Topic: DMT(C12N2H16)

[Desert Fox]

It was brought up in another thread and what it is. Did a Google search and as clueless afterwards as before

Brought up as evidence to support life after death

[Anders]

Dimethyltryptamine?

[Desert Fox]

Maybe? Kind of wondering if the tern is bantered around in psychic circles just as "Quantum" is

[Anders]

Dimethyltryptamine has the chemical formula C₁₂N₂H₁₆, so it is a very likely candidate.

[Caffiene]

Dimethyltryptamine has the chemical formula C₁₂N₂H₁₆, so it is a very likely candidate.

Definitely.

The particularly relevant bit is in the "Speculation" part of the wiki.

Dr. Rick Strassman, while conducting DMT research in the 1990s at the University of New Mexico, advanced the controversial hypothesis that a massive release of DMT from the pineal gland prior to death or near death was the cause of the near death experience (NDE) phenomenon. Several of his test subjects reported NDE-like audio or visual hallucinations. His explanation for this was the possible lack of panic involved in the clinical setting and possible dosage differences between those administered and those encountered in actual NDE cases. Several subjects also reported contact with 'other beings', alien like, insectoid or reptilian in nature, in highly advanced technological environments[11] where the subjects were 'carried', 'probed', 'tested', 'manipulated', 'dismembered', 'taught', 'loved' and even 'raped' by these 'beings' (one could note the strong similarities of these bodily tests/invasions in other psychedelic experiences throughout time, outlined in Graham Hancock's "Supernatural"[98]). Basing his reasoning on the unreferenced and unsupported statement that all the enzymatic material needed to produce DMT is found in the pineal gland (see evidence in mammals), and moreover in substantially greater concentrations than in any other part of the body, Strassman (,[11] p. 69) has speculated that DMT is made in the pineal gland. Currently there is no published reliable scientific evidence supporting this hypothesis and as such, it is merely a hypothesis.

So its a suggested mechanism for why people have near-death-experiences, but it isnt woo-friendly. It implies that the NDEs are hallucinations and not actual experiences. Or at least, not supernatural woo - it could still be an alt-med woo claim about what the body does.

[Desert Fox]

The argument I read is confusing but appears to be on the woo side. . .Why the Wiki article didn't match up real well. . .

Possible that I was reading a "Poe" however

[Anders]

Could be a memetic mutation.

[mattj]

Gaspar Noe's Enter the Void does a pretty cool visual on DMT and other fun drugs.

[SkepticalVegan]

part of the woo is that DMT is endogenous, basically the claim that DMT is (a) produced in the pineal gland (b) and in large enough quantities

Joe Rogan is big on it.

Ive done it, from research and experience it is safe and worth it if your into that sorta thing. I actually think that use of some psychedelics can help people grasp that fact that their brain merely constructs reality from sensory signals and internal data and that its not always correct, at least it drove that point home for me. Unfortunately it seem to also convince many that the supernatural is real, or perhaps simply reinforce a pre-existing belief or tendency.

here is a fun read A Case Against DMT Elves (entity(ies) reportedly seem by many DMT users)
http://www.tripzine.com/listing.php?id=dmt_pickover