be used effectively by a Science-based approach, rather than a scorched-earth, wholesale rejection of any interest in a mystical approach to psychedelics. When Science recognizes esotericism as analogy describing psychedelic transformation, then Science can use analogy properly and powerfully, to explain mental model transformation in the altered state (as a 1st-tier concern), and also, as a 2nd-tier concern, explain how religion is analogy trying to describe psychedelic mental model transformation.

Then use Engineering product development to deliver a useful tool that’s ergonomic, relevant, clear & simple, to help and suitably equip cognitive scientists and everyone to endure and explore the altered state.

— Michael Hoffman, theorist of ego death

About My Review

My review at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R293M2XOVFK8HN/
Glad to see Edit is possible.

It’s a hard book to review, b/c the author REALLY IS that adversarial, I can provide quotes that would shock any book editor, and I provided THE quote, page 10.

Am I the bad guy, for doing what Amazon says to do: tell readers what they need to know about this book.

I and my book club could barely get past the introductory barrier the author sets up. People need to know that.

It’s a constructive review, highly substantive and relevant to Houot’s project and mine.

My book review should be available at Amazon Apr. 16, 2025.
https://www.amazon.com/RISE-PSYCHONAUT-Nonscientists-Explorers-Psychedelic/dp/B0DPSJGMFR/

Amazon community guidelines: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GLHXEX85MENUE4XF – not found.

My Book Review of Rise of the Psychonaut (Houot, 2025)

5 of 5 stars
April 16, 2025
Title of the review:
Defines a Science explorer discoverer approach to psychedelics

Alan Houot’s basic idea in Rise of the Psychonaut is that instead of restricting psychedelics to the Therapy approach and the Mysticism approach, we should also (or, instead, exclusively?) use the “Science explorer discoverer, using tools and technology” approach to psychedelics. 5 of 5 stars for Houot’s much-needed basic idea, advocating for a Science explorer approach to psychedelics as an alternative to the Therapy and Mystical approaches.

But, be prepared: on p. 10 and others, this book, voiced in a personal tone, says that you are immature, irrational, mentally ill, and unfit to do science exploration discovery, if you are at all in any way interested in esotericism/ myth/ religion/ mysticism/ spirituality, or if you use any other approach to psychedelics for any purpose and motive other than “Science” and “Technology” exactly as the author conceptualizes it — which is, approaching psychedelics as if exploring the physical external world like ships in the 1400s, and alien entities contact in the psychedelic state, like NASA.

A psychedelic church’s astute book club immediately picked up on this false-dichotomy, adversarial quote:

Later in the book, Houot writes that we should not entirely write-off religion, because that would be closed-minded.

Houot’s particular conceptualization of Science and exploration (as well as his rational atheist-brand conception of Religion and mysticism) is narrow and quirky.

To develop his model, Houot can model the dynamics of “surrender” to produce stable control in the altered state, per a book of useful even if merely folk wisdom that I can recommend, Michelle Janikian’s book Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion: An Informative, Easy-to-Use Guide to Understanding Magic Mushrooms—From Tips and Trips to Microdosing and Psychedelic Therapy.

— Michael Hoffman, theorist of ego death

/ end of review

I’m describing my own approach per the Egodeath theory of psychedelic eternalism; thank you Houot for encouraging me to write a book.

todo

Condense all “talks down” points, summarize as 1 point in book review.
Create page to welcome Ruck to conference, Ruck book on “consciousness”.

Crop by Cybermonk. Per Ronald Huggins,
the branches prove that these mushroom trees don’t look like mushrooms.

Why No Mention of Surrenderism?

