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The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World
Can psychedelic drugs help us tackle the biggest problems we face globally? Can they heal the cultural, spiritual, and political wounds we’re wrestling with?
Psychedelics have hit the mainstream as powerful new mental health treatments. But as clinicians explore what these molecules can do for our individual minds, The Bigger Picture goes further to illuminate how psychedelics can help us find new ways to make sense of and come through the crises we face around the world.
Drawing on the latest research, as well as his unique experience as a participant in a ground-breaking clinical trial investigating the potent psychedelic DMT, Alexander Beiner reveals:
Embark on a journey into The Bigger Picture – a new era of science and spirituality with the potential to radically transform our perceptions of ourselves, one another, and our life on this planet.
Psychedelics have hit the mainstream as powerful new mental health treatments. But as clinicians explore what these molecules can do for our individual minds, The Bigger Picture goes further to illuminate how psychedelics can help us find new ways to make sense of and come through the crises we face around the world.
Drawing on the latest research, as well as his unique experience as a participant in a ground-breaking clinical trial investigating the potent psychedelic DMT, Alexander Beiner reveals:
Embark on a journey into The Bigger Picture – a new era of science and spirituality with the potential to radically transform our perceptions of ourselves, one another, and our life on this planet.
292 pages, Paperback
Published June 13, 2023
58 people are currently reading
420 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Beiner
3 books8 followersAlexander Beiner is an author and journalist. His book 'The Bigger Picture: How psychedelics can help us make sense of the world' has been hailed as 'the most important book on psychedelics to come about in a long while' (David Jay Brown), and 'a convincingly argued, deeply thought-provoking and beautifully written book' (Graham Hancock) which "presents a compelling and nuanced argument as to why psychedelic science could change the world for the better." (Prof. Robin Carhart-Harris).
He's an executive director of Breaking Convention, a UK charity which hosts one of the world's largest conferences on psychedelic science and culture. He also runs a popular Substack, The Bigger Picture, where he writes about popular culture, AI, psychedelics and systems change. You can read more about his work on alexanderbeiner.com.
He's an executive director of Breaking Convention, a UK charity which hosts one of the world's largest conferences on psychedelic science and culture. He also runs a popular Substack, The Bigger Picture, where he writes about popular culture, AI, psychedelics and systems change. You can read more about his work on alexanderbeiner.com.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 26, 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed this book so devoured it in 5-days. I’ve read quite a few books on psychedelics from “How to Change Your Mind” by Michael Pollan , to “The Psychedelic Experience” by Timothy Leary, “The Doors of Perception” and “Heaven and Hell” by Aldous Huxley, and this was a very unique read.
Ali has a very engaging writing style and he truly takes the reader on a journey, with vivid descriptions of his own psychedelic experiences but also a neat summary as you progress through the book, to recap on what has been covered and where we are headed. I quite liked that as a writing style and felt it was a good way to keep the reader engaged. Ali outlines that we are — whether we like it or not — all on a psychedelic journey, in so much as they’re slowly becoming mainstream as billions pours into research and efforts to de schedule them as illegal substances, with the aim of using them for healing and wellbeing. However, he rightly points out the dangers of doing so and how the profit motive all so often pollutes. It is essential psychedelics are respected and used in the right way, with correct set (mindset), setting, dose, support, and integration, whether for recreational use, spiritual insights & connection, or healing. There are very real dangers associated with the drugs if any of these elements are not respected.
Ali covers a lot of ground, from the psychological, mystical and theological aspects of psychedelics, to — as may be expected — questioning the very nature of being and reality, of consciousness itself. Many of these things we don’t truly understand but it’s important to cover the ground. Any analysis of psychedelics should draw upon the work of prominent Swiss psychologist & psychotherapist Carl G Jung, who Ali refers to frequently throughout the book. Jung is famed for his study of dreams and his own mind — published in The Black Books as well as Liber Novus (the Red Book) — within which he details the findings of his years of self analysis of his own mind through dreams. This was a process that bordered on madness and we must understand the perils of peering into our own minds and the darkness that resides in the subconscious, and - in Jungian psychology - what’s referred to as “the shadow”. This is the repressed aspects of our mind that we all must work upon and seek to integrate to become whole and balanced humans. Psychedelics can help us do this but with the right framing, care and attention. I’ve experienced Shadow work with Ali, on personal growth weekend intensives that he previously run with David Fuller, who he mentions in the book. This free upon his extensive training and knowledge around the field of Jung’s work and integration (it did not include psychedelic use). Making this connection to Jung is, I believe, an essential part of the narrative around safe and positive psychedelic use, but — like the author — I am concerned that the profit motive will cloud these issues and lead to misuse and problems. Changing public perceptions around taboo areas like drug usage becomes eminently more challenging when there is misuse and profiteering. Ali is also right to draw the readers attention to the ceremonial usage of these ‘plant medicines’ within indigenous cultures throughout the world and the need to be respectful towards them and their origins rather than the all too common exploitation .
