Researcher reports 5-MeO-DMT cancels the Ebbinghaus visual illusion
A psychonaut at the Qualia Research Institute describes experiencing near-complete cancellation of a classic optical illusion while under the drug.
What to know
- A researcher at the Qualia Research Institute reported that 5-MeO-DMT appeared to cancel the Ebbinghaus visual illusion, a classical optical effect where surrounding circles make a central circle look larger than it is.
- The finding sits within QRI's broader thesis that exotic consciousness states reveal computational principles underlying perception and that psychedelics function as research tools for consciousness science.
- Hacker News commenters questioned whether the effect demonstrates genuine perceptual clarity or reflects altered attention and cognitive processing; several noted the illusion can also be reduced without drugs by focusing attention differently.
- The methodology—self-administered testing while under drug influence—drew criticism as not constituting rigorous science, with skeptics calling it a trip report rather than controlled research.
The dispute Whether the reported effect represents genuine perceptual clarity enabled by 5-MeO-DMT or merely a change in attention and context processing that does not require the drug. · positions read across 9 posts and comments
The study lacks rigor; self-testing under drug influence introduces too much bias to constitute science.
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“i don't believe this is good science. the test is self made by the subject while under the affect of the drug. the subject has a bias as well. this is a trip report.”
tim-star · Hacker News ↗
The illusion cancellation likely reflects altered attention or perception of context rather than genuine clarity of vision.
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“Maybe that's what the DMT is doing? ... perhaps it gives you tunnel vision (or tunnels your attention) such that you only "see" (or are paying attention to) the orange and blocking out the blue from your mind.”
cj · Hacker News ↗
The finding is plausible because psychedelics are known to alter brain communication and context-dependent perception.
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“my assumption is that psychedelics affect how different parts of the brain communicate. On that hypothesis, it doesnt really surprise me that illusions based on context clues are interpreted differently.”
bawolff · Hacker News ↗
Sasha Putilin Researcher, Qualia Research InstituteQualia Research Institute Nonprofit consciousness research organization
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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Commenters question methodology and alternative explanations emerge
Hacker News discussion raised multiple concerns: that the test was self-administered while under the drug's influence, introducing bias; that the effect could simply reflect attention/tunnel vision rather than perceptual clarity; and that anecdotal self-experimentation does not constitute rigorous science.
“i don't believe this is good science. the test is self made by the subject while under the affect of the drug. the subject has a bias as well. this is a trip report.”
— tim-star, Hacker News commenter · source -
This sentence, from the article, is one of the most conceptually broken sentences I have ever encountered: "Consciousness has useful computational properties — otherwise evolution would not have come to rely on it." If you grant evolution teleology, a serious chickenegg emerges, and the recursion shatters the "logic". And the other reading... how…
2 more of the top 3 · 9 posts in this stretch
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Some family recently visited from out of state and we went to Venice Beach, where there is now tons of stores selling “magic mushrooms” along the boardwalk.To my knowledge shrooms haven’t been legalized in California so I was curious what they sold (but not enough to try it). Turns out California state regulators have been surreptitiously testing…
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The "I measured my own susceptibility using an app I vibe-coded with GPT-5.6 Sol: I dragged a slider until the two circles appeared equal in size." is available on IA:
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Researcher publishes findings on psychedelic and visual illusion perception
The researcher published a detailed Substack essay describing the experience and framing it within QRI's broader hypothesis that consciousness has computational properties that can be studied through exotic mental states. The essay discusses how visual illusions serve as 'glitches' in normal perception that reveal underlying construction mechanisms.
“Visual illusions are interesting for a related reason: they are small tears in the fabric of normal perception — glitches that make it apparent that there is active construction going on underneath.”
— Author -
background
Researcher tests Ebbinghaus illusion perception while on 5-MeO-DMT — On the third day of exploring 5-MeO-DMT during the retreat, the author vaporized the drug in increments of approximately 3.4 mg, taking up to three doses within a one-hour window. While under the influence, they measured their susceptibility to the Ebbinghaus illusion using a custom app, dragging a slider until the two circles appeared equal in size.
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background
Qualia Research Institute conducts 8-week consciousness study in Mexico — The Qualia Research Institute, a nonprofit studying consciousness through exotic mental states, conducted an eight-week research retreat in Tepoztlán, Mexico. A team of physicists, mathematicians, visual artists, advanced meditators, philosophers, and rational psychonauts studied jhanas (deep meditative absorption states) and 5-MeO-DMT, a powerful psychedelic that is legal in Mexico.
What people are saying 6 voices from 1 site · best of 9 · verbatim
- Oct 30
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Well I guess I have to do the most powerful hallucinogen now. How else am I gonna save myself from the devious Ebbinghaus illusion?
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i find this whole blog very dubious, with apologies to the author.a bunch of people did psychedelics and then found that reality seemed more inclined to listen to their volition and respond to their intention or attention.this was an n of some small number, and the original person who reported it could not reproduce it.i don't believe this is good…
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my assumption is that psychedelics affect how different parts of the brain communicate.On that hypothesis, it doesnt really surprise me that illusions based on context clues are interpreted differently.
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> QRI is a non-profit building a new science of consciousness. Its central bet is that: Consciousness is a relatively simple property of our universe — simple enough for evolution to discover it. Consciousness has useful computational properties — otherwise evolution would not have come to rely on it.My brother, that is philosophical position, not…
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I can also eliminate the illusion by covering up the blue circles and only looking at the orange circles.Maybe that's what the DMT is doing? ... perhaps it gives you tunnel vision (or tunnels your attention) such that you only "see" (or are paying attention to) the orange and blocking out the blue from your mind.
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> But then I notice that when I move my attention to the centre of the picture — to the space between the two groups of circles — their apparent sizes begin to rebalance[...]This works for me without DMT.