Heavily focused in dissertation & article on ship. surrender

Janikian good book uses folk concept surrender.

in pdf Sample of book, Find ‘surrender’. __

Citation and Link

Rise of the Psychonaut: Maps for Amateurs, Nonscientists and Explorers in the Psychedelic Age of Discovery, A. M. Houot (“Ooh-Oh”), Feb. 3, 2025, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPSJGMFR (paperback, ebook, & audiobook)

Outline of Headings

transcribed by Michael Hoffman

Parts and Chapters

Rise of the Psychonaut
part 1 issue
Introduction, a landscape continuously in the making 3
1 metaphors we trip by 13
2 psychedelics are tech technologies 27
Part two invitation, 41
3 the academic pale, 43
4 into the wild 63 five psycho
5 psychonaut: what’s in a name? 79 six being, or having, enough 95
Part 3: resources 107
7. Your unnatural attitude 109
8. Shift the paradigm 123
9. a dash of anarchy 100 37
10. Become a better reason or 100 51
11. Psychedelic – technology relations 100 71
12. Innovation by, and four, explores 100 89
13. Contact with hyper dimensional 207
14. A recipe for eating sacred cows 225
Part 4: destination, 200 37
15. The psychedelic age of discovery 200 39
16. Explorers: all systems are go! 257.
Conclusion: the horizon approaches 275
Bibliography 301
Index 329
Acknowledgments, 345

All Headings

Disclaimer …ix

PART 1: ISSUE …1
Introduction: A landscape continuously in the making …3
Chapter 1: Metaphors we trip by …13
Psychedelics are psychotomimetic …15
Psychedelics are trips …16
Psychedelics are sacred or divine …17
Psychedelics are teachers …18
Psychedelics or medicines …19
Hide and seek …21
Conclusion …25
Chapter 2 – Psychedelics are technologies …27
Metaphor: psychedelics are technologies …28
Potential objections …30
- Pyychedelics can be medical technologies …30
- Overlap between the psychedelics are trips metaphor and the exploration motive … 31
- Psychedelics are technologies to communicate with divine beings …31
- Examples of technology metaphor language use …31–3
Motive: Exploration …33

PART 2: INVITATION …41
Chapter 3: The academic pale …43
Inside the academic pale: established and defended …45
- Legal status …46–3
- Managed by the elderly …47–3
- Academic freedom (so they say) …49–3
- Applied research always drives out pure …52–3
- Funding return on investment …53–3
- Institutional review boards …58–3
Conclusion …59
Chapter 4: Into the wild …63
Democratization …65
Gathering, analyzing, submitting …69
- Anecdotal evidence …72–3
- intimate knowledge …73–3
Conclusion …77
Chapter 5: Psychonaut: What’s in a name? …79
What do we call ourselves? …83
Types of psychonaut …85
- Rational psychonaut …87–3
- Secular psychonaut …89–3
- Psychonaut explorer …90–3
Where are all the explorers? …92
Conclusion …93
Chapter 6: Being, or having, enough …95
David versus Goliath …97
____enough …99
Calling for a critical mass …103
Conclusion …105

PART 3 – RESOURCES …107
Chapter 7 – Your unnatural attitude …109
The four steps …112
Step 1 of 4: Natural attitude (putting the taken–for-granted in a box, and then placing that box to the side) …112
Step 2 of 4: Reduction (seeing old things with new eyes) …114
Step 3 of 4: Imaginative variation (imagining different scenarios to arrive at a phenomenon essence) …117
Step 4 of 4: Enter objective confirmation (are you experiencing that too?) …119
Describing lived experience …120
Conclusion …122
Chapter 8 Shift the paradigm …123
Discovering anomalies …126
Being good enough …132
Conclusion …134
Chapter 9: A dash of anarchy …137
against method, but for science …139
Galileo: Copernicus’s publicist …143
- 1. Change the sensory core of every day experience …144–3
- 2. Change conceptual components through persuasion …145–3
- 3. Buy yourself time for history to catch up …147–3
Conclusion …148
Chapter 10: Become a better reasoner …151
Inductive reasoning …153
- Prepare, don’t predict: Black swans …154–3
- Counter induction …157-3
Deductive reasoning …158
- Socrates is mortal …159–3
- How to test claims …160–3
Abductive reasoning …163
Analogical reasoning …165
Conclusion …168
Chapter 11: Psychedelic-technology relations …171
4. Psychedelic enables use of non-physical technology …173
3. Psychedelic inspires physical technology …174
2. Psychedelic is technology …177
- Osmond’s scope …179–3
1. Physical technology pairs with psychedelic …182
Push the envelope but avoid breaking it …184–3
Conclusion …187
Chapter 12: Innovation by, and for, explorers …189
Disruptive technologies (and ideas) …194
User innovators …197
The power of the crowd …200
Conclusion …203
Chapter 13: Contact with hyperdimensionals …207
The foundation of anthropological research …210
The basics of non-ordinary fieldwork …212
Native …216
Contact …219
Conclusion …222
Chapter 14: A recipe for eating sacred cows …225
Plant teacher, coyotes, sober lessons …228
Conclusion …235