All in all, this is a well researched and interesting book that was both enjoyable and educational.
Ali has a very engaging writing style and he truly takes the reader on a journey, with vivid descriptions of his own psychedelic experiences but also a neat summary as you progress through the book, to recap on what has been covered and where we are headed. I quite liked that as a writing style and felt it was a good way to keep the reader engaged. Ali outlines that we are — whether we like it or not — all on a psychedelic journey, in so much as they’re slowly becoming mainstream as billions pours into research and efforts to de schedule them as illegal substances, with the aim of using them for healing and wellbeing. However, he rightly points out the dangers of doing so and how the profit motive all so often pollutes. It is essential psychedelics are respected and used in the right way, with correct set (mindset), setting, dose, support, and integration, whether for recreational use, spiritual insights & connection, or healing. There are very real dangers associated with the drugs if any of these elements are not respected.
Ali covers a lot of ground, from the psychological, mystical and theological aspects of psychedelics, to — as may be expected — questioning the very nature of being and reality, of consciousness itself. Many of these things we don’t truly understand but it’s important to cover the ground. Any analysis of psychedelics should draw upon the work of prominent Swiss psychologist & psychotherapist Carl G Jung, who Ali refers to frequently throughout the book. Jung is famed for his study of dreams and his own mind — published in The Black Books as well as Liber Novus (the Red Book) — within which he details the findings of his years of self analysis of his own mind through dreams. This was a process that bordered on madness and we must understand the perils of peering into our own minds and the darkness that resides in the subconscious, and - in Jungian psychology - what’s referred to as “the shadow”. This is the repressed aspects of our mind that we all must work upon and seek to integrate to become whole and balanced humans. Psychedelics can help us do this but with the right framing, care and attention. I’ve experienced Shadow work with Ali, on personal growth weekend intensives that he previously run with David Fuller, who he mentions in the book. This free upon his extensive training and knowledge around the field of Jung’s work and integration (it did not include psychedelic use). Making this connection to Jung is, I believe, an essential part of the narrative around safe and positive psychedelic use, but — like the author — I am concerned that the profit motive will cloud these issues and lead to misuse and problems. Changing public perceptions around taboo areas like drug usage becomes eminently more challenging when there is misuse and profiteering. Ali is also right to draw the readers attention to the ceremonial usage of these ‘plant medicines’ within indigenous cultures throughout the world and the need to be respectful towards them and their origins rather than the all too common exploitation .
All in all, this is a well researched and interesting book that was both enjoyable and educational.
July 1, 2024
i only really liked chapter 4 but bonus star for so many johns hopkins mentions and for using miss val’s lab’s research
July 24, 2023
Outstanding book! Inspiring and compelling look back and forward.
Beiner is a deeply knowledgeable, experienced, inspiring and articulate guide on this detailed and heartfelt consideration of psychedelics at this particular time in our journey on this planet. While he does present many interesting studies, quotes, and both personal and historical anecdotes, he ties all those things beautifully into the present tense and the options/opportunities - and challenges - we have before us in the here and now. Highly recommended.
Beiner is a deeply knowledgeable, experienced, inspiring and articulate guide on this detailed and heartfelt consideration of psychedelics at this particular time in our journey on this planet. While he does present many interesting studies, quotes, and both personal and historical anecdotes, he ties all those things beautifully into the present tense and the options/opportunities - and challenges - we have before us in the here and now. Highly recommended.
August 18, 2023
This was an excellent book. Beiner provides an interesting perspective on the causes and possible solutions of the Big Crisis. He argues that psychadelics can be an integral part of working towards solutions, as they can allow us to expand our frames of how we view the world. He is careful to not describe psychadelics through "rose-colored glasses". He mentions some of the possible drawbacks and possible issues of psychadelic use. One of which is allowing them to enter a capitalist framework without considering the possible side effects. The cultural framing within which one takes psychadelics can influence their experience with them.
An interesting point that he makes is that the decrease religious influence over many people has left a vacuum in meaning which has caused many people have no sense of purpose. The capitalist framework has taken advantage of this general trend, providing people with "a purpose" of simply obtaining more and more things. There was a very interesting discussion of Moloch, as a god who is behind the incentive structure of capitalism. This was an intriguing framing of many of the issues with capitalism that I have considered before.
He describes how psychadelic use can lead to a person having a perspective that the universe at large is far more interconnected than it may seem. Beiner describes some theories of the fundamental nature of the universe, including the Gnostic tradition, physicalism, and various others. These provide quite interesting perspectives of how one can view reality.
