Josh Lipson

Poet Historian Psychotechnologist

I'm a PhD candidate in clinical psychology (research and practice), based in New York.

I focus on spirituality and its clinical implications, as well as psychedelics and the range of nonordinary states of consciousness they produce. Can we leverage the "gratuitous grace" of psychedelic chemistry to make people feel more whole, and more at home in the universe? Can we do it humbly? Seeking thoughtful collaborations in this space.

Broadly, I'm interested in meaning-making, phenomenology of consciousness, the interplay between "nebulosity" and "pattern", antifragility, predictive processing, "preconquest consciousness" and "the breakdown of the bicameral mind", and examining today's idioms of distress in cross-cultural context.

I have an undergraduate background in the humanities, and am passionate about relating to human civilizational expression across space and time, in a full-bodied way. Ask me about Şeb-i Arus, bossa nova, Semitic grammar, or the Austronesian migrations. I'm a semi-amateur historian, with a focus on Jewish affairs, ideas, and genes from the Iron Age to the 20th century.

I speak enough Hebrew, Spanish, Arabic, and Portuguese to get me both into and out of trouble, and I also write poems and songs.

Here's my Substack. You can also find me on LinkedIn or Google Scholar.