Neurohacking, A Super Mind

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Learn A Better Strategy For Mental Wellbeing

Don’t allow your joy to be consumed by mental exhaustion and stress. Optimize your mental health with strategy. Neurohacker Collective’s mission is to apply neuroscience in dynamic ways which can radically uplift human experience. The Foundational Guide To Neurohacking offers a balanced strategy to empower your goals and purpose, to make life a more fulfilling journey.

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May 18, 2016

What is Neurohacking?

The term ‘hacker’ has its origins in computer programming subcultures from the ‘60s, and was used to describe people who wanted to take on hard problems in a spirit of playful exploration and a resistance to ‘unearned’ authority. Although the methods, means and intentions of hackers varied widely, all seemed to share a unique ethos that mixed a deep commitment to individual autonomy and agency with an equally deep commitment to collaboration and co-creation.

Over time, the concept of hacking has travelled far from its origins, finding its way into a number of domains like Bio hacking, Consciousness Hacking, Flow Hacking and Life Hacking. Each is a kind of hacking because each shares this ‘hacker’s ethos’ and a commitment to using it to find the most effective ways to optimize the human experience.

We call the common thread that links these hacking communities together, ‘empowered responsibility.’ This notion expresses the dual recognition that we are no longer able to rely on external authorities to take care of us (in any domain) but through a combination of ubiquitous information, individual experimentation and open collaboration, we are increasingly empowered to take responsibility for ourselves.

In the Bio hacking community, the spirit of empowered responsibility drives the process of optimizing one’s biological health and performance. Bio hackers learn from each other how they can modify their nutrition, exercise, sleep, movement, and mind set to achieve the specific kind of well-being that they individually desire.

The Consciousness Hacking community takes empowered responsibility in using technology as a catalyst for psychological, emotional and spiritual flourishing. They utilize mindfulness techniques and biofeedback tools for self-exploration, taking personal responsibility for their conscious experience in this most individual of journeys.

Emerging from within and alongside these movements, we are observing the coalescence of a new and important domain: Neurohacking.

Whereas bio hacking concentrates on the body, and consciousness hacking explores the inner experience, neurohacking is somewhere in the middle, focusing on the mind-brain interface - the intersection of neurology and consciousness. Specifically, neurohacking involves applying science and technology to influence the brain and body in order to optimize subjective experience.

The desired outcomes of neurohacking cover everything from focused productivity, to expanded creativity, more restful sleep, reduced anxiety, enhanced empathy, and anything else that contributes to the psychological well-being and emotional health of whole, thriving human beings.

The technologies of neurohacking run the gamut from chemical technologies like no tropics and entheogens, probiotics to support the gut-brain connection, bioelectrical technologies like neurofeedback and trans cranial stimulation, photic therapies like low level laser therapy and all the way to embodied practices like somatic and meditation. So long as there is a scientifically accessible biological mechanism for effecting subjective experience, it belongs in the domain of neurohacking.

Of course, like all emergent phenomena, neurohacking didn’t just come from nowhere. For years there have been many movements and communities out there, playing in and pioneering some aspect of the neurohacking space.

Some of these domains include:

No tropics

Entheogens

Macrobiotics

Terotechnology

Experiential Technology

Bio hacking

Consciousness Hacking

Flow Hacking

Quantified Self

Transformative Technology

Calming Technology

Transcendence Technology

Positive Computing

Neurotics

Trans humanism

Futurism

Positive Psychology

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Reasons[edit]

Mental health[edit]

The main goal of neurohacking is optimal mental health. Other goals include damage repair, simulated reality, prevention of disease and augmentation of abilities or of intelligence overall. It utilizes information and technology mainly from the fields of epigenetics, bio/neurofeedback, psychopharmacology, biological psychology and functional analysis, but many practitioners also employ physical exercise, nutritional guidelines, vitamins & supplements, meditation and/or self-hypnosis. Some avoid all neuroactive substances including caffeine, alcohol, food additives and fast-release sugars. Current research focus on the nature and development of intelligence and how to increase or improve it. The works of Dr. Herman Epstein, Joseph LeDoux, Alex Ramonsky, Frederick Starr/Sean and David Barker are influential. The ethical basis of Neurohacking for health is that it should be practiced strictly with informed consent.

Human enhancement[edit]

There are numerous examples of the use of neural implants for therapy, however the only experiments involving hacking into the nervous system for enhancement appear to be those conducted by Kevin Warwick. In a series of experiments at the University of Reading, Warwick became the first human recipient of a Brain Gate electrode array implant on 14 March 2002, into the median nerve of his left arm. With this in place he was able to control a robot arm to copy his own hand movements.[1] Warwick's nervous system was also connected with the internet in Columbia University, New York to enable him to control the robot arm in the University of Reading, also receiving feedback from sensors in the finger tips. A simpler array was implanted into the arm of Warwick's wife. With this in place they were able to achieve the first direct electronic communication between the nervous systems of two humans.[2]

Information retrieval[edit]

The term neurohacking is also used for a method of attempting to retrieve information from the brain (such as passwords, locations, etc..) without consent; presently no technology exists for such a tactic. The concept has been used much in science fiction (e.g. the film The Matrix). In data retrieval, some sort of brain–computer interface (BCI) is typically used, where the brains neuron synapses are somehow captured or recorded to be processed for information. Promoters of this concept generally refer to the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or MEG (magneto encephalography) to support the plausibility of this concept. Although some sort of neuroimaging could someday be used, the accuracy of any present day method is not nearly close enough. For instance, it is assumed that neurohacking requires detection of the state of individual neurons (approximately 1 micrometer diameter) while the resolution of the MEG is several thousand neurons and other imaging systems may be even larger. It is estimated that usable neurohacking of this type is still many decades away.

