Stealing Fire

by Steven Kotler

  Author’s Note

  If this book has lit a fire and you’re interested in learning more, join the conversation. We’ve got free tools to tally your own Altered States Economy, plan your Hedonic Calendar and discover your flow profile. We also offer intensive trainings to unlock personal and organizational high performance. And if you just want to reach out, share your stories, ask some follow up questions, or let us know where we’re completely out to lunch, that’s cool too.

  www.stealingfirebook.com

  A Quick Note on Inside Baseball

  In this book, we’ve attempted to stitch together a far-ranging argument across many distinct disciplines. So we’ve had to make continuous choices as to how deeply we dive into each subfield and how to distill the most relevant findings.

  As a result, we’ve deliberately steered clear of “inside baseball”—meaning, those details, discussions, and disputes that endlessly engage specialists and would needlessly confuse the generalist. Where there’s a diverging consensus in a certain field of study, we have tried to walk back the discussion to the last prior solid ground. Where there’s no solid ground, we’ve chosen what we feel to be the most credible or interesting to report.

  What follows is a listing of some of the more obvious inside conversations we’ve stayed away from. If you are passionate about one or more of these areas, we’ve run the distinct risk of underwhelming you in our treatment, or leaving ourselves open to a technician’s critique. We hope that the bigger story we’re telling still occasionally surprises and mostly satisfies.

  In approximate order in how they appear in the book:

  Ingredients for Kykeon: Ergot is a less than satisfactory final solution to kykeon, but has yet to be definitively replaced with another clear favorite. We do know that kykeon was required to be diluted “ten parts to one with regular wine” which suggests it was potent, and we do know it was enjoyable enough to steal for a party. Beyond that, it’s very hard to separate out the “set and setting” of the entire acculturated ritual of Eleusis from the specific impact of the substance itself. As with decoding the Hindu Soma, it would unlock a fascinating chapter in religious and social history to be able to cross-reference specific chemical compounds with the philosophy, art, and politics they inspired.

  SEALs and the Halo Effect: In the past fifteen years, special operations forces in general and the Navy SEALs in particular have borne a disproportionate brunt of both tactical responsibility on multi-front wars and media scrutiny at home. As a result, they have enjoyed both uncritical adulation and increasingly critical assessments (the New York Times, in particular has published several extended investigative pieces on serious topics involving DEVGRU). In our coverage, we have reported on the teams themselves and our experience of them, their philosophy and training methods. There are other conversations to be had, in how the teams are deployed and specific lapses of judgment or errors in execution, but we stand by our respect for what they do and how they do it.

  fMRI Reliability: In June 2016, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a paper pointing out serious flaws in the most widely used software algorithms that decode fMRI data, and that these algorithms might have resulted in false positives up to 70 percent of the time. If true, this would largely invalidate most studies conducted before 2015 (including several that we reference in this book). Furthermore, there are those in the research community who believe that fMRIs have been overused and question the correlation between blood flow to a brain region (what fMRIs most readily measure) and thinking or activity in that region (especially since younger children can demonstrate mental activity without any blood flow to the supposedly involved regions). So, expect a lot of studies to be rerun, and many revised over the coming few years. While the details are subject to constant revision, we believe that the fundamental argument we’re making about our neurobiological “knobs and levers” affecting our psychological experience will only become stronger over time.

  Transient Hypofrontality and Selflessness: In writing this book, we set out to distill all the current theories of selflessness into one coherent meta-argument. Despite interviewing many of the major players in this field, we couldn’t quite get to “the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” So, for now, the leading candidates to explain how our waking conscious self shuts off in nonordinary states are: transient hypofrontality, transient hyperconnectivity, default mode network interruption, and cortico-thalamic gating (Henri Bergson’s’ original idea, which Aldous Huxley popularized in The Doors of Perception). We suspect that several of these may well work in sequence or concert, or may produce similar experiences of selflessness via different mechanisms of action, and a few may be disproved or revised significantly. We also suspect that as measurement devices get more sophisticated at capturing real-time diachronic activity (as opposed to static snapshots) we’ll get a much fuller-fledged picture that integrates neuroanatomy, neuroelectricity, and neurochemical interactions in a coherent model of selflessness. Until that time, we have presented some of the findings that seem most credible and relevant to our study of ecstasis, while leaving lots of room for updates. (For researchers interested in advancing this research please contact us at info@flowgenomeproject.com).

  SSRIs and Medicating Psychology: In general, we support the appropriate and selective use of psychopharmaceuticals under the supervision of medical practitioners and we acknowledge they can be life-changing under the right conditions. We are also critical of overprescription, undersupervision, and pervasive off-label uses where apparent market forces are trumping more effective (and often, nondrug) interventions.

  Perils of Porn: In the past few years there has been a rising tide of social commentary against the downsides of online pornography—ranging from marital troubles, teenage sexual norming, erectile dysfunction, and outright addiction. More recently, there have been studies refuting some of those claims, suggesting that porn viewing has fewer of those adverse effects and that most viewers actually experience an increase in face-to-face intimacy and arousal. We do not expect this debate to be resolved anytime soon, and have instead chosen to focus on the simple observation that many people are engaging it, and therefore it’s worthy of consideration as an indicator of social trends and the altered states economy.

  Psychedelic Renaissance: There has been exhaustive coverage in the past several years of the new rounds of studies involving psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, marijuana, and ayahuasca. We have not attempted a comparable survey here, believing it to be thoroughly addressed in other treatments. We have chosen instead to contextualize this research within the bigger conversation of ecstasis, the measurable benefits of momentary selflessness, and the case studies this research is providing.

  Selfishness of Extreme Athletes: Every time an extreme athlete dies, whether it’s Shane McConkey or Dean Potter, or any of the dozens of leaders in the outdoor community who perish annually, people invariably chime in with how selfish they were to risk their lives on elective pursuits. How could they, the critics ask, leave behind grieving spouses, children, and even pets (in the case of Dean’s dog Whisper). As with our treatment of pornography and psychedelics, we have chosen to steer clear of moralizing others’ choices and instead focus on the simple fact that athletes continue to risk their lives, and presumably do it for a series of more or less considered reasons. We want to get as close as we can to understanding those reasons and connect them to the larger draw and benefit of ecstatic states. And, for what it’s worth, we believe there is a comparable, though far less sensational risk to living a suburban life of quiet desperation and dying prematurely of a lifestyle disease without having once tasted what these athletes always live (and only sometimes die) for.

  Overhyped Sensor Tech: In several places, we highlight the accelerating potential of smart sensors and wearables to give us more feedback on our bodies and brains. In the past few years, the hype cycle has claimed several high-profile victims as the Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Admi
nistration, and class-action suits have clamped down on Nike, Apple, and Lumosity for claiming benefits or accuracy they could not deliver. In our research, we generally break down wearable tech into three buckets. First, the DARPA-level bleeding-edge tools that cost tens of thousands to millions to make, are not federally approved, and generally need an overseeing physician in the context of a formal study to deploy. Then there are the “prosumer” grade devices that cost thousands to tens of thousands, provide near-research-grade data, and can be deployed by skilled professional practitioners or well-funded biohackers. Finally, there’s the consumer-grade tools, available under one thousand dollars and often for little more than the cost of an app plus a peripheral device. These are worthwhile mostly as “edutainment,” and as the lawsuits and federal interventions suggest, are not always all they’re cracked up to be. That said, even these entry level tools are getting better by the year and will likely follow the Moore’s law trends we see in most tech fields.

  Optimal Psychology: As with the Psychedelic Renaissance, this is a field amply and ably covered by others. And while we celebrate the move toward the study of wholeness and happiness, most of the field is dedicated to the incremental movement to make us “10 percent happier.” Given that the percentage gains in performance from ecstasis range from 200 to 500 percent, we are more interested in higher-impact options (while also supporting all efforts to build on-ramps to these experiences).