PART 4: DESTINATION …238
Chapter 15: The psychedelic age of discovery …239
Renaissances …239
Ages of discovery …242
- First age of discovery …243–3
- Second stage of discovery …246–3
- Third age of discovery …248–3
An age’s crowning moment …250
The grand gesture of the psychedelic age of discovery …251
Conclusion …255
Chapter 16: To explorers: All systems are go! …257
Naysayers be damned …261
Giggle factor …265
Useless doesn’t mean worthless …268
Conclusion …270

Conclusion: The horizon approaches …275
Risk and opportunity …275
NASA of psychedelics (or we need a hyper space program) …281
Training …284–4
Data collection …285–4
Technology …286–4
Maps …287–4
Infrastructure …287–4
The information trade …289
Competition as collaboration …294
Witness to a changing world …296
Conclusion …299

Bibliography …301
Index …329
Acknowledgments …345
Quotes …347

Template for Fast & Good Reviews of Books

sketch: b/c Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination: Altered States of Knowledge in Late Antiquity, by Wouter Hanegraaff, 2022

— kicked my butt, it was so hard to pinpoint his massive error and few days ago i finally PROVED he is wrong, drastically wrong, in thinking Ogdoad = no fate; it = 100% pure fatedness.

He’s the only one who gets it all f’d up backwards.

NOW i am able to review Wouter Hanegraaff book! use template, fill in.

Template:

Title of review: _

Pros:

Cons:

Key words for each chapter:

1) heading – key words
2) heading – key words

DONE!! sketching template.

Email to Book Club 2024/12/29

Summary of email & discussions among topical expert readers:

2nd edition needs to replace page 10 by a positive, non-insulting, non-churlish equivalent (to stop driving off everyone in the world), hiring a professional editor/P. R. person to scrub all adversarial, talking-down phrases that are scattered throughout the book.

[March 2025 todo: format/ copypaste/ revise other book club emails]

email excerpts:

Dec. 29, 2024

Semi-available now; I received book today, paperback, but link has gone 404. I predict this book will become consistently available sooner than Feb 6, 2025.

I’ve already read a lot by this author including this book through p. 25. Looks as good as anything. Advocates scientific explorer framing instead of other framings such as “therapy”.

Houot claims that shamans have control, and rejects / disparages mystics’ surrenderism.

Actually we need better comprehension of “surrender”, and I doubt the contrast between shamans vs. mystics will pan out; too apples/oranges.

Ironic that this advocate of a “technology and science” approach idolizes shamans as “having control”, I doubt they have control of the sort that the author advocates.

I hope that the rest of the book after page 25 has more to add than what I’ve read by Houot so far – appears to be good.

Available and Not Available, in Dec. 2024

The book arrived today Dec. 29, 2024, not Feb. 2025.

Dec. 29, 2024 – There’s some funny business going on, my link in Amazon says I received the book, but the link at Amazon has become 404. Only seeing ability to order Kindle version. Seems I lucked out; not clear if you can get printed book at this time.

I guess I’m insane on Hatsis’ mail-order Datura, delirious, but the book is here and I can photograph it:

Best Format for Book Reviews

Pros [written for audience of the Egodeath theory first, general audience 2nd]

Cons

Chapter titles & my key words characterizing each chapter

Benefits of 3 Book Formats

New idea March 23: 2025: I always want a book in print (hardcover preferred) AND audiobook [new decision/analysis of benefits] AND ebook.

very happy w/ audiobook format

I already analyzed benefits of ebook and print book

print book:
Pros: highlighter + pencil markup for close reading.
Cons: Index but no full text search.
ebook:
Pros:
Full text search, and ease of access eg my library is in storage.
Cons: Awful for reading.
audiobook:
Pros: Play and ignore, feels zero effort.
Cons: Can be hard to digest eg Great Courses university lectures.

I have the print book and the audio book of Rise of the Psychonaut.

Words to Search for in Ebook of Rise of the Psychonaut

I do not have the ebook of Rise of the Psychonaut, but if I did I would be able to full-text search the book eg “analogy” counts vs. “metaphor” count. Find:

religion
myth
egoteric
analogy
metaphor

Houot covers analogy in chapter 10 at 33:22, 80% through.
Section: Analogical reasoning, p. 165, simile & metaphor too.
todo: analyze book phrases.

p. 165: “The main vehicle I use to deliver this book/s central thesis is analogy … compare two … different things … come to the same conclusion for both.”

Snapshot of prices:

Paperback: $19
Ebook: $10
Audiobook: $25

Rise of the Psychonaut: Maps for Amateurs, Nonscientists and Explorers in the Psychedelic Age of Discovery
A. M. Houot, Feb. 3, 2025 (planned to start shipping per Amazon)

Keyboard Shortcut for Houot Book with Amazon URL (new type!)

Rise of the Psychonaut
rotp

Rise of the Psychonaut (Houot, 2025)
rotpm

Rise of the Psychonaut: Maps for Amateurs, Nonscientists and Explorers in the Psychedelic Age of Discovery, A. M. Houot (“Ooh-Oh”), Feb. 3, 2025, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPSJGMFR
rotpl

try searching Amazon

My Order page, Arrived, says:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPSJGMFR?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title – which is now 404. try:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPSJGMFR – 404.

url is 404 now, maybe they changed publishing arrangement:

https://www.amazon.com/RISE-PSYCHONAUT-Nonscientists-Explorers-Psychedelic/dp/B0DPSJGMFR – I’m even seeing the front cover & embedded UI below, despite being 404 now!

Preview Sample: 4 hits on ‘surrender’

Amaz > Preview > Find > surrender —

Dec. 8, 2024: A. M. Houot just uploaded 64-page book sample:

I printed and read; stapled as 3 sep. parts:

Packet 1: Cover, Copyright, Dedication

Packet 2: TOC; Intro; Chapter 1: Metaphors we trip by [therapy/benefits bad; psychonaut exploration scientific discovery good] – p. 1-25

Packet 3: Bibliography: p 329-301; 28 pages

RISE OF THE PSYCHONAUT: Maps for Amateurs, Nonscientists and Explorers in the Psychedelic Age of Discovery
A. M. Houot, Dec. 2024, 64 pages.
https://www.academia.edu/t/esvaN-Sf78NHP-N8f0i/resource/work/126159050/RISE_OF_THE_PSYCHONAUT_Maps_for_Amateurs_Nonscientists_and_Explorers_in_the_Psychedelic_Age_of_Discovery

Dec. 8, 2024: A. M. Houot just uploaded 64-page book:

Key words:

Altered States of Consciousness
Citizen Science
Age of Discovery
Psychonautics
Philosophy of Psychedelics

Abstract, condensed by Cybermonk:

“Much of the world’s landmass is already known. Deep sea and outer space are beyond most people’s reach.

There are fewer places left to discover.

Psychedelics reveal worlds that remain obscure.

Altered states offer modern, 21st-century audiences boundless opportunities to explore what a human being can experience.

Be a capable discovery-maker, sample-collecting naturalist, and rational thinker of visionary phenomena.”

“In the same way European explorers left their shores 500 years ago in search of spice routes by using technologies to get to the other side of the world, you can use psychedelics to get to the other side of ordinary perception and back.

How to gather data, conduct experiments, and make contact with the locals; equipped to chip away at the mystery.

Conceptual tools to shape your new mindset, taking an active role.

Make more sense of your experiences.

How you can become part of the Psychedelic Age of Discovery.”

Pollyanna “Can-Do” – True, but {gate}

Houot writes “Be a capable discovery-maker, sample-collecting naturalist, and rational thinker of visionary phenomena.” —

never mind the shadow dragon monster, eternalism gate guarded by death-angel wielding {flaming sword}

[10:39 am Dec. 8, 2024] Just realized that {flaming sword} per Genesis 3:23-24 “keeping the way of the tree of life” [kjb] combines {flame/fire} and {sword} which recently I clarified mean (i feel i got clear on this Nov 2024) ability to disprove local control power; ability for higher thinking to threaten-to-death egoic control agency.

Genesis 3:23-24

NIV: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%203&version=NIV – “So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side [/ placed in front] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”

KJB: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%203&version=KJV — “Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

Rev 22:14

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rev%2022%3A14&version=NIV

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rev%2022%3A14&version=KJV

“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”

Houot’s Weblog Posts

https://amhouot.com/soc-blog/

Dec. 4, 2024 – #112 What is the Psychedelic Age of Discovery?

Ibogaine Podcast by Houot

https://amhouot.com/iboganautics/

My Posts Discussion with Houot at Academia.edu

Found discussion UI at Academia.edu today Dec 29 2024.

Jan. 2023: Michael Hoffman left a reason for downloading Toward a Philosophy of Psychedelic Technology: An Exploration of Fear, Otherness, and Control —

“I’ve been doing research on the creation of the totally bunk and useless Roland Griffiths psychometrics questionnaire, the Challenging Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ) which simply DELETES 18 of 21 “Dread” questions, and replaces them by a new, Grief category.

https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2022/12/28/how-to-redeem-the-ceq-add-a-control-category-and-the-surveys-questions-about-experiencing-the-threat-of-loss-of-control/“

Jan 2023, A. M. Houot wrote:

“Hi Michael, I agree that the MEQ is flawed, as I described in my master’s thesis. But everyone seems to use it de facto. We need new protocols. I viewed the link you sent. Please keep me posted regarding what comes from your research.”

19 days before Dec. 29, 2024:

Michael Hoffman left a reason for downloading The Psychonaut’s Ship: Pairing Technologies with Psychedelics to Augment User Agency:

“I read your thesis, wrote something(?) about it https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2023/01/22/toward-a-philosophy-of-psychedelic-technology-an-exploration-of-fear-otherness-and-control-houot-2019/“

18 days before Dec. 29, 2024, A. M. Houot wrote:

“Thanks, I look forward to your comments on my book, Rise of the Psychonaut, coming out February 2nd. Enjoy.”

Dec. 29, 2024, Michael Hoffman wrote:

“I received paperback of Rise of the Psychonaut today (expected Feb.), then that Amazon link went 404:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPSJGMFR
https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2024/12/24/rise-of-the-psychonaut-houot-2025/“

My Book Review Draft Notes

Can We Have Stable Control? As Stable as Pre-Existing Control-Thoughts Frozen in Rock (😱🐉)

Book club asked me if I/we have/ can have stable control.

I said hardly; more like: fear of God.

If I claim to have secured stable control, that’s only because I repudiate any confident claim of having stable control.

I am FEARFUL and reverent, about whether “I” have stable personal control.

Ooh-Oh’s 2019 hubristic Masters’ thesis dissertation false dichotomy: “Shamans have 100% confident & self-assured control, shamans never have fear or surrender, they are actively in command of the psychedelic state.”
OH REALLY, IS THAT SO? See above:
https://egodeaththeory.org/2024/12/24/rise-of-the-psychonaut-houot-2025/#Email-to-Book-Club-2024-12-29

Rise of the Hubristic Psychonaut (Ooh-Oh, 2025)

“If you honor Buddha or Christ or Zeus or Jupiter, then put this book down, it’s not for you”

If you do not shake your fist angrily at the gods, do not read my book, it’s not for you.

If you do not proclaim “The gods do not exist!”, then do not read my book, it’s not for you.

I will expand my page about Rise of the Arrogant Psychonaut for my book club and possibly dabble in writing a book review, which would give me the opportunistic advantage over A. M. Whoah! A. M. Ooh-Oh.

Book Club:

“Cybermonk, Can we have stable control?”

Cybermonk:

“Stable Control?

“As stable as,

“Your future control-thoughts are existing frozen in rock.”

Book Club:

“Whoah!” –> A. M. Ooh-Oh

If myth = stupidity, as Ooh-Oh says, then so is Houot’s metaphor of
{external world-exploration in a ship}.

from {king steering in tree} through {mixed wine at banquet} to {snake frozen in rock}

“Myth Is Stupidity” – Ooh-Oh p. 37

davis definition of irrational vs natualistic, in Ooh-Oh p. ch 2, 22:30 = book page __ – Erik Davis criticizes McK …. myth =

p 37. “resist religious interpretation of psychedelic experiences, adopt a naturalist perspective, avoid untestable, tempting, religious explanation of psychedelic experiences. “

it is ambiguous what you mean by “religious explanations”.

Reject “Naturalism”, by the Same Token as Reject “common-core mysticism” and “Perennialism”

common-core mysticism and perennialism
ccmp

I worship STEM as communication style, tho I reject quantum woo.

What’s with this anti-religion, NATURALISM dogma that’s pushed by Matthew Johnson, A. M. Ooh-Oh, and Chris Letheby?

Count me out! I use the Egodeath theory instead.

I reject all wildcard bait and switch approach labels.

I reject common-core mysticism; reject bait and switch Perennialism; & bait-and-switch “naturalism”, a stinky package deal mystery unstable construction that i do not control.

HARD PASS on the chef’s special, variable & indeterminate package deal you’re selling.

Do you not want to explain religion and explain religious mythology?

What Page # Is “Myth Is Stupidity”?

The sections of great interest to me: p. 84- 92 top. chatper: What’s in a Name? sections:

What’s in a Name? (h1, chapter)
- What do we call ourselves? (h2, major section)
  - Types of psychonaut (h3, minor section)
  - Rational psychonaut
  - Secular psychonaut
  - Psychonaut explorer

https://qualiacomputing.com/
https://www.reddit.com/r/RationalPsychonaut/

Piling Insult Upon Insult, Talking Down to Popular Audience, He’d Never Insult His Two Previous Articles’ Professional Audience Like This!

p. 84 – What can the reader exclaim to Who-Owe but “F You!!”:

I suggest you start thinking scientifically

Hey Houot: I suggest that you start thinking scientifically. – Michael Hoffman, Egodeath.com.

The Ship Travel Metaphor/ Analogy

Does he ever use the word ‘analogy’? Yes, has a section on that.

It is better than ‘metaphor’, for science explanation.

Ooh-Oh privileges his metaphor.

Ooh-Oh INTENDS to privilege the broad general metaphor of {science explorer discoverer}, but in fact he privileges just the narrow, over-specific metaphor {explore Earth or Space external world in ship or space ship}.

LIMITED; false exclusivity.

Narrow minded.

The pot calls the kettle black.

Ooh-Oh says the other metaphor approaches other than science explorer are narrow minded – but his version of the {science explorer} metaphor is narrowly just {physically sail in a physical external ship / space ship to explore the external, physical world and its literal alien entities}.

What a terrible, opposite-direction approach, for exploring the internal mind.

p. 86-87: “cyber-psychonaut: ‘cyber’ simply means online”

Houot’s big-brain etymology analysis all of a sudden vanishes.

Houot fails to talk about — against pop usage – self-control cybernetics, self-control climax.

The most important part of Psilocybin transformation is passed right over, “cyber”, with zero recognition by Houot.

“I find the term cyber-psychonaut pointless since everything is online these days.” failure of deep, critical comprehension here. He analysized pscyo and naut and failed to think of analyzing cyber.

Houot simply accepts the terrible pop connotation, with no critical reflection. Pls engage brain, mr critical rational scientist POSER.

Scientist Houot Fails to Even THINK about Etymology of the Most Key, Central Term, ‘Cyber’

No Mention of Meditation [p. 86] or Thought-Watching, Shows Houot’s Inappropriate Focus on the External, Physical World

The Index fails to have a “meditation” entry; I would expect Ooh-Oh to discuss the pros & cons of meditation, conceived of as “observe your thoughts” – ideally, including observing the illusory source of control, in the psychedelic state (loose cognitive association binding).

Condensed Voice Transcription of My Fav Pages that Give Contradictory Takes on Religion

Houot’s Contradictory Takes on Religion

Rise of the Psychonaut

⚖️
I Believe for Control Stability

image: f177 row 1 panel 2:
{balance on right foot held up by God holding right hand}

shroud guy = the “stand-on-left-foot” guy;
the “dead mental control model” guy has wrong limb arm visually cut, which contradicts the good trees to left.
{stand on tower} = stability. vs:
dead below tower = fell, unstable. dead, so cannot stand up.

I believe control instability is produced by {standing on left foot}.

I believe control stability is produced by {standing on right foot}.

control stability [an abstract term vs concrete term :stable self control]

stable control is from standing on right foot.

unstable self-control
usc
compare:
loss of control

the {balance scale} motif in Great Canterbury Psalter is more like “stable control ” & unstable self-control, than like “control instability” or “loss of control”

Beware of etcloc! (the experience of the threat of catastrophic loss of control) [badass abbrev. award 🏅🏆]

the experience of the threat of catastrophic loss of control
kind of a badass abbrv: etcloc

Harry Potter multiplying golden cups
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcMjdSk9EfY —

🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

stable control
sc

stable self-control
ssc

self-control stability
s-cs

the self-control system
scs

control stability
cs

Asked Simon Yugler in Person About His Approach vs. Houot’s Approach

I was just in a meeting with author Simon Yugler https://www.amazon.com/Psychedelics-Soul-Psychedelic-Psychology-Cultural/dp/ – four days ago on Thu. Dec. 19, 2024:

I asked Yugler if there’s anything left of the book and approach after removing therapy and healing; I mentioned vs Houot’s advocacy of a Psychonaut {science explorer/ discoverer} approach instead, in Houot’s forthcoming book.

New: not a page about Yugler, but shorter: a section, in new page:
https://egodeaththeory.org/2025/03/23/books-and-citations-for-the-egodeath-theory-of-psychedelic-eternalism/#Psychedelics-and-the-Soul

No One at the Bridge (Rush, 1975)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70BgSKTBh9s —

Cygnus X-1 (Rush, 1977)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MlYgt-QdMI —

Song: Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage
Album: A Farewell to Kings
Artist: Rush
Lyrics: Neil Peart – he is a leading altered-state esotericist.
Year: 1977
https://www.google.com/search?q=rush+lyrics+Cygnus+X-1

Lyrics analysis at Egodeath.com:
http://egodeath.com/rushlyrics.htm#xtocid22949

Lyrics – for Scholarly Analysis

“In the constellation of Cygnus
There lurks a mysterious, invisible force [hidden source of control-thoughts]
The black hole of Cygnus X-1
Six stars of the Northern Cross
In mourning for their sister’s loss
In a final flash of glory
Nevermore to grace the night“

Invisible to telescopic eye
Infinity, the star that would not die
All who dare to cross her course [can’t look at the source of control thoughts and live, as monolithic, autonomous control agent]
Are swallowed by a fearsome force
Through the void to be destroyed
Or is there something more?
Atomized at the core [loose cognitive association binding dis-integrates the egoic personal control system]
Or through the astral door [{transformation gate}]
To soar

I set a course just east of Lyra
And northwest of Pegasus
Flew into the light of Deneb
Sailed across the Milky Way
On my ship, the Rocinante
Wheeling through the galaxies
Headed for the heart of Cygnus
Headlong into mystery

The X-ray is her siren song, my ship cannot resist her long
Nearer to my deadly goal, until the black hole
Gains control [control is experientially removed from egoic personal control system upon perceiving the uncontrollable hidden source of control-thoughts]

Spinning, whirling, still descending
Like a spiral sea, unending!

Sound and fury drowns my heart
Every nerve is torn apart!

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Geddy Lee / Alex Lifeson / Neil Peart

Author: egodeaththeory

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