Modern applications[edit]

Caffeine, alcohol, modafinil, over the counter medicine, and other drugs are all forms of neurohacking. Every one of these substances alters or tricks the brain into desirable conditions. When ingesting caffeine, the brain is fooled into thinking the body has energy and keeps the consumer awake. The brain's neurons naturally produce adenosine as a byproduct which is monitored by the nervous system. Once the level of adenosine is at a certain point, the body will feel tired. Caffeine acts as fake adenosine and binds to the body's receptors. However, instead of disappearing, it blocks the adenosine receptors so the brain's stimulants, dopamine and glutamate, can work more freely. Since neurohacking is the interference with the structure and function of neurons, caffeine consumption is in fact a neurohack. Similarly, other substances that affect the brain and functions of neurons are also neurohacks.

Alcohol is an example for a form of neurohacking which affects multiple neurotransmitters instead of just one. This is because alcohol is a fat soluble molecule. Since lipids are a major component of cell membranes, alcohol is able to enter the membranes of neurons and change their properties. Specifically, alcohol inhibits the glutamate receptor function, enhances GABA receptor function, as well as raises dopamine and endorphin levels. This causes all sorts of reactions, including liveliness and excitement. Alcohol also causes one to lose their anxieties, because of the effect of alcohol on GABA receptors. After alcohol affects the system, it causes the body to go through what is called neurotransmitter rebound. This is because when alcohol takes effect, it overuses the GABA system, so when it wears off, the GABA system makes the body feel restless, resulting in withdrawal symptoms that can be severe.

The word itself – neurohacking – sounds a little futuristic, a little too on-the-nose and ripped straight from the Matrix movies or an old sci-fi book.

And yet here we are, living at a time when the purposeful tweaking of brain functions is fast becoming an everyday practice for those eager to improve their mental and emotional well-being.

What is Neurohacking?

Neurohacking is the study and understanding of the mechanisms underlying brain function in an effort to influence and change how the brain functions. A neurohack is a discrete set of rules or methods that can be explained and replicated. It may involve pharmacology, tDCS, tACS, TMS, rTMS, cognitive exercises, light and sound stimulation, genetic engineering, or any other conceivable method for this end. On this page you can find resources, schematics, downloads and articles that should all be part of a neurohackers toolkit as well as guidance for aspiring neurohackers. A few things to remember, it's all theory, most of its bad theory. If you are interested in neurohacking for self-improvement you should first ask what it is you hope to accomplish and importantly why. The healthy human brain is already equipped to perform and excel, the limiting factor is the desire to do so.

About this Course

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Neurohacking describes how to use the R programming language (https://cran.r-project.org/) and its associated package to perform manipulation, processing, and analysis of neuroimaging data. We focus on publicly-available structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We discuss concepts such as inhomogeneity correction, image registration, and image visualization.

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Neurohacking is the colloquial term for (usually personal or 'DIY') neuroengineering. It is a form of bio hacking (qv) focusing on the brain and CNS . Strictly speaking it is any method of manipulating or interfering with the structure and/or function of neurons for improvement or repair.

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Mental health

The main goal of neurohacking is optimal mental health. Other goals include damage repair, simulated reality, prevention of disease and augmentation of abilities or of intelligence overall. It utilises information and technology mainly from the fields of epigenetics, bio/neurofeedback, psychopharmacology, biological psychology and functional analysis, but many practitioners also employ physical exercise, nutritional guidelines, vitamins & supplements, meditation and/or self-hypnosis. Some avoid all neuroactive substances including caffeine, alcohol, food additives and fast-release sugars. Current research focus on the nature and development of intelligence and how to increase or improve it. The works of Dr. Herman Epstein, Joseph LeDoux, Alex Ramonsky, Frederick Starr/Sean and David Barker are influential. The ethical basis of Neurohacking for health is that it should be practiced strictly with informed consent.

Human enhancement[edit]

There are numerous examples of the use of neural implants for therapy, however the only experiments involving hacking into the nervous system for enhancement appear to be those conducted by Kevin Warwick. In a series of experiments at the University of Reading, Warwick became the first human recipient of a Brain Gate electrode array implant on 14 March 2002, into the median nerve of his left arm. With this in place he was able to control a robot arm to copy his own hand movements.[1] Warwick's nervous system was also connected with the internet in Columbia University, New York to enable him to control the robot arm in the University of Reading, also receiving feedback from sensors in the finger tips. A simpler array was implanted into the arm of Warwick's wife. With this in place they were able to achieve the first direct electronic communication between the nervous systems of two humans.[2]

––––––––

Information retrieval[edit]

The term neurohacking is also used for a method of attempting to retrieve information from the brain (such as passwords, locations, etc..) without consent; presently no technology exists for such a tactic. The concept has been used much in science fiction (e.g. the film The Matrix). In data retrieval, some sort of brain–computer interface (BCI) is typically used, where the brains neuron synapses are somehow captured or recorded to be processed for information. Promoters of this concept generally refer to the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or MEG (magnetoencephalography) to support the plausibility of this concept. Although some sort of neuroimaging could someday be used, the accuracy of any present day method is not nearly close enough. For instance, it is assumed that neurohacking requires detection of the state of individual neurons (approximately 1 micrometre diameter) while the resolution of the MEG is several thousand neurons and other imaging systems may be even larger. It is estimated that usable neurohacking of this type is still many decades away.

Modern applications[edit]

Caffeine, alcohol, modafinil, over the counter medicine, and other drugs are all forms of neurohacking. Every one of these substances alters or tricks the brain into desirable conditions. When ingesting caffeine, the brain is fooled into thinking the body has energy and keeps the consumer awake. The brain's neurons naturally produce adenosine as a by-product which is monitored by the nervous system. Once the level of adenosine is at a certain point, the body will feel tired. Caffeine acts as fake adenosine and binds to the body's receptors. However, instead of disappearing, it blocks the adenosine receptors so the brain's stimulants, dopamine and glutamate, can work more freely. Since neurohacking is the interference with the structure and function of neurons, caffeine consumption is in fact a neurohack. Similarly, other substances that affect the brain and functions of neurons are also neurohacks.

Alcohol is an example for a form of neurohacking which affects multiple neurotransmitters instead of just one. This is because alcohol is a fat soluble molecule. Since lipids are a major component of cell membranes, alcohol is able to enter the membranes of neurons and change their properties. Specifically, alcohol inhibits the glutamate receptor function, enhances GABA receptor function, as well as raises dopamine and endorphin levels. This causes all sorts of reactions, including liveliness and excitement. Alcohol also causes one to lose their anxieties, because of the effect of alcohol on GABA receptors. After alcohol affects the system, it causes the body to go through what is called neurotransmitter rebound. This is because when alcohol takes effect, it overuses the GABA system, so when it wears off, the GABA system makes the body feel restless, resulting in withdrawal symptoms that can be severe.

The word itself – neurohacking – sounds a little futuristic, a little too on-the-nose and ripped straight from the Matrix movies or an old sci-fi book.

And yet here we are, living at a time when the purposeful tweaking of brain functions is fast becoming an everyday practice for those eager to improve their mental and emotional well-being

Neurohacking: From Morning Coffee to Consciousness

Neurohacking is, simply, a collection of practices intended to upgrade the mind and boost one’s personal capacities, and it is not as outlandish as it first seems.  

Let’s take a commonplace example, say, having a cup of coffee. The chemical properties of caffeine affect your central nervous system and therefore your brain, increasing mental energy and focus.  When you sit on that morning cup, you’re ingesting a substance that enhances performance.  So, in a way, you’re hacking your consciousness.

RELATED: 6 Supplements that Promise to Give you a Mental Edge

Flow States: When Stars Align

When a cluster of these cognitive enhancing bio-hacks are happening simultaneously, one can be said to be in a flow state, a concept that most of us are familiar with, and one that is widely used as an experiential and experimental benchmark in neurohacking.  

Flow states, being in the zone, living in the moment.  We’ve all had those experiences.  

An unflappable and quiet invincibility, done effortlessly without second thought or doubt, when time stands still and the outside world fades away, leaving nothing but a perfect  state of you, where Being and Doing overlap, and then merge to become indistinguishable from each other.  Stars align, vectors cross perfectly, stars align and we find ourselves incapable of doing wrong: knocking down a barrage of three-pointers, absolutely crushing the critical sales presentation, intrinsically grasping all of the subtleties of a subject during an intense study session.  

While rare, we all yearn to experience these moments of transcendence again. Neurohacking, however, sees the flow state as the Holy Grail, and strives to create and then recreate those perfect conditions to be our most perfect self. Currently, the most researched and popular way to do so is through no tropics.

No tropics: The New You Topics

Another term pulled straight from the future, no tropics are also known as smart-drugs and cognitive enhancers, and are any drugs, supplements or substances that purport to improve cognitive functions, particularly focus, memory, creativity and motivation.

Do a quick online scan and you’ll see that a proliferation of no tropics has flooded the market recently. Some are clearly just riding the wave, while others are better-intentioned and better-designed.  

One common problem across the spectrum of companies, however, is that they often fail to deliver a complete and well-rounded product; their no tropics are usually developed so narrowly as to only optimize or enhance one small aspect of cognition at the expense of others.  For example, a inotropic may deliver on boosting your mental energy but fail to help you focus, so you’ll lack the calibration necessary to harness that energy and your efforts will scattershot.

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Neurohacker Collective: Hacking Goes Holistic

Clearly, it seems that what is missing is a more systemic, unified approach.   

Enter the Neurohacker Collective, a group of scientists, intellectuals and researchers who are exploring the frontiers of bio-plasticity from a higher-order perspective, and working to develop and promote an overall and integrated strategy of complete care for the self.

By stressing the complexity and interdependence of all the factors that make up one’s cognitive and emotional well-being, their lofty mission is no less than to upgrade our capacity as a species.

Diverging from the many other inotropic supplements that only focus on a single aspect of improving cognitive functioning, the Neurohacker Collective aims to address the entire body/mind interface and provide many of the tools necessary to enhance cognition.

Qualia: Formula of the Future

The Neurohacker Collective seems to be one step ahead of the game, imagining not just a way to cultivate and extend flow states, but better yet, envisioning a future where that state is the new normal.

This future could very well be in Qualia, developed by the Neurohacker Collective, and one of the most comprehensive no tropics on the market that integrates the best available research on cognitive development into a complex, holistic product.  

Neurohacking experiment: 48 days trying all kind of nootropics and cognitive enhancers

April 11th, 2019 / Experiment, High-Performance.

I started and finished a new experiment. One closely linked with continuing to push high-performance for people like you and me. On this occasion, it was a test focused on the mental dimension. That’s right, a 48-day trial period using nootropics and cognitive enhancers. so this is experiment designed to maximize the performance of the mind as much as possible. It is a process called Neurohacking, a colloquial term to influence or interfere with the structure and function of neurons, for their improvement or repair in a self-taught way.

Objectives of the experiment

This is precisely what I sought to test, explore and analyze with the Neurohacking experiment:

Greater ability to focus and concentrate.

Get more energy and brain activity.

Reach a higher level of mental clarity.

Go further in the areas of creativity and imagination.

Accelerate the process and resolution of decision making.

Increase the capacity of action and reaction.

Achieve a state of "flow" more frequent and sustained over time.

Discover new hacks for high productivity.

Improvement of physical performance.

Check if all this induces new and better moods.

To measure and follow these parameters, I have created a scorecard and a series of indicators and questions that I completed each time in addition to putting it to the test with respective challenges.

The goal of the Neurohacking experiment – how to carry it out

I’ve been documenting and reporting for more than a year about this way "do it yourself" to improve your brain function, called Neurohacking. To carry out this experiment, I needed, in addition to the super-habits I already practice, such as intermittent fasting, a macrobiotic and alkaline diet, optimal rest and physical, emotional and spiritual stimulation, a new element, the nootropics. Also known as cognitive enhancers.

During all this time I have been researching and looking for the safest, most potent, reliable and natural nootropics on the market. I have read a variety of reports, lists, guides, interviews, talks, reviews, and recommendations, for and against. From Healthyline, Mindlabpro, Tim Ferriss, Dr. Rhonda Patrick (see resources section), Valter Longo, Queal, Ted Talks (Dave Asprey), London Real, Joe Rogan and Dr. Bruce Lipton among many other sources.

The nootropics I used

From everything I have found, I have chosen these five cognitive nootropics/enhancers:

Alpha Brain.

Qualia Mind.

Unfair Advantage.

Think Smart.

XCT Oil – Brain Octane.

Note: most of these products end up in customs at the recipient countries. I tried to buy some three times, and all three were returned as you need an exclusive license for this type of products. Maybe in other countries, it works differently.

I used these five nootropics, not at the same time, but intermittently, for 48 days. While I did it, I analyzed all kinds of inputs and outputs to extracted lessons, discoveries and conclusions finally. This, in essence, was the Neurohacking experiment.

Last September I began an experiment that aimed to verify the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of nootropics, also known as cognitive enhancers. Besides, I wanted to test, as in the LSD microdose experiment, the effect that these supplements would have in the short, medium and long term. And yes, in my tireless search to find new limits, I could extract new inputs that would help to continue optimizing my (high) spiritual, emotional and physical performance. The tool this time: nootropics and cognitive enhancers.

Nootropics and cognitive enhancers I have used, finally

For the experiment I used the following smart drugs:

Alpha Brain by Onnit.

Think Smart from Whole Foods.

Qualia Mind (step 1 and 2) by Neurohacker Collective.

Unfair Advantage by Bulletproof.

XCT Oil by Bulletproof.

Brain Octane by Bulletproof.

In block one, you can see the quantities and the effects of each nootropic.

How I carried out the nootropic and cognitive enhancer experiment

On this occasion, I have divided the experiment into three blocks.

1. Scorecard

The first block corresponds to a scorecard where I analyzed the following parameters:

Date.

Day.

Type of the nootropic.

Quantity / consumption

Time of the shot.

Reflexes.

Sensations

Energy.

Focus.

Memory.

Physical impact

Mental impact

Emotional impact

Spiritual impact

Conclusion.

Observations.

Extra notes

In this link again, you can find the complete control panel of the 48 days of Neurohacking. It is the monitoring of the effects of cognitive nootropics and enhancers.

2. Daily descriptive analysis

The second block corresponds to a more detailed regular follow-up. In this follow-up my objective was to describe how I reacted to the following evaluated factors:

Impressions and daily sensations.

Greater ability to focus and concentration (yes/no – notes).

You are obtaining energy and extra brain activity (high, low, a lot or little).

Daily level of mental clarity (yes / no, better / worse, high / low)

Improvement of creativity (yes/no – and notes).

Accelerate the process of decision making and conflict resolution (yes/no – and notes).

Capacity of action-daily reaction (yes / no, high / low – and notes).

Daily State Flow: (yes/no – and observations).

The emergence of ultra-productivity hacks (yes/no – and which).

Improvement of physical performance (yes/no – and effects).

Changes in moods (yes/no – and discoveries).

Daily conclusion.

Extra details.

3. Extensive analysis: 48 days on video

The third block has to do with a more extensive review that I was doing through a daily video follow-up. It is a more exhaustive step by step of the 48 days of nootropics and cognitive enhancers.

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4. Conclusions

These are the most relevant conclusions at the end of the nootropic and cognitive enhancer experiment:

I have found that the combination of Unfair Advantage (one ampoule) and a cap of XCT Oil before going to sleep, help with profound and restful sleep.

I had to take 3/4 capsules of Alpha Brain to feel a minimum effect. Also, I consider it an ineffective nootropic.

Qualia Mind is the nootropic that has worked best of all; focus, prolonged flow state, mental clarity, reaction capacity, mental energy, and push. These are some of the qualities that I could highlight.

The first few days I tried a complete mixture of nootropics and cognitive enhancers. I tried them all at once and experienced the feeling of opening the computer to work and not being able to close it. There were days that I spent more than 24 hours plugged in.

There were days that I had to make a great effort to disconnect, not in the sense of having an uncontrolled mind. If not in the sense of being so focused that I didn’t care about anything else.

In this experiment, most of the time with nootropics and cognitive enhancers it has been like a controlled explosion of energy. In the worst case, it has been too focused, so much that you lose track of time, appetite and leisure.

These smart drugs do not make you nervous. There have been days, which I have been able to cut off in the middle of the day, go to the beach and meditate or relax with total normality. Moreover, I would say that I have been able to find more peace of mind, which I find somewhat surprising and very positive.

As can be observed day after day, nootropics and cognitive enhancers have not been helpful to be more ultra-productive. These smart drugs have also not been an improvement in my physical performance. They have not served as an effective complement that will make a difference in the most creative areas. However, LSD microdoses did have a very positive influence on this last area.

These smart supplements have served not to have that drop in mental activity during the hangover. You can see this in the scorecard that appears in this report.

Two weeks after its use I have not found any adverse effects of using it during the 48 days that the experiment lasted. I have done a complete blood test, and everything is as it was before, at full capacity.

The nootropics and cognitive enhancers are the best I have tried to cause and prolong the Flow State.

I have been able to have more profound, calm and contemplative meditative moments than before the experiment. I still do today.

What can be highlighted about the nootropics and cognitive enhancers that I have been using is: the increase in the ability to focus, a state of flow that is more consistent and prolonged, overwhelming mental energy. A great facility to connect with work and with oneself, a great difficulty to stop pushing forward. A more agitated state of alert. A brain activity that does not translate into nervousness, hypertension or frenzy, but something like a controlled euphoria.

Now that the experiment is over, MindLab Pro has just arrived in my hands and denominated, scientifically proven, the most complete and structured nootropic that exists. I will try it, and later I will explain the sensations and share the results.

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Meditation

Neurohacking Mindfulness – Supercharging My Thinking

on August 29, 2019

Neurohacking mindfulness sounds super cyber-fi. But deliberately influencing the brain to optimize focus, energy, positivity, and awareness is possible.

The secret to change is not to fight the old, but build up the new.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION

Neurohacking my mindfulness is like turning on a light bulb of consciousness

Neurohacking my mindfulness to achieve to my full potential

I consider mindful meditation to be a major part of my lifestyle change and weight loss efforts. While it may seem that meditation is not much more than just sitting still and reflecting on my thoughts, there is massive growth happening mentally and physically.

When I am practicing meditation properly I am altering the physical structure of my brain. I am redeploying neural pathways and adding grey brain matter. My meditation affects the release of chemicals and hormones into my body. There are new subroutines being built in my brain that control automatic functions such as heartbeat, breathing rhythm, sleep cycles, and reflexes.

Mentally, I am clearing clutter from my thought process. My ability to focus and see the bigger picture is improving. I am banishing fear and understanding my emotions. And I am becoming more intelligent.

Why would I want to mess with any of that by hacking my mindfulness?

Because mindfulness is not the destination. It is the path to the destination. And the destination is a level of super-thinking that I have pursued for a long time, but have not yet reached.

Meditation creates neuro plasticity and develops grey brain matter

Neurohacking mindfulness – the next step

Hacking is just a term. Neurohacking simply means that I am using internal and external techniques to enhance the natural progression of my meditation. It helps me achieve greater results quicker. Additionally, it allows me to monitor and control the process.

People have sought to optimize their minds, bodies, and souls through neurohacking, biohacking, and consciousness hacking since forever.

Neurohacking specifically aims to improve mental functions, leading to a fully optimized experience of mental functions. These include focus, clarity, memory, mind-over-body control, better sleep, and expanded creativity and problem-solving.

I want to take my mindfulness to the next step – to move beyond just observing my thoughts and emotions. I want to proactively impact them and use the growth that meditation provides to open the door to a new world of consciousness, capability, and potential.

Neurohacking my mindfulness should light up my potential and capability.

What can I realistically expect from neurohacking?

Proponents say that neurohacking is based on science, research, and technology But it is a lack of clear-cut results that can be quantified. While much of the conclusions drawn regarding the capacity for neurohacking is based on interpretations of real science, it is uncertain how much of that interpretation has been rigorously tested.

Still, there is a depth of information and history regarding methods that are used to improve cognition. And the functions of the brain itself are still largely unexplained by science. People do exhibit superhuman brain skills such as photogenic memory, the ability to hear or smell in colors, immense tolerance to pain, and visionary creativity. It has been demonstrated many times that people can improve in these areas (memory, tolerance, and creativity especially). And it is known that mindful meditation is a path to those improvements.

By neurohacking my brain through mindfulness I want to achieve certain states I believe well-within my reach with time and training. Some superhuman traits I think I can achieve with my meditation practice include:

Increased productivity

Improved memory

Sharpened senses

Internal and external awareness

Control of my moods and emotions

Quicker reflexes

Faster sleep

Laser focus and concentration

Iron self-control over impulses and actions

Improved health, immunity, and physical strength

Next level cognition

The ability to place myself in a hypnotized or flow state quickly

These are very reachable improvements where tiny changes that I make can have really large, positive consequences.

Nootropics are used to boost mental clarity and performance, effectively neurohacking my limitless potential.

Neurohacking mindfulness through nootropics

The movie Limitless is a fun tale about an intelligent, but unmotivated writer who gains incredible cognitive abilities after taking an experimental drug. The idea of a smart drug that will unlock a person’s full mental capacity is a long-sought unicorn.

There are many chemical substances that have an impact on the brain and its ability. Caffeine is one. So are sugar and LSD. Everything from ginseng to psychedelic mushrooms has been claimed to have boosting powers. But their use and application are inconsistent and unreliable. I don’t see myself diving deeply into untested nootropics in order to hack my mental processes.

My intention is to use my meditation practice to first grow and train my brain, avoiding the use of nootropics. I use caffeine as a stimulant and that is going to continue. But sugar is a poison that actually diminishes my brain activity.

The only drugs I’m considering are testosterone and modafinil. Both are available to me only through prescriptions. I already have one for testosterone. I’d have to make a special case to get a doctor to prescribe modafinil. And there is no consensus that either drug treatment helps in cognitive improvement.

Before I undertake any chemical enhancements I’m going to finish losing weight and getting fit. Too much is going on with just those goals to throw on more things to keep track of.

Once I crack the code to upgrading my brain and cognitive skills, what else will I be capable of?

Becoming limitless by neurohacking my meditation process

Once upon a time, I wanted to develop some more esoteric skills through meditation and mindfulness, These included things like increased intuition, the capacity for remote viewing, and the ability to change the energy. I believed then (and I’m not 100% sure that I don’t believe it now) that I could consciously change forms of energy around me and reshape my reality.

The door is still open to some really unique experiences. Sure, I won’t ever gain the brainpower of the character in Limitless. But I can make myself more limitless and explore the edge of what I am capable of. Which may be far more than I can even imagine.

Those are subjects for another day. For now, it will be enough of a goal to strive for the imbuement of skills that are perfectly achievable through mindful meditation.

You can unlock hidden supernatural powers simply with the power of your mind. Ben Stewart reveals that our potential to access the supermind is not theoretical as new discoveries in neuroplasticity reveal the ways we can literally restructure the way our brains function. If our brains are transmitters and receivers for an intelligence that is external to the body, then we can tap into the power of neuroplasticity to experience neurogenesis at the galactic level. It all begins with simple steps that you can begin using, today, to push your brain’s capacity to the next level. Ben offers simple challenges such as mind puzzles and dietary changes for overall performance enhancement.

You can unlock hidden supernatural powers simply with the power of your mind. Ben Stewart reveals that our potential to access the supermind is not theoretical as new discoveries in neuroplasticity reveal the ways we can literally restructure the way our brains function. If our brains are transmitters and receivers for an intelligence that is external to the body, then we can tap into the power of neuroplasticity to experience neurogenesis at the galactic level. It all begins with simple steps that you can begin using, today, to push your brain’s capacity to the next level. Ben offers simple challenges such as mind puzzles and dietary changes for overall performance enhancement.

Future terror: neurohacking - A SentDev Classic

http://static.flickr.com/1/459869_f732dc8a18_m.jpg In the 1995 anime sci-fi classic, Ghost in the Shell, a futuristic world was envisioned in which cybernetic individuals routinely operate in the virtual world as easily as in the real one. Transhuman cybernetic minds are inextricably connected to the cyber-realm, leaving them vulnerable to attacks.

