I love talking with scientists, especially those who wrestle with the philosophical – and even existential - implications of what they research. So, catnip for me is a neuroscientist trying to understand the relationship between what’s happening in our brains and how we find meaning in the world.That’s why Christof Koch fascinates me. In the 1990s, he and his mentor, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Francis Crick, pioneered the science of consciousness. Christof went on to teach at Caltech and then became the chief scientific officer at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. His lifelong search for the neural basis of consciousness has also been a deeply personal journey. Christof grew up a devout Roman Catholic, and though he lost his faith in God, he still has a powerful yearning for a spiritual life. For Christof, exploring the hidden corners of the mind has never just been a lab project; it’s also taken him down some unexpected paths.
I first interviewed Christof more than a decade ago, and since then we’ve talked a number of times. Recently, I discovered that he’s had a few mind-blowing experiences with psychedelics, including 5-MeO-DMT – so-called “toad venom.” At first, he was hesitant to talk about these experiences on the radio, but then he opened up. We had an unforgettable conversation.
“I'm grateful I had this experience, but it's totally terrifying. You inhale the substance, and then within 5 to 10 seconds, everything becomes black,” he said. “And the last thing I remember, I said, "Holy [xxxx], what have I got myself into here?” Christof tells this remarkable story in the latest episode of Luminous, our series on psychedelics. I hope you’ll get a chance to listen!
-Steve