I'm not sure how best to do that, so perhaps I should just say, if any one has any questions for me regarding the story, some of the ideas in it, etc., I'll do my best to answer them. Best,
Tim
First off, I enjoyed your article. However, my biggest point of contention is with the suggestion that hallucinogenics can promote scientific discovery or fruitful hypotheses. I'll entertain that it may be possible, but I can't agree that it is probable. As a research scientist and as someone experienced, I can't imagine actually solving a difficult problem while tripping. On the contrary, based on my experience and talking with others, LSD tends to exaggerate the importance of minutia, and makes it difficult to balance the relative importance of components in a whole. In short, little things explode with importance. I can see how this might free up a new perspective, but IMHO creative thinkers do this as a matter of course anyway. You give Einstein's thinking almost as an example of the value of hallucinogenics, but to my knowledge, he broke ground without them. I'm all for investigation of hallucinogenics, and allowing people to ingest what they want, but would you agree that playing up the potential benefits of hallucinogenics might hinder a reasoned approach to them?
That said, there's no denying that plenty of people did and do have fairly profound, life-altering, solutions-garnering learning experiences simply by ingesting psychedelics (though, of course, they took substantial risks by doing this). It seems that "set" -- the personality and learning that we have, as well as our cultural background and expectations of what we can expect from the psychedelic experience -- play an entirely significant role in not just for the nature of a trip, but also for the creative process in general. In addition, the scientists or others attempting to use psychedelics for creativity seem to have to really be strongly motivated to solve the specific problems they work on prior to ingestion. The scientists in James Fadiman's study were primed to believe they would be better problem solvers through the use of psychedelics. (Or course, by today's standards of study, the proper way to do this would have a control group and variable, give both this sort of encouragement and only one the psychedelics. It'd be a great study -- but, good luck with the approval process.) Art and science are not so dissimilar as they are often made out to be. They both rely upon many of the same sources for effective creation: the ability to imagine new possibilities, to establish parameters for those possibilities and then to run that initial spark through those parameters, and to (often painstakingly) repair and tweak and redact and surge and try again -- until, if successful, a certain flow based on logic, aesthetics, the properties of electricity, etc. has been established. There are no shortages of innovators in the humanities and the hard sciences that have spoken about the positive influence of psychedelics on their respective projects. To that end, I want to quote some tech innovators in a roundabout fashion. A friend gave me a new book by Stanislav Grof, who probably guided more people on legal psychedelic trips than anybody in the world, called Healing Our Deepest Wounds. I randomly opened it up before bed last night to p.222, and found that he was speaking about a book I'd cited in my story, What the Dormouse Said, written by NYT tech reporter John Markoff. What follows is going to be me, retyping Grof who's speaking about Markoff who is quoting some incredibly influential innovators situated in what would become Silicon Valley. (This is hardly what I would do for an article, but hopefully it works here.) "Douglas Engelbart, who invented the computer mouse, also explored and experimented with psychedelic drugs. Kevin Herbert, who worked for Cisco Systems in the early days, once said: 'When I'm on LSD and hearing something that's pure rhythm, it takes me to another world and into another brain state where I've stopped thinking and started knowing.' Mark Pesce, the co-inventor of virtual reality's coding language, VRML, agreed that there is a definite relationship between chemical mind expansion and advances in computer technology: 'To a man and a woman, the people behind virtual reality were acidheads.'" So okay, none of this proves definitely that LSD -- or some other psychedelic -- led directly to virtual reality software and aesthetics. But can't we agree that something interesting seems to be going on here, and wouldn't it be great if researchers were allowed to run rigorously peer-reviewed studies to explore what that something was?