In this projected future people are subjected to 'ghost hacking' in which their minds are taken over by computer hackers without their knowing it. Their 'ghost' or essence, or soul, or self, or whatever descriptor you want to give for self-identity, is manipulated and controlled from a remote source.

As disturbing as this sounds, it's not beyond the realm of plausibility. When considering the Church-Turing thesis of computational compatability, and given recent insight into cognitive computationalism (or functionalism), one can make the assumption that future human minds will be indelibly linked to extraneous computer systems.

And as a frightening precursor to 'ghost hacking', also known as neurohacking, a recent article in Technology Review reveals that the first generation of invasive neurohacking may be only years away.

In her article, titled "Could Terrorists Hijack Your Brain?" Emily Singer reports on how security experts are warning that we need to prepare for a much broader spectrum of potential bioterror agents—this according to a report released this week by the Washington, DC-based National Academies.

While most bioweapons research is focused on the usual suspects, namely such agents as anthrax and smallpox, it is now thought that emerging technologies in biotechnology and the life sciences could be usurped to take control of genes, immune systems, and even brains.

Terrorists, or even state-actors for that matter, could also co-opt relatively new technologies, such as synthetic biology (which aims to build organisms that can detect or produce chemicals or perform other functions) or RNA interference (a technique that allows scientists to easily control gene expression).

There is also concern about the potential of bioregulators—small, biologically active organic compounds that can regulate different systems in the body. Newer technologies such as targeted delivery methods that zero in on the immune or neuroendocrine systems could make it easier to use bioregulators in evil ways.

Such is the double-edged sword of technological development. For each advancement, someone can twist it for self-serving and nefarious purposes. Consequently, in order to prepare for the ever-changing threat spectrum, the advisors recommend that technologies with dual-use potential—those that can be used to either help or harm humanity—be continually reassessed to take account of rapid advances in biotechnology.

Additionally, it is suggested that a scientific advisory board be developed to assist the national security community and to ensure that teams monitoring these threats have the most up-to-date scientific expertise. It was also advised that public health infrastructures be strengthened and that incentives be put into place for the creation of broadly active vaccines and other products that can protect against diverse agents.

http://static.flickr.com/36/87516676_d3e0062f68_t.jpg It's like the transition from trench warfare to mobilized warfare between World War I and World War II, notes one of the report authors. How do we begin to defend ourselves against that dynamic threat landscape? How do we adapt our health, medical, and biodefense systems to respond to that?

Interestingly, the advisors also endorsed an open exchange of information in the life sciences as much as possible, emphasizing that the best means of protecting against future threats is further advances in technology.

So, are we indelibly headed for a Ghost in the Shell like future? Quite possibly yes, but it appears that we may have the safeguards, firewalls, and prophylaxis in place to deal with the problems as they arise.

As a final aside, humans have had to deal with 'neurohacking' for quite some time now, but not in such invasive ways. Ever since propaganda was developed, people have had their minds influenced by external sources. And memes themselves, whether they be autonomous or created and directed by individuals or groups, are impacting on their hosts, directing the human sense of self and how decisions are formulated.

It looks, however, that keeping control of our minds is about to get harder by an order of magnitude.

Will there be a day when you say I can't read your mind, you know! and the reply will be Oh, stop it—of course you can!? It could happen. Neuroscientists are finding ways to read people's minds with machines, and although this has been in the works for decades, real progress is being made by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and elsewhere. Translating electrical activity from the brain by means of decoding brainwaves is one way to help sufferers of dementia, for example, who have complications with neurotransmitters relaying thoughts into comprehensible speech or holding thoughts long enough to get them out verbally before they're forgotten.

On the other hand, it is more than a little frightening to know that science and machines could soon have access to our innermost thoughts. Implications for neurohacking into people's thoughts have also been studied in relation to neuromarketing, which targets people's brains by manipulating their wants and desires through marketing and advertising. Our thoughts and actions could actually be hijacked by a form of media that makes us think we're getting what we want, when really, we're going for something our brains may only think is supposed to be good [sources: IGF; Carmichael].

Super Forecasters

Imagine that there is someone in the world, let’s call him, Warren, who has an uncanny ability to value companies and pick winners. Company after company, Warren is able to do this. Would you follow Warren’s picks?

Research by Philip Tetlock at Good Judgment Project, funded by the US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity(IARPA), points to such people existing. Now, how would we find them, and how would we ensure they don’t run an exit-scam?

Collective Intelligence

The last decade has seen companies utilizing data collected from crowds to develop their applications and combine it with machine learning to improve outputs. Whether it is crowdsourcing geographic data to improve maps or to collect feedback on the taste of a beer the applications of crowd computing are endless. Most systems today simply collect data from us humans and run them through machine learning, but combining this with blockchain technology and smart contracts opens up the possibility to not just train and improve machine learning algorithms but to improve source of data.

Closing the Loop: Reputation

Key to the WINGS system is the role of reputation. Owning WINGS and being a whale is not enough, it certainly won’t be if we want to find our Warren(s). We, also, thought it would be fundamentally unfair and counterproductive to the overall value of the system if the only way to rise up in the system was predicated on how many WINGS one possessed. Some say a good name is worth more than great wealth.

WINGS implements reputation systems for various tasks fundamental to the functioning of the system. One of those systems we call Forecast Rating or FR for short.

FR has several important and strategic functions. First, FR allows outsiders to identify our possible Warren(s) and have confidence in his track record because it is recorded directly on the Ethereum network. Second, FR is built into the WINGS rewards algorithm, which means our Warren(s) gets a boost the more he participates and is correct in his valuations. That allows our Supermind to build and preserve institutional knowledge, by rewarding historical performance and brand loyalty. Third, we posit that if there are such people as super forecasters, and we can use the valuation of ICO’s as a mechanism for identifying them, that they will excel at forecasting other kinds of decisions, hence WINGS does not allow DAO decision making to happen by ownership of WINGS but rather by the FR of our forecasting community. Hence, the more FR one has the more influence one will have when DAO governance starts to be introduced into the system. Fourth, FR serves to create a meritocratic system where even the youngest and poorest forecaster can gain reputation among the over 10,000 WINGS accounts on Ethereum.

Liquid Delegation

To amplify the power of the WINGS FR reputation system we plan to activate delegated forecasting in 2018. That means that a WINGS whale who might not have time to review every deal running through the system, or does not feel comfortable forecasting in certain industry sectors can delegate to others who have a proven reputation for performing well. The two parties can agree on a split of the rewards, and the delegate receives much of the FR while the delegator receives some FR for picking a good forecaster (or not if the forecaster proves to be a dud).

With such a system large holders of WINGS can create virtual organizations of analysts; perhaps they are people they simply find by scanning the FR tables or it may be actual employees at their firm. In either case, the system provides a secure and free market mechanism for allowing talented people from around the world to capitalize on their good reputation, while side-stepping issues of whale control.

The Supermind — Left Hemisphere

With all this in place we have the foundation of the analytical left brain of the WINGS system. At its’ core it rewards active forecasters with valuing an ICO and predicting its’ fund raising outcome. That data along with reputation scores can then be combined to provide valuation sentiment to projects for pricing their ICO correctly, for timing their ICO, and for determining if they need to improve their communications efforts.

More importantly for a global audience hungry to participate in blockchain projects it provides a transparent and accountable system to gauge a particular project’s ICO; whether it is social proof that comes from a friend who forecasts with her WINGS, or social proof in the forecasts made by well known WINGS holders like Fintech Blockchain Group or Bitmain and other VCs, or the wisdom of the crowd social proof early adopters who may not be technically savvy or simply lack time can rely on an accountable system for augmented valuation and other metrics (coming in 2018).

The Supermind —Right Hemisphere

The right side of the human brain is generally accepted as the more creative and sensory center involved in the emotions driving decision making. Many projects considering WINGS ask how can we measure the impact that WINGS community due diligence and valuation has on them getting funded. We can analyze as much as we want, but at some point something has to happen, or not.

For WINGS that something is whether an ICO is funded, or not. Hence, in 2018 we will introduce a system called Promotional Reputation or PR for short — essentially this is sensing and rewarding through a reputation system analogous to FR how much direct influence a forecaster has on the realization of funding of an ICO. Meaning that it acts as a proxy for measuring ability to influence decision making in the context of

The functional anatomy (neural correlates) of autonomy overlaps with the functional anatomy of our decision making processes. In order to compute the best possible outcomes and make the best possible decisions, the brain uses various systems for assessment including self assessment (where am I at?), contextual assessment (where are things at?) and feedback analysis (how am I doing?) Since self assessment in particular is such an important NH tool for self knowledge development, we shall be doing more of it in this tutorial.

We'll also look at how personality structuring is achieved and the mechanisms behind our mind's identification with itself as 'me' (self-awareness).

Investigating these processes reveals how our own ontology (our 'background' concepts of self and world) is as intrinsic in our creative structuring of personality as it is in our framing of reality and contexts; both essential variables in our decision making, judgment and successful interaction.

By the end of this tutorial you should have an overview of the brain structures involved in autonomy, decision making and the exercise of free will; and know the results of the most recent clinical observations and research. You should understand how self awareness contributes to autonomy, how counterfeit personalities occur, the relationship between self-knowledge and personal integrity, and why we have a golden rule stating, 'Know Yourself'.

Note for the curious: Whilst it it fine to read ahead in tutorials, it is not safe to do any of the exercises or hacks in the advanced section unless you have previously completed basics & intermediates tutorials. Most importantly it is vital to have a clear understanding of anxiety reduction, the difference between emotion and sentiment, and input control.

follow the right habit -independence

Definitions

Autonomy: independence or freedom, as of the will and one's interactions (from Greek 'autonomia': freedom to live by one's own governance)

Free will: Your 'will' is your wishes; your desires, your intent. If we are healthy, they may also be described as 'the intent of intelligence' in you as an independent organism.

Hopefully you know what 'free' means (although the word's origins reveal a lot of things [1]).

How natural autonomy unfolds

A state of ever-increasing independence (autonomy) in coordination with control & coordination (synergy) is necessary for our development to proceed.

Bonding assists our synergy on every level, and we also practice autonomy on different levels throughout our development. In the first instance, we seek independent control of our senses and our own bodily functions -that is our first level of autonomy; the most concrete level. The second is independent movement; locomotion and control of our muscular/skeletal systems until we are able to walk about, speak and feed ourselves.

Autonomy on every level requires a different (and increasingly complex) form of personal 'awareness-and-control' within each network being developed; eg; body-function independence requires sensorimotor awareness (proprioception) and control, locomotive independence comes with spatial awareness (kinesiology) and control, emotional independence comes with emotional/neurochemical awareness and control, and creative independence comes with psychological awareness and control.

Autonomy emerges out of our logic of differentiation between 'self' and 'other' as we become aware of the difference between subjective and objective experience and move towards independent rather than dependent behaviors as development progresses. We learn through experience how to walk for ourselves, speak for ourselves, create for ourselves and eventually think for ourselves (and so make informed choices for ourselves and solve problems for ourselves).

Or we should. All self control, self programming and self direction requires self awareness; an ever-increasing database of self knowledge. The integration of self knowledge with our knowledge of the rest of reality is what allows us to estimate probabilities for personal success and make informed decisions for ourselves.

Our biological intent pushes us to achieve autonomy on ever-more complex levels and expects us to develop sophisticated control of our bodies and minds. But to practise autonomy at all, we also need to be comfortable in and able to interact with our contexts for development.

Our contexts are the things we are designed as biological organisms to be interdependent with; such as our bodies, our group of allies (family/friends), our planet (food, water and oxygen), our culture, our minds, and reality with its unbreakable laws. These are the matrices for our development; we are not designed to function (or develop) without them. We in turn inevitably contribute to developing them as they help to develop us. This is interdependence, co-dependence or symbiosis, and it's how all healthy living creatures progress through life. We are independent entities who strive for autonomy, but we are never alone; we are always a part of the big picture; a participating character with complex relationships on every level in the game of life.

Interacting with, even bonding with, others does not mean that we lose our independence. In bonded relationships, we have interdependence which means individuals have autonomy of choice; they choose to cooperate for mutual benefit; not because of dependence. We join together to play a symphony, to play games, to share our skills and stories, but other abilities and aspects of our development, in particular self knowledge and the formation of a congruous personality, require that we also spend time developing ourselves as individuals.

It should be remembered that the ideal for biology is to be independent in all the areas we have the potential to be independent in, whilst at the same time interacting in those contexts and inter-dependencies which further our development.

Q – Are we naturally designed to thrive in mutually-supporting groups, or to thrive alone?

A – Both. You should expect this 'both' answer by now. We are designed to adapt ourselves to our context and our context to ourselves. We can thrive alone if circumstances demand that, but we can also adapt to thrive working together with others, and we thrive best when we are competent at both.

Remember that 'survival of the fittest' MEANS survival on the organisms that can best adapt to cope with ever changing circumstances (because that's what real life IS).

Autonomy is freedom to explore and play, which is how we learn. Learning provides two types of knowledge: knowledge as experience (procedures) and knowledge as information (facts). We learn both practical & theory.

Our knowledge base provides our abstract platform, the Known, our 'safe space from which to interact' psychologically just as surely as our brain provides our concrete platform for network development. And self-knowledge is a part of knowledge. From our overall knowledge we construct our ontology in accordance with our confidence in what we know, and from our self knowledge we construct our personality and calibrate our confidence in ourselves; our self esteem.

Autonomy requires healthy independence from things we should not be dependent on (such as counterfeit games or their rules, and anybody or anything used as support, in areas where we should be supporting ourselves) and an ability to independently assess & analyze ourselves, our contexts and our progress. Obviously these are all vital variables in our decision-making which cannot be truly autonomous until we are able to make up our own minds about things rather than just copying or blindly believing others.

Healthy independence means first we have the competence to take care of the needs of our own bodies, brains and minds; providing healthy input, creating healthy output and pursuing entelechy. Secondly we should be capable of taking care of our own behavior, thoughts and feelings not only for optimal interaction with others but because, due to feedback analysis, they form an inevitable part of our own input. And feedback analysis goes on all the time unconsciously.

We need the experience of surviving and thriving independently in order to develop and maintain an accurate awareness of our own competence and current development in the real world; a vital part of self-knowledge and responsible for our personal confidence. Just as we once had to learn to walk without dependence on others and feed ourselves without dependence on others, now we are supposed to learn to create for ourselves, think for ourselves, analyze for ourselves and calculate for ourselves without dependence on others.

For you – autonomy

At this stage in advanced NH, if we have prepared properly, practiced well and done things in the right order, we can expect some radical changes in our lives and one of these is the development of full autonomy. Although this change is certainly beneficial, the thing about radical change is that it changes our life radically.

We already know that autonomy is important for developing free will. Independent volitional behavior obviously requires independence. More importantly, in the formation of personality, autonomy changes who we are radically. It enables us to be more optimistic when facing the unknown, and more confident about the known. It changes how we see the world, other people, and our self. It boosts our self esteem, empowers us to form a congruous ontology and construct a healthy interactive personality based on our real identity. Through autonomy, we find ourselves 'directing a new life story' in which we can see reality through a wide-angle perspective as well as focus in on its multidimensional details, from our OWN point of view. From biology's pov, autonomy enables variation; one of the four main 'requirements for evolution through natural selection'.[2]

It is clear what variation does for evolution in general, but how does variation in individuals benefit us psychologically and intellectually? Where is the advantage in being different? Wouldn't we get along better as a species if we all believed and thought and liked and valued the same things instead of coming to radically different conclusions about reality and having to engage scientific argument to discover what the truth is? Shouldn't all smart people have the same ideas?

A Dougles Adams-inspired glance at reality reveals the evolutionary psychological advantages of individual human diversity in terms of our learning and adaptation through culture. Reality, it might logically be claimed, is relatively big. Quite a lot bigger than planets, it is large even when compared with galaxies and unimaginably enormous in comparison with things like our heads. Or our memories.

When one takes into consideration that reality contains the whole of time, space, matter and energy AND us with all our collective knowledge, and takes up a lot of dimensions, it becomes apparent that it harbors the possibility of being infinite; and even if this turns out not to be the case reality is still about as big and complex as things can get, as our concepts of size and complexity go. I mean it's life, the universe and everything...you know?

Brains, on the other hand are relatively small, easily-damaged, squishy little things which do not last for very long and probably have a finite memory capacity (even if we don't know what it is yet).

Planets such as the one on which we live are of course quite large in relation to our brains and quite small in relation to galaxies; that's probably your pov if you're a time lord or a thoughtful physicist, but on our human level of subjective, sensorimotor, emotional and psychological experience, the life of an organism on a planet (in short, biology), is what biology considers the really important bits of reality to be all about. Biology is automatically and innately aiming for entelechy within a dynamic equilibrium; via programs which have to pay attention to programs.

Life as sentient beings on planets is consequently quite complex, and none of us can possibly have enough lifetime to understand everything about reality (not even just this teeny, planet-sized bit of it which biology prioritizes). But if we all develop different yet compatible interests, we can grasp the basics and each of us can also hold some specialist knowledge and abilities which we can then come together and share for the solving of problems and for new invention, and pass our discoveries on to future generations.

Biology has (firstly) managed to get the evolutionary benefits of non-heritable adaptations (new learning & abilities) to be passed down generations in terms of our culture via mind's software, and (secondarily) also solved the issue of how new innovations are constantly introduced in such a system (without constant new input, the system will lose dynamic equilibrium). Biology solved these issues through autonomy; individualization; in creative and intellectual spheres; in ontology and personality; a constant source of new ideas emerges from a constant source of different and varied minds. We encounter this phenomenon in all complex dynamic network systems (such as weather, or in