So you’re telling me that Jacobo Grinberg disappeared after trying to understand reality itself December 1994 - 48 years old - Mexican neuroscientist and psychologist one of the most controversial researchers in consciousness studies background - born in Mexico City in 1946 into a Jewish family - decides to study the human mind after his mother dies of cancer at a young age - studies psychology at UNAM - later completes a master’s degree in New York - earns a PhD in neurophysiology back in Mexico - founds multiple research labs focused on brain activity and perception - publishes over 50 books combining neuroscience, consciousness and shamanism - studies both scientific data and subjective human experience his obsession - understanding how reality is actually constructed inside the brain 1970s-1990s his work evolves - studies brain responses to geometric patterns and perception - begins exploring telepathy and inter-brain communication experiments - documents so-called “psychic surgeries” and altered states of consciousness this leads to the Syntérgic Theory core idea - reality is not directly perceived, it is constructed - the brain interacts with a fundamental field of information - he calls it “the Lattice” the brain - does not see reality directly - it distorts and interprets this field - generating what we experience as the world implication - reality is not “out there” - it is being generated continuously - consciousness it is actively shaping what exists years before his disappearance - becomes increasingly focused on meditation and altered states - plans a trip to Tibet to study advanced consciousness practices December 8, 1994 - disappears - his car is found - his belongings remain days later - misses his own birthday - family realizes something is wrong - disappearance officially reported 1995 investigation - led by agent Ricardo Peralta - discovers irregularities - labs appear partially emptied - research material missing or erased - investigation faces obstacles no clear conclusion and a question how far can you go trying to understand reality before you disappear from it