  Burning Man Elitism: Yup. Lots of it, likely getting worse. But we believe there’s still much more to consider and contextualize than class warfare. After all, Aspen, Colorado, started out as a blue-collar mining town before becoming a countercultural haven before becoming the LA-NY annex it is today. Doesn’t make those mountains any less beautiful, though. What remains most interesting to us is considering the event as a “sandbox for the future,” where we can spot many of the forces of ecstasis out of the lab and in their natural habitats. When we discuss the influence of Burning Man culture on the social elite, we are more interested in what’s different and novel these days—specifically the three-part notion of how attendees have a disproportionate influence on media and markets, how its members are extending into some of the more conventional and powerful organizations around the world, and how practical innovations are showing up around the world.

  Our Own Inside Baseball: Throughout this book, we tell the stories of leaders in fields—many of whom, in the course of our research, we’ve come to know and like. They are innovators in the domains that fascinate us, and we often share similar orientations. Some, like DEVGRU commander Rich Davis and Advanced Brain Monitoring CEO Chris Berka, we’ve become friendly colleagues with, swapping notes and ideas several times a year. Others, like philosopher Jason Silva, Red Bull’s Andy Walshe, kitesurfers Bill Tai and Susi Mai, filmmaker Jimmy Chin, neuroscientist Andy Newberg, late base jumper Dean Potter, and skier Kristen Ulmer, we’ve asked to serve on the advisory board of the Flow Genome Project to help us advance the mission of open-sourcing the science of peak performance. These are volunteer, unpaid positions. Furthermore, their accomplishments precede their positions in our organization and will continue long past that service ends, and we are grateful to know them and have their support. (And you all will enjoy hearing of their accomplishments; they are all remarkable.)

  Acknowledgments

  Stealing Fire has benefited greatly from the insight and generosity of many: our agent, Paul Bresnick, our editor Julia Cheiffetz, and the great team at Dey Street and Harper Collins. Michael Wharton was a tireless warrior. A great many other friends and colleagues as well: Jason Silva, Salim Ismail, David Eagleman, Judson Brewer, Andrew Newberg, Bill Tai, Suzy Mai, Jeff Rosenthal and the entire Summit Crew, Kristen Ulmer, Dean Potter, Matt Reardon and the Squaw Valley posse, everybody who attended any of FGP’s Stealing Fire events at Esalen, the amazing staff at Esalen, our ninja assistant Lucas Cohen, Dave Asprey, the great team at Google, but especially Adam Leonard and Anthony Slater, Tim Ferriss, Michael McCullough and the Stanford Brain-Mind Conference, the U.S. Naval War College, the leadership of DEVGRU, SEALFIT founder Mark Divine, Burning Man CEO Marian Goodell, James Hanusa, Android Jones and the entire global community of Burners, Chip Conley, Mike Gervais, Ken Jordan and Evolver, Rick Doblin and MAPS, Nicole Daedone, Neil Strauss, Laird and Gabby Hamilton, Jimmy Chin, Hollis Carter, Michael Lovitch and the BabyBathwater Crew, Colin Guinn and the team at Hangar, Mikey Siegel and the Transformative Tech tribe, James Valentine, Richard Branson for hosting us on Necker, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Astro Teller, Bob Kegan, Robin Carhart-Harris, Skip Risso and the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, Gordon and Courtney Gould at Smarty Pants, Lashaun Dale, Claudia Welss, Chris Berka and her team at Advanced Brain Monitoring, Laura Anne Edwards, Shahar Arzy, Molly Crockett, Andrew Hessel, and Bob Coyne for his kickass book cover. Most important, our wives and families, who made all of this possible.

  Notes

  Introduction: The Never-Ending Story

  1. This one kicked off: E. F. Benson and Craig Peterson, The Life of Alcibiades (N.p.: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2010), pp. 127–38. Also see Robert Strassler, ed., The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War (New York: Free Press, 1996).