Overall, this is an excellent book that I would recommend to essentially anyone.
An interesting point that he makes is that the decrease religious influence over many people has left a vacuum in meaning which has caused many people have no sense of purpose. The capitalist framework has taken advantage of this general trend, providing people with "a purpose" of simply obtaining more and more things. There was a very interesting discussion of Moloch, as a god who is behind the incentive structure of capitalism. This was an intriguing framing of many of the issues with capitalism that I have considered before.
He describes how psychadelic use can lead to a person having a perspective that the universe at large is far more interconnected than it may seem. Beiner describes some theories of the fundamental nature of the universe, including the Gnostic tradition, physicalism, and various others. These provide quite interesting perspectives of how one can view reality.
Overall, this is an excellent book that I would recommend to essentially anyone.
July 12, 2023
Alexander explores a variety of concepts emerging out of his former podcast/journalist project Rebel Wisdom that all point at, explore, and attempt to potentially address the "meta-crisis" as well as psychedelics in general, all through the lens of wondering where/how psychedelics fit into addressing that meta-crisis through how they might fit into a transformation of how we make sense of the world.
These concepts are couched/sewn together with reports of his experiences of DMTx (extended-state DMT). He was one of the first people in the world to experience it as a part of research being done in England. His DMTx stories work both as islands of both personal narrative and experiential reference points for linking psychedelics and psychedelic experiences to the concepts he is presenting. Also, his stories of what happened in the DMTx were very cool.
The early part of the book has a lot of things that are likely to be review for anyone well-read on psychedelic research, but its evident that this serves to build an important foundation for the rest of the book, which presents several fresh and interesting ideas and perspective on psychedelics’ role in the modern world.
The writing is easy to understand despite rather complex topics, and at times rather beautiful. It mostly has a journalist tone, although at times also very poetic.
I very much enjoyed it, felt like I got a lot out of it, and highly would recommend it to anyone curious about where psychedelics can fit in the modern world beyond the limited scope of medicalization.
These concepts are couched/sewn together with reports of his experiences of DMTx (extended-state DMT). He was one of the first people in the world to experience it as a part of research being done in England. His DMTx stories work both as islands of both personal narrative and experiential reference points for linking psychedelics and psychedelic experiences to the concepts he is presenting. Also, his stories of what happened in the DMTx were very cool.
The early part of the book has a lot of things that are likely to be review for anyone well-read on psychedelic research, but its evident that this serves to build an important foundation for the rest of the book, which presents several fresh and interesting ideas and perspective on psychedelics’ role in the modern world.
The writing is easy to understand despite rather complex topics, and at times rather beautiful. It mostly has a journalist tone, although at times also very poetic.
I very much enjoyed it, felt like I got a lot out of it, and highly would recommend it to anyone curious about where psychedelics can fit in the modern world beyond the limited scope of medicalization.
August 29, 2023
There are so many interesting thoughts in this book and so many things that gave me Aha moments. I will summarize a range below. The only trouble that I sometimes had is that some of the most interesting points for me were hidden in a sub-optimal structure:
- we are in the age of chaos and fragmentation: from global warming to political polarisation, geopolitical instability and the mental health crisis. Insights as well as the cognitive and emotional capacities we develop through psychedelic experience can help us make sense of what’s going on around us.
- a psychedelic gold rush is on the way and the complex transformative experience of psychedelic is hitting the realities of capitalist market forces. Psychedelics are being framed as exciting new mental health drugs rather than agents of social transformation.
- Psychedelics are reframing agents and associated with neuroplasticity. They break us out of fixed, rigid ways of seeing ourselves and the world
- We are living in a meaning crisis. Nietsche talked about the death of god and once you remove the deeper architecture of spiritual belief from society, you leave a gap that will inevitably be filled by things you didn't expect. The current paradigm that has become dominant is that of materialism / physicalism which reduce mystical experiences to matter.
- One of the most significant ways in which psychedelic could change culture is by combining them with big-picture practices. Currently, we mainly combine them with psychotherapy or ceremonial practices. What would happen if we combined them with the same practices that help us make sense of complexity? Currently, there's a lot of research pointing towards how we might use psychedelics to increase connectedness and conflict-resolution processes in a sustainable way.
- The internet can be compared to the DMT space, a space with different rules and free from the regular constraints that govern social life, relationships and self-identity. The internet has become our collective imaginal. It exists between our imaginations and physical reality. But we are also living in the age of breach and occasionally a collective intelligence that has formed online breaches into the physical world (e.g. storming of the US capitol).
- As secular cultures don't value spiritual experience in many ways, psychotherapy has come to play the role of religious intermediary in the West. It is no surprise that psychedelic medicalisation has received far more attention than ceremonial practice. A consequence here though is that of the medicalisation of the psychedelic and psychedelics have therefore been framed as individual experiences mediated by one-to-one therapy.
