I think Penrose is wrong - we're making good progress in understanding the underlying mechanisms for what we now call consciousness. We may have to give up using the word though, because it is so ill-defined.
You don't need drugs to get an out-of-body experience.
Real Out-of-Body Experiences - Scientific AmericanWe're Sorry - Scientific American
While on the SciAm site, the following article is interesting (focus on the research results rather than the author's views, which are endearingly atheistic). It hints that science may refute the god hypothesis indirectly by unconsciously nibbling away the foundations.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=never-say-die
There is no harm in doubt and skepticism, for it is through these that new discoveries are made - Richard Feynman
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