Susan Blackmore is a psychologist best known for her book The Meme Machine and the textbook Consciousness: An Introduction, 4th edition with her daughter Emily Troscianko. Her writings on consciousness, out-of-body experiences, free will, and meditation have been translated into 20 other languages. A Visiting Professor at Plymouth University, she has practised Zen for forty years, enjoys power lifting and gardening, and plays in a samba band.

What is it like?

How should we understand the dramatic changes in experience induced by psychedelics? The science of consciousness studies ought to help, with its famous question, ‘What is it like to be a bat?’ Yet it struggles with the ‘hard problem’, multiple theories, and no consensus. I suggest that physical bats, or people, or AIs cannot be conscious – only their currently active mental models can be. If we ask, ‘What is it like to be tripping?’ the answer is whatever the current model says it is like. I shall explore the implications for psychedelic experience of this radical new way of thinking about consciousness.