  2. Alcibiades, a prominent Greek general: Plutarch, Lives IV, Alcibiades and Coriolanus. Lysander and Sulla (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1916).

  3. “In less than an hour”: Plutarch, On the Soul, quoted in Stobaeus, IV, as translated by George E. Mylonas, Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1961), pp. 246–65. Also see Edith Hamilton, The Greek Way (New York: Norton, 1993), p. 179.

  4. “And not just any mysteries; the Eleusinian Mysteries”: Will Durant, The Life of Greece (New York: Fine Communications, 1997), pp. 188–93. Also, IO9 did a great little article on the mysteries. See http://io9.gizmodo.com/5883394/the-eleusinian-mysteries-the-1-fraternity-in-greco-roman-society.

  5. “Our Mysteries had a very real meaning”: Plato, Phaedo, translated by F. J. Church (London: Pearson, 1987), p. 69.

  6. Cicero went further:” Cicero, On the Laws, translated by C. W. Keyes (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1928), p. 14.

  7. Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann: R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, and Carl Ruck, The Road to Eleusis (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2008).

  8. When consumed accidentally: Ibid.

  9. At the center of this dynamic sits the myth of Prometheus: Robert Graves, The Greek Myths (Mount Kisco, NY: Moyer Bell, 1955).

  10. at the Flow Genome Project”: See www.flowgenomeproject.com.

  11. Scientists have known about the relationship: For a full breakdown of the history of flow science, see Steven Kotler, The Rise of Superman (Boston: New Harvest, 2014).

  12. clandestine experiments with “ecstatic technologies”: The term “ecstatic technologies” is an update on University of Chicago historian Mircea Eliade’s’ classic description, Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy.” Eliade uses the term to refer to all the original ways shamans altered their consciousness. We have replaced “techniques” with “technologies” because of the range of state-changing devices now available, including things like neurofeedback, isolation float tanks, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and other recent additions to this canon.

  13. This journey has led us all over the world: Ok—here’s the deal, included in this list are two stories didn’t make it into the book for editorial reasons, but we wanted to share them nonetheless.

  A few years ago, we were invited to Moscow to advise an incredibly progressive $100M education company founded by a former Communist Youth Party leader (he explained that back in those days, the only way to get out from under the thumb of the party was to lead it). We ate dinner at midnight in Peter and the Wolf style restaurants that were favorites of the Politburo, and routinely worked until 4 am. But our hosts also shared that much of their inspiration came from regular ayahuasca ceremonies they had their whole compan
y participate in (not always the wisest idea!). In fact, they had a favorite Peruvian shaman whom they flew all around the world to meet them in holy sites and conduct ceremonies at various times of the year. Their most outrageous stunt, was pulling strings with Egyptian government officials so they could sneak into the Great Pyramid of Giza and host an “aya” ceremony in its exact center at the Vernal Equinox.

  In the summer of 2016 we were invited to speak at the United Nations HQ in New York to a global gathering of young leaders and entrepreneurs on the role of Flow in social change. The night before, we attended a private dinner on the role of entheogenic plants in leadership, government and policy change. The entire gathering was conducted under “Chatham House Rules” meaning participants could act on information shared, but not identify who said/did what. To that end, everyone at the table was exploring psychedelics and then applying the insights to affect NGO and governmental work in Caribbean nations, Asian economic development, and Amazonian reforestation efforts. Not coincidentally, two-thirds of the gathering were also meeting back up the next month at Burning Man.

  Part One: The Case for Ecstasis

  1. “The alternative is unconsciousness”: David Foster Wallace, This Is Water (New York: Little, Brown, 2009), p. 123.

  Chapter One: What Is This Fire?

  1. One of the hardest parts of being a Navy SEAL: Author interview with Rich Davis, 2013.

  2. That’s what made capturing Al-Wazu: At the request of DEVGRU and for reasons of security, “Al Wazu” is not his real name. Also, the story of the capture of Al Wazu was told to us by Commander Davis, then fact-checked with the Navy’s legal department (as much of the actual story remains classified).