- A critique of psychedelic capitalism - which has become a common paradigm with the influx of pharma companies and investment in the space - is the commoditization of the sacred. Some are talking about the psychedelic Trojan horse which is the notion that psychedelic scan be snuck into our existing system in the container of medicalization and for-profit pharma.
- If people are forced to access psychedelic experiences through a purely medical model, many people might not be able to afford it. There's a serious risk of underground therapy.
- Ultimately to increase adoption of psychedelic, it might be easier to bring it into some existing religious framework than to create new religions from scratch.
- we are in the age of chaos and fragmentation: from global warming to political polarisation, geopolitical instability and the mental health crisis. Insights as well as the cognitive and emotional capacities we develop through psychedelic experience can help us make sense of what’s going on around us.
- a psychedelic gold rush is on the way and the complex transformative experience of psychedelic is hitting the realities of capitalist market forces. Psychedelics are being framed as exciting new mental health drugs rather than agents of social transformation.
- Psychedelics are reframing agents and associated with neuroplasticity. They break us out of fixed, rigid ways of seeing ourselves and the world
- We are living in a meaning crisis. Nietsche talked about the death of god and once you remove the deeper architecture of spiritual belief from society, you leave a gap that will inevitably be filled by things you didn't expect. The current paradigm that has become dominant is that of materialism / physicalism which reduce mystical experiences to matter.
- One of the most significant ways in which psychedelic could change culture is by combining them with big-picture practices. Currently, we mainly combine them with psychotherapy or ceremonial practices. What would happen if we combined them with the same practices that help us make sense of complexity? Currently, there's a lot of research pointing towards how we might use psychedelics to increase connectedness and conflict-resolution processes in a sustainable way.
- The internet can be compared to the DMT space, a space with different rules and free from the regular constraints that govern social life, relationships and self-identity. The internet has become our collective imaginal. It exists between our imaginations and physical reality. But we are also living in the age of breach and occasionally a collective intelligence that has formed online breaches into the physical world (e.g. storming of the US capitol).
- As secular cultures don't value spiritual experience in many ways, psychotherapy has come to play the role of religious intermediary in the West. It is no surprise that psychedelic medicalisation has received far more attention than ceremonial practice. A consequence here though is that of the medicalisation of the psychedelic and psychedelics have therefore been framed as individual experiences mediated by one-to-one therapy.
- A critique of psychedelic capitalism - which has become a common paradigm with the influx of pharma companies and investment in the space - is the commoditization of the sacred. Some are talking about the psychedelic Trojan horse which is the notion that psychedelic scan be snuck into our existing system in the container of medicalization and for-profit pharma.
- If people are forced to access psychedelic experiences through a purely medical model, many people might not be able to afford it. There's a serious risk of underground therapy.
- Ultimately to increase adoption of psychedelic, it might be easier to bring it into some existing religious framework than to create new religions from scratch.
December 11, 2024
The personal stories of DMT trips were fascinating, but the really neat part of this book is the author's emphasis on the importance of the cultural setting for the possibility of lasting change (due to psychedelics, meditation, or other means). Beiner explores why it's so common for people to experience a radical and meaningful shift in perspective only to 're-enter' our capitalist, fractured society and return to old patterns. I also appreciated his insistence that the online world of social media should be treated as a genuine place with its own norms, its own implicit expectations for kinds of interactions, and its own standards for argumentative structures.
February 17, 2025
Second time reading this one. I recommended it to a friend, so I thought I'd give it another read. The author does a really good job of describing why some of the larger problems that we're facing are going to require a change in who we are to solve, which is why we can't just brute force our way through with science and technology. We need to look at things differently, possibly without the lenses -- reductionism, materialism, or dualism -- that we're so used to using. Psychedelics can help with that transition.
May 19, 2024
In the first part of this book, I underlined almost every word, but as it got deeper in, I began to lose interest as it became sort of repetitive, in my opinion. This book was overall enjoyable, and I did enjoy all of the different perspectives on consciousness throughout this book. The book also had quite a good amount of reputable sources and insight from leaders in Psychadelic research.
October 22, 2024
It seems at this point that books on psychedelics are only adding one or two new points or concepts. This book delivers a couple of new points on the topic but is not earth-shattering by any stretch.
That is not to say that I do not appreciate the author's personal experience with the topic, I do.
That is not to say that I do not appreciate the author's personal experience with the topic, I do.
July 29, 2023
Very well worth the read. Gives a much more nuanced picture of psychedelics and how we can use it in broader society. It's a nice follow-up to Michael Pollan's "how to change your mind"
January 9, 2024
A fantastic read that somehow binds psychedelics, socio-cultural critique and philosophy of science into a digestible, coherent narrative.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews