What are everyones thoughts on the purpose of DMT

[Oddball_paul]

So I'm sure most of us have heard all of the theories and speculations of what DMT is and why it is here. I am interested in hearing everyones opinion based on your research and experiences with DMT. Personally I believe its a glimpse of the afterlife.

 

[WSH]

In terms of brain functioning, DMT is supposed to have neuromodulatory trace amine effects:

trace amine

There is also a theory that DMT is the endogenous sigma ligand:

The Hallucinogen N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) Is an Endogenous Sigma-1 Receptor Regulator

But I don't think that that's true, because endogenous ligands normally have nanomolar affinities and not micromolar ones.

 

[donvliet]

DMT is a chemical that happens to have a very strong effect on our nervous system. There is no porpose, just the fact that some chemicals have a profound effect on our brains and perception.

 

[Muzda Jonxx]

Oh how I miss my DMT. In my hundreds of DMT trips, I only had one bad one. And that was pretty bloody scary, but at least it only lasted 5 minutes.

I think it's a wonderful, kind yet awesomely powerful compound. I never had that sense of trepidation before dancing with dimitri, because whatever the outcome it would all be over soon enough.

And the visuals, oh the visuals. The wonderful worlds that I was privileged to visit inside my own mind defy description.

A +4 DMT experience is as good as it gets, IMHO. I've no idea of it's purpose, but I'm very glad I was one of the select lucky few that got to experience it. How I wish I had some now.

 

[Xorkoth]

DMT is a chemical that happens to have a very strong effect on our nervous system. There is no porpose, just the fact that some chemicals have a profound effect on our brains and perception.

Well the one thing is that DMT is found in trace amounts endogenously, so it appears it is created and used in some way by the human brain/body. So I'd assume it has some function.

 

[Muzda Jonxx]

Well the one thing is that DMT is found in trace amounts endogenously, so it appears it is created and used in some way by the human brain/body. So I'd assume it has some function.

If I had to hazard a layman's guess, I'd say it works its magic when we're dreaming. I have no scientific basis for that guess, just seems to make sense.

 

[Hexagon Sun]

Im positive all advanced, physical, inteligent life uses DMT as a regular neurotransmitter. Like we have to develop us further, or take it exogenously to have a glympse of the multiverse that is out there. In fact interpenetrating the only 3 dimensions that normally we perceive.

Somehow, DMT is a key molecule in the higher evolution of the species.

I speculate that it could be released in some quality sex intercourses, probably in dreams as well, and could be in near death experiences. I also suspect that from 0 to 7 years, you naturally produce and release a good amount of it. In all that cases, I guess is not that it activates all around the brain, but in specific areas/systems, and therefore the effect is different and more subtle, that smoking or taking it as aya

This is mostly gnostic knowledge/intuition.

 

[consumer]

I think it is here for a reason. The fact that it is so ubiquitous in nature for a start. It changed my life and many others that i facilitated to experience it. What is it's purpose? Only the elves know that one I am afraid.

 

[Solipsis]

It's ubiquitous most likely because it is a very simple compound that seems to play a role in a lot of plants' metabolism, there are also a lot of compounds found in the human body that are mere metabolites and that themselves don't really act directly. It could just as easy have been amphetamine that would be ubiquitous in nature, also relatively simple but apparently just not the right family of chemicals for that to be true. That it happens to be DMT that is ubiquitous, I believe, has no reason. There are countless things in the world that are on the one hand a wonder to behold and on the other hand explanations behind it don't lend it the significance magical thinking like in this thread would have it.

I agree with donvliet.

There are so many psychoactive chemicals, and so many psychedelic effects that I don't find it reasonable that people would think that all of a sudden DMT would have special significance that would be an exception to it all.

Sure I find all of it significant, but not in a way that justifies the word 'purpose' as if something intentionally designed it all this way. Why can't it be wondrous without the supernatural and magical, or the pseudoreligious intelligent design suggested?

 

[Muzda Jonxx]

It's ubiquitous most likely because it is a very simple compound that seems to play a role in a lot of plants' metabolism, there are also a lot of compounds found in the human body that are mere metabolites and that themselves don't really act directly. It could just as easy have been amphetamine that would be ubiquitous in nature, also relatively simple but apparently just not the right family of chemicals for that to be true. That it happens to be DMT that is ubiquitous, I believe, has no reason. There are countless things in the world that are on the one hand a wonder to behold and on the other hand explanations behind it don't lend it the significance magical thinking like in this thread would have it.

I agree with donvliet.

There are so many psychoactive chemicals, and so many psychedelic effects that I don't find it reasonable that people would think that all of a sudden DMT would have special significance that would be an exception to it all.

Sure I find all of it significant, but not in a way that justifies the word 'purpose' as if something intentionally designed it all this way. Why can't it be wondrous without the supernatural and magical, or the pseudoreligious intelligent design suggested?

Surely it's DMT's profound spiritual effect that causes us to think that way. There's good reason why it's been used for thousands of years to contact the spirit realms. Whether that's a fallacy or not, who could say. But I'd like to think life is more than just a chain of chemical reactions.

 

[perpetualdawn]

DMT is a chemical that happens to have a very strong effect on our nervous system. There is no porpose, just the fact that some chemicals have a profound effect on our brains and perception.

I essentially agree with this, and with what Solipsis said. I guess the answer depends on whether you take a scientific or mystical view.

However just because DMT wasn't put here intentionally by some kind of mystical entity/force, doesn't mean it can't have a 'purpose'. In the end, maybe debating the origin/purpose of DMT is trivial.

Consider water. You could easily argue that water wasn't put here for us intentionally, that it is just the product of the rules of our universe that make physics and chemistry work the way they do. Yet it's purpose (to us humans) includes sustaining our lives via all of the millions of chemical reactions that make our beings work.

Similarly, I think we could ask "What is the purpose of DMT?" without having to worry about whether it's an emergent physical property of the universe, or if it was intelligently placed here for us by some higher being etc. I think we can talk about it having a purpose without having to get bogged down in mystical and unprovable theories etc.

We can hold a scientific or agnostic view of the universe, and still discuss "what is the purpose of DMT". Likewise we can ask ourselves things like "what is the my life's purpose?" without necessitating belief in a mystical Intelligent Design.

What is the purpose of a tomato? To eat! Does that make it a creation of God? Not necessarily. Maybe tomatoes just are.

Now, that all being said, I don't have a very concrete opinion on the purpose of DMT. Something to do with opening our minds and showing us new vistas of perception I suppose.

 

[Hexagon Sun]

Like all great questions, and this one is great in spades, is next to impossible to give a final answer but it serves as a playground to launch filosofical questions, intuitions and impressions

Im not saying is intelligent design... but somehow is pure, intelligent design.

Same as of PI or PHI. DMT, to me is the perfect materialization, via molecular relationships- of one arketype. There are a lot of mostly identical variations of the same arquetype, lets say 4-subs trypt representing the mushy arketype, or 2c-X representing the peyote one, but DMT is so different and unique from the rest, and probably irrepetible that seems like a spot on question

Whats the purpose of 3.14159? 1.618? From a metaphysical point of view, maybe DMT works as a portal to gather some hiperdimensional knowledge, or oracle, or conscience. Is like a walkie talkie or chat room to put us in contact with the ancient wisdom of the ayahuasca entity and a window to the hyperdimensional realms

 

[Muzda Jonxx]

This thread is making me lust for DMT in a major way. The memories are so intense and so beautiful. Damn it.

 

[ChipTrippyFox]

This thread is making me lust for DMT in a major way. The memories are so intense and so beautiful. Damn it.

I've not had the opportunity it to try it but I have always wanted to. This thread is making me really think about trying to take the dive. I've always been intrigued by trip reports on this substance.

 

[Solipsis]

I essentially agree with this, and with what Solipsis said. I guess the answer depends on whether you take a scientific or mystical view.

However just because DMT wasn't put here intentionally by some kind of mystical entity/force, doesn't mean it can't have a 'purpose'. In the end, maybe debating the origin/purpose of DMT is trivial.

Consider water. You could easily argue that water wasn't put here for us intentionally, that it is just the product of the rules of our universe that make physics and chemistry work the way they do. Yet it's purpose (to us humans) includes sustaining our lives via all of the millions of chemical reactions that make our beings work.

Similarly, I think we could ask "What is the purpose of DMT?" without having to worry about whether it's an emergent physical property of the universe, or if it was intelligently placed here for us by some higher being etc. I think we can talk about it having a purpose without having to get bogged down in mystical and unprovable theories etc.

We can hold a scientific or agnostic view of the universe, and still discuss "what is the purpose of DMT". Likewise we can ask ourselves things like "what is the my life's purpose?" without necessitating belief in a mystical Intelligent Design.

What is the purpose of a tomato? To eat! Does that make it a creation of God? Not necessarily. Maybe tomatoes just are.

Now, that all being said, I don't have a very concrete opinion on the purpose of DMT. Something to do with opening our minds and showing us new vistas of perception I suppose.

Yes, and I do kind of consider water and also the sun gods to us... and can also experience that kind of appreciation mystically, but I also think that it's alright if as far as we know such an experience is pretty reductionist, and much of experiencing entities or faces etc can be explained by activation of parts in the visual cortex that control detection of faces or living beings in general... disregarding a big part of the mechanistic side isn't good. Sure if you choose to want to feel positive about this kind of phenomenon (DMT related stuff), err on the side of caution, but also it's healthy to be at least equally skeptical just to be fair.
At the very least I would have huge doubts about these things, even if your hopes are reigning big.

 

[consumer]

You can be skeptical all you like. I have seen enough things through the dmt molecule to believe that there is a purpose behind it. What that is i dont know.

Answer this. How did the shaman in the Amazon identify two different plants that by themselves do fuck all but when combined produce something as amazing as Aya. Out of all the plants in the Amazon they found those two combined to create magic. Just another extraordinary facet of the dmt mystery.

 

[Solipsis]

You can be skeptical all you like. I have seen enough things through the dmt molecule to believe that there is a purpose behind it. What that is i dont know.

Answer this. How did the shaman in the Amazon identify two different plants that by themselves do fuck all but when combined produce something as amazing as Aya. Out of all the plants in the Amazon they found those two combined to create magic. Just another extraordinary facet of the dmt mystery.

I used to think that, but the Caapi / MAOI containing part is psychoactive on its own, and so much time passed for them on such an area to figure it out - not that much else to do - which plants can be added to it... it's a typical hyper-open-minded argument, and usually the skeptical counterargument is that unlikely things are eventually likely to happen, also applying to the chance of alien life paradox or synchronicity - it's maths that's not quite that intuitive to people just like people expect randomness to be close to an even distribution which in reality things tend to be clumped a la "bad luck always comes in pairs" or at least paraphrasing translation of a saying in my country.
People are terrible at statistics, it does not remotely compare to our feelings about things and our fallacies.

If there are actual arguments and claims that have so much bearing that they actually resist explanations like that, then it would get interesting. I think an Amazon medicine man / shaman could be able to sense a hell of a lot that we can't, but I believe the cues are still there, and were there before even if acuity gets amplified... so it's natural phenomenon and nothing too esoteric.

Esoteric theories are the least elegant of all. Resist being so impressed that you ignore the doubtful position.. I don't close myself to alternative possibilities, but I don't believe in anything just because it's impressive.

Magic is pretty much science that is not yet elucidated and so far virtually everything has followed this rule - many things are disenchanted over time.

How reasonable is it to put much faith in the margin that is not yet elucidated, without proper evidence? I mean there is not even anecdotal evidence that supports ideas of the kind.

We can ask ourselves what is more important: to know the truth or to believe in something that makes us feel better... of course not everything can exactly be divided this way, but still it applies to some of these matters...

Since rational explanations don't drag such vagueness into it , not based on proven principles I think the burden of proof lies with the esoteric.

 

[Muzda Jonxx]

I've not had the opportunity it to try it but I have always wanted to. This thread is making me really think about trying to take the dive. I've always been intrigued by trip reports on this substance.

I fully recommend you take the plunge, you will not regret it. Obviously treat the stuff with respect, it's more powerful than words can convey. But - imo it's also very kind in terms of how it makes you feel, in over a hundred DMT trips, I had just one scary one.

 

[donvliet]

There are countless things in the world that are on the one hand a wonder to behold and on the other hand explanations behind it don't lend it the significance magical thinking like in this thread would have it.

There are so many psychoactive chemicals, and so many psychedelic effects that I don't find it reasonable that people would think that all of a sudden DMT would have special significance that would be an exception to it all.

Sure I find all of it significant, but not in a way that justifies the word 'purpose' as if something intentionally designed it all this way. Why can't it be wondrous without the supernatural and magical, or the pseudoreligious intelligent design suggested?

I don't close myself to alternative possibilities, but I don't believe in anything just because it's impressive.

Thanks Solipsis for clarifying what I meant. I find DMT and it's role in our neuro chemistry fascinating but I'm always a bit disappointed when people jump to conclusions based on just being impressed.

I essentially agree with this, and with what Solipsis said. I guess the answer depends on whether you take a scientific or mystical view.

However just because DMT wasn't put here intentionally by some kind of mystical entity/force, doesn't mean it can't have a 'purpose'. In the end, maybe debating the origin/purpose of DMT is trivial.

Consider water. You could easily argue that water wasn't put here for us intentionally, that it is just the product of the rules of our universe that make physics and chemistry work the way they do. Yet it's purpose (to us humans) includes sustaining our lives via all of the millions of chemical reactions that make our beings work.

Similarly, I think we could ask "What is the purpose of DMT?" without having to worry about whether it's an emergent physical property of the universe, or if it was intelligently placed here for us by some higher being etc. I think we can talk about it having a purpose without having to get bogged down in mystical and unprovable theories etc.

We can hold a scientific or agnostic view of the universe, and still discuss "what is the purpose of DMT". Likewise we can ask ourselves things like "what is the my life's purpose?" without necessitating belief in a mystical Intelligent Design.

Also a very interesting point. What is the significance of DMT, if any, to our functioning as humans, and to the plants we find it in. IMO this is a very different question than asking for the purpose of DMT. I haven't done much research, but as far as I'm aware we actually don't know yet what role DMT plays. It could be just a metabolite of the plants that produce it, just like we produce CO2. And if I remember correctly, the presence of DMT in humans is also debatable. I hope more research will be done.

 

[Muzda Jonxx]

Do the plants not use it as a defence mechanism?