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I take illegal drugs for inspiration

susanblackmore.co.uk

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Re: I take illegal drugs for inspiration

#91

Post by Evgeny »

jawngee wrote: post #33
melvinram wrote: post #11

I just don't buy it. IMHO, saying that using drugs to get to ideas/inspiration is like saying a wheelchair can help you get from one place to another even though your limbs are perfectly adequate. Maybe it'll help you get here but you could have gotten there without it. If you like to get high, don't make excuses for it. Just admit to yourself that you like to get high. People who like to go to strip clubs don't say…

You're wrong. And your metaphors are wrong. Some people like to eat for the taste, not the sustenance. Some people like to get high for the shift in perspective, not to get high. Some people like to drink wine for the taste, not to get sauced. And some people do go to strip clubs for non-standard reasons. When I was going through my nude photography hobby phase, I went for inspiration and ideas. Of course, I met my w…

If you haven't done drugs, then you can't really comment on them. That would be like me having a strong opinion on a topic I've never studied or have practical experience with. In fact, probably everything you know about drugs is wrong.

That doesn't sound right. What if I put it this way:

"If you haven't got cancer then you can't really comment on it. In fact, probably everything you know about cancer is wrong."

But in fact cancer is being studied by people who don't have it - should they not be allowed to comment on it?

Re: I take illegal drugs for inspiration

#92

Post by zoomzoom »

araneae wrote: post #23
Alex3917 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I'm not sure I would want to be married to someone I could only stand because I took drugs." That's not how it works. The drugs allow you to explore feelings that you're otherwise not able to explore, and work through whatever emotional roadblocks you're having with your partner. Essentially it lets you find the source of your anxiety and problems, when normally you'd just be really anxious and unhappy all the time…

>That's not how it works. How do you know how it works? It's possible it doesn't, but release of vasopressin in the brain is responsible for bonding behavior i.e. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v365/n6446/abs/365545a0... On the other hand, there's no evidence for all this "exploring feelings" stuff.

I don't know how much of anything in the brain works, but I bet that something as complex as bonding is tied to more than one thing.

Re: I take illegal drugs for inspiration

#93

Post by zoomzoom »

araneae wrote: post #23
Alex3917 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I'm not sure I would want to be married to someone I could only stand because I took drugs." That's not how it works. The drugs allow you to explore feelings that you're otherwise not able to explore, and work through whatever emotional roadblocks you're having with your partner. Essentially it lets you find the source of your anxiety and problems, when normally you'd just be really anxious and unhappy all the time…

>That's not how it works. How do you know how it works? It's possible it doesn't, but release of vasopressin in the brain is responsible for bonding behavior i.e. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v365/n6446/abs/365545a0... On the other hand, there's no evidence for all this "exploring feelings" stuff.

I don't know how much of anything in the brain works, but I bet that something as complex as bonding is tied to more than one thing.

Re: I take illegal drugs for inspiration

#95

Post by edtechre »

edtechre wrote: post #94

Huh? How can LSD be "worth it" when it has been proven to cause brain damage and hallucinations? (Good bye karma)

Yeah, vote me down. But people have talked about having chronic "tracers" and random hallucinations years after doing LSD.

SF drug propaganda FTW!

Doing drugs for "enlightenment" is for the lazy and stupid. There are many other ways to achieve this. Just ask a devout Hindu or Buddhist monk.

Typical Westerner attitude...

Re: I take illegal drugs for inspiration

#96

Post by Confusion »

araneae wrote: post #5
ltemp wrote: post #4

Throwaway account. Taking LSD has been one of the most powerful experiences of my life - same level of power as one of my children dying. The first time I took it (rather late in life), it saved my marriage. After the intense trippy part died down, I was able to introspect from other people's viewpoints in a way I was never able to before. I could actually see I was the one being the ass, not the other way around. Th…

>same level of power as one of my children dying. See, that's terrifying to me. I've never taken LSD but I don't think I would ever want to put myself in the sort of situation that trivializes the death of a child by making it equivalent to downing a pill. This talk of using MDMA for couples' therapy because it releases vasopressin scares me too. Vasopressin is the bonding hormone, and sure, you could probably make t…

  I'm not sure I would want to be married to someone I could
  only stand because I took drugs.
That's the naturalist fallacy: implicitly assuming that the 'natural state of affairs' is by definition better than an 'artificially' created situation. Taking a pill is no different from living in a house. Both are unnatural. Both can make life a lot easier.

It's also the fallacy of the split middle: it's not either 'you love someone' or 'you can't stand them'. If you're in a loving relationship that has gone downhill somewhat and a few medicated sessions can renew the bonds, is that really any different from going on a second romantic honeymoon, where you also create artificial circumstances to strengthen the bond? Physical forces or cultural forces: they are equally real and do equal work.

Re: I take illegal drugs for inspiration

#97

Post by waterlesscloud »

araneae wrote: post #23
Alex3917 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I'm not sure I would want to be married to someone I could only stand because I took drugs." That's not how it works. The drugs allow you to explore feelings that you're otherwise not able to explore, and work through whatever emotional roadblocks you're having with your partner. Essentially it lets you find the source of your anxiety and problems, when normally you'd just be really anxious and unhappy all the time…

>That's not how it works. How do you know how it works? It's possible it doesn't, but release of vasopressin in the brain is responsible for bonding behavior i.e. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v365/n6446/abs/365545a0... On the other hand, there's no evidence for all this "exploring feelings" stuff.

If by "no evidence" you mean the first-hand accounts of thousands upon thousands of people, I agree with you.

Re: I take illegal drugs for inspiration

#98

Post by waterlesscloud »

Alex3917 wrote: post #32
araneae wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That's not how it works. How do you know how it works? It's possible it doesn't, but release of vasopressin in the brain is responsible for bonding behavior i.e. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v365/n6446/abs/365545a0... On the other hand, there's no evidence for all this "exploring feelings" stuff.

"On the other hand, there's no evidence for all this 'exploring feelings' stuff." What I'm saying is actually the currently accepted scientific theory. What we see in PET scans is that MDMA shuts down part of the amygdala, which allows people to process emotions and experiences that would otherwise be inaccessible. Michael Mithoefer refers to this starting at 10:45 in this MAPS lecture: http://www.maps.org/videos/sou…

The best verbalization I've heard of the experience is that it removes many of the filters of daily life.

What you do with that is up to you, but it's a powerful tool in some ways.

Re: I take illegal drugs for inspiration

#100

Post by lee »

Evgeny wrote: post #91
jawngee wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're wrong. And your metaphors are wrong. Some people like to eat for the taste, not the sustenance. Some people like to get high for the shift in perspective, not to get high. Some people like to drink wine for the taste, not to get sauced. And some people do go to strip clubs for non-standard reasons. When I was going through my nude photography hobby phase, I went for inspiration and ideas. Of course, I met my w…

If you haven't done drugs, then you can't really comment on them. That would be like me having a strong opinion on a topic I've never studied or have practical experience with. In fact, probably everything you know about drugs is wrong. That doesn't sound right. What if I put it this way: "If you haven't got cancer then you can't really comment on it. In fact, probably everything you know about cancer is wrong." But…

You can't put it that way. Part of understanding the effects and experience of drug use requires the actual experience of drug use, unlike studying cancer.

It's like someone criticizing the taste of a mango without ever experiencing eating a mango directly, or other life experiences like sex, having a child, riding a bike for the first time, etc...

It's more like: "If you haven't ever tasted a mango, you can't really comment on the experience of it."

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