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The Joe Rogan Experience #2467 · March 12, 2026 · 2h 29m

Michael Pollan

Author of How to Change Your Mind and A World Appears. Psychedelics in therapeutic settings — 60-80% response rates for treatment-resistant depression. Plant intelligence. Consciousness as fundamental question. The default mode network connects psychedelics to meditation.

Canon

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Both dissolve the default mode network. Experienced meditators and people on psilocybin show similar brain scans. Different paths, same destination.

Highlights

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Psychedelics for treatment-resistant depression — 60-80% response rates
Psilocybin showing 60-80% response rates in clinical trials. Far higher than SSRIs. Two sessions can produce effects lasting months.
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Plant intelligence challenges our definition of consciousness
Plants respond, communicate, make decisions — without a brain. What does this mean for consciousness?

References

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How to Change Your Mind — Michael Pollan
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A World Appears — Michael Pollan

Misc

✧Journalism professor at Berkeley and Harvard
✧How to Change Your Mind helped mainstream psychedelic therapy
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