Yes, I can agree that 'something interesting' is going on, and that controlled investigation would be a worthy thing. I also strongly agree that art and science aren't so different, -at least the best of both. As for myself, I was intent on art school before I switched to physics. The best scientists I know are creative outside of their research. I'm keenly interested in breaking boundaries, and original perspectives, and I found that LSD did give me some of both. However, I've long been wary of the culture of 'drop out and tune in' that seems attached to psychedelics, particularly the 'drop out' part. Creating the computer mouse is not dropping out. IMHO squares can be some of the trippiest people around, and full engagement with them can reveal as much as any shaman. As a result, I am wary of polluting something like LSD with unnecessary baggage, especially the kind that skeptics would use to dismiss it. But, reading your response, I am left with the impression that we aren't too far apart in our thinking. Thanks for taking the time.
I love what you said about jumping from art school to physics, and about scientists whose dreams are bigger than one particular field of research. And about "squares" too. I mean, I really value my seasonal, ritualistic gatherings in the woods, during which nonordinary states of consciousness are achieved through a variety of methods. But far more of my year is spent surrounded by too many books, parsing the words of others and trying to spit out a few of my own. You don't have to drink the Kool Aid, electric or otherwise, to advocated for the intelligent use of psychedelic substances. Also, feel free to continue this thread here, or to email me at alchemicalfix@gmail.com. Really awesome swapping thoughts with you,
Tim
Same here. That's basically why I started this place: to let ideas flow as they should. I did enjoy your writing. Definitely drop a link to any more words that you happen to spit out. :) IMHO the common webiquette of only sharing 'that which you didn't create' is nonsense. We are obsessed with external validation, and it's got to start swinging the other way. Btw I'm not sure if you've read any Carl Sagan, but I recall him writing about LSD in a fairly reverent way. If I remember correctly, I think it was in Broca's Brain, which is a fantastic book. I can be reached at markkat at gmail, or here, of course. I'm wondering if any of those methods you mention ever included non-chemical ones. My late teens coincided with a great techno scene in Detroit, and we used to go to the warehouses and dance for several hours to minimalistic pumping techno music. Even when I was completely clean I could end up in a pretty altered state by 4am. -Mark
Mark: I just ordered Broca's Brain and will happily add it to the, like, 30+ titles I'm currently reading. I couldn't agree more with you that pumping beats and bods can be a portal to an altered state. (And lucky you, the Detroit scene had such a good rep for ecstatic ritual.) In a preface to a book about E and the rave scene, Douglas Rushkoff writes about the dance floor and the "loved-up" feeling and how everyone became part of something big and collective, like the cells of coral reef. While he was talking about both dance and drug, I have most certainly experienced Coral Reef Awareness with only dance. Actually, for a few months, I've been mulling over a story on a particular style of dance and its effects on body, brain and community. I can't yet speak in specifics as I haven't mentioned the idea to the person I hope to write about, who teaches and dances this ass-shaking magic.
If psychedelics work so well for people who are quite sick, needless to say, they will work for those of us who are relatively healthy, too. I do not think that, of all the healthy people in the world, only elite researchers should be granted legal access to psychedelics. It seems that to legalize all psychedelics tomorrow might be a bit of a leap for our society today. But there is international precedent for reasonable polices that can begin to at least remove the unjust and draconian penalties associated with psychedelic drug use, such as the decriminalization measures adopted 11 years ago in Portugal. (Note: decriminalization is not the same as legalization). http://www.businessinsider.com/portugal-drug-policy-decrimin... As to what happens after tomorrow: If you're interested, I could probably find links and such to some of the more visionary thinkers who posit how of psychedelics could be safely integrated into Western societies - including the recurring idea to legalize regional facilities where people are carefully screened and then permitted to experience guided psychedelic voyages.
I don't think you over-glamorized the experience but rather talked about the potential advantages of simply taking the benefits seriously. Nobody takes it seriously, everyone assumes that because it is lumped in to the category of "illegal drugs", it must have only detrimental effects. We know that this is not the case. nice work, I hope a lot of people read this.
Sounds like a typical feat. Useful, accurate or original? Not an amazing feat on its own. Sounds like a typical feat. Sounds like a typical feat. Sounds like a typical feat. Blueprints for a house and a shopping plaza... Sounds like a typical feat, but a very vague one. This kind of stuff also bothers me: This is pulling trippy-sounding parts out of scientific findings that are based in experiment and observation. It takes a creative mind to create some brilliant hypotheses, but this paragraph indicates endearment, not understanding. This is artistic license. Finally, this drives me nuts: No. Going to the moon is infinitely more interesting and rewarding. I am all for allowing people to take psychoactive drugs, but I think it's dishonest to put it on such a pedestal. I'm sure that if alcohol was such a forbidden fruit, endless arguments about its transformative powers could be made.a mathematical theorem for NOR gate circuits
a conceptual model of a photon
a linear electron accelerator beam-steering device
a new design for the vibratory microtome
a technical improvement of the magnetic tape recorder
blueprints for a private residency and an arts-and-crafts shopping plaza
a space probe experiment designed to measure solar properties.
Though scientists are more typically seen as killers of myth, not its creators, Einstein and many of his more visionary contemporaries sound as trippy as any of yesterday’s mystics. They say that the time-space continuum warps like the surface of a trampoline. They say that we are stardust. That there is no “in the beginning.” That things are not things at all, but relations. That the observer tweaks the observed, at least on a sub-atomic level, just by observing.
Under the right circumstances, these psychic dérives are far less dangerous than, say, a lunar landing, and may ultimately prove as rewarding, if not more so.
The most important thing is to be enthusiastic about the amazing thing that you are going to do. It's somewhat awesome to let your subconscious seep a bit through the cracks and bleed into the waking world. You might have incredible incites into that what makes you who your are, you might see the world as a system of incredible complexity in a way that you never imagined, or you might laugh your ass off. The attitude you go into these types of experiences largely dictates or colors the experience you have. If you go into the thing with excited butterfly's eager to engage in the novel and wonderment that is your brain you will find the experience pretty enjoyable.
- I'd say it's best not to scare people with advice on how do deal with or avoid bad trips
- If you are lying to yourself about anything in your life, you can expect to be reminded of it.
Your comments about the old girlfriend are exactly the kind of thing I was thinking about there.
- The cause(s) of HPPD are not yet known. The most current neurological research indicates that HPPD symptoms may manifest from abnormalities in CNS function, following hallucinogen use.[5][6][7] One theory derived from this research is that inhibitory mechanisms involved with sensory gating are disrupted.[8]
In some cases, HPPD appears to have a sudden onset after a single drug experience, strongly suggesting the drug played a direct role in triggering symptoms.
That would be awful. I've only had one experience that I considered to be a flashback, and I was going without very much sleep at the time.
It was very visual for me. A few times years ago. I don't regret it, but I don't think I'm better off either.
The researcher profiled in the article has a wiki associated with his book, with a manual for creating ideal tripping situations. It looks like it's probably taken straight from the book, perhaps with some light editing since it's on a wiki. I also recommend reading some trip reports over on Erowid. (These are also great for curious bystanders who don't feel they need first-hand experience.) Knowing how people's trips can vary, sometimes widely, can avoid the trap of thinking something terrible and dangerous is happening in your own if things don't seem to be going the direction you expected. While I'm at it, I might as well throw in a link to the last chapter of Hoffman's book, "LSD: My Problem Child", where he talks about what he learned from acid.I am often asked what has made the deepest impression upon me in my LSD experiments, and whether I have arrived at new understandings through these experiences.
http://www.metrosantacruz.com/metro-santa-cruz/01.28.09/feat...
I'm also curious what other illegalities you've been tempted towards because of your time on Hubski? I have recently been tempted to pirate Game of Thrones. I bet it would be even more fun to watch on acid.
Actually, Hubski rarely makes me want to do anything more illegal than, say, trespassing on abandoned old buildings.
- Actually, Hubski rarely makes me want to do anything more illegal than, say, trespassing on abandoned old buildings.