41–50 of 324 posts
On the one hand, HN is terrified of brain-computer interfaces manipulating our brains and emotions, on the other hand, they're totally psyched about using mushrooms to do the same thing.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The drug has dangers, but they seem small compared to those of alcohol, even if largely orthogonal. It got banned because it wasn't understood in the best case, to curb the counterculture movement from the 60s in the worst, but it's always been hard to justify it with medical reasons; it's been just tagged along with cocaine or heroin and made bad by association.
But if there hasn’t been significant medical research, how do we know there are no long-term dangers?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know a lot of people whose minds were ruined by psychedelics. It’s something you will see when you spend time in those communities. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but it’s common.
I get it - a drug is a drug - and like all drugs I am not saying that psychedelics are a cure all for all people. What I am saying is that it is depressing that we are only just seeing reports from formal sources that psychedelics could be useful for some people.
I don’t want to live in a world where the solution to depression (caused by governments, politicians, or general existence in the modern capitalist world) is a drug. Not a good idea. Instead, figure out why depression has increased so dramatically in the last ~century and address that.
I don't want to live in a world where how you want the world to look affects my freedom to eat certain foods.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But if there hasn’t been significant medical research, how do we know there are no long-term dangers?
Do you not think huge quantities of people do it all the time right now? Because, well, they do. Further there were a lot of experiments with psychedelics in the 60s.
I have a friend who has experienced magic mushrooms recreationally about half a dozen times in her 20s. After each trip she reported feeling clear headed and more mindful - she described it as though her mind's harddrive had been defragmented. Fast forward 10 years and that same friend felt low during lockdown over the past 12 months. After reading up online she decided to try microdosing mushrooms rather than the ma…
I know a lot of people whose minds were ruined by psychedelics. It’s something you will see when you spend time in those communities. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but it’s common.
I've pushed the limits with many tryptamines (at least 300-400 discrete experiences) and 15 years later my cognitive abilities are measurably excellent.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The drug has dangers, but they seem small compared to those of alcohol, even if largely orthogonal. It got banned because it wasn't understood in the best case, to curb the counterculture movement from the 60s in the worst, but it's always been hard to justify it with medical reasons; it's been just tagged along with cocaine or heroin and made bad by association.
But if there hasn’t been significant medical research, how do we know there are no long-term dangers?
1. Medical consensus say it's bad, but it's kept legal: tobacco, alcohol, drinking bleach.
2. There's no medical consensus, but it's forbidden anyway: LSD, mushrooms, DMT...
3. Medical consensus say it's bad, and it's forbidden: cocaine, heroin, meth...
4. Medical consensus say it's good, but we ban it anyway: MDMA in the context of psychotherapy [0].
5. There's no medical consensus, but we ban some yet not others that have an identical mechanism of action: poppers
That's without getting into the fact that the federal schedule system is seemingly impermeable, and cocaine or heroin have accepted medical uses, but somehow weed doesn't, despite all the evidence it does.
[0] Linking because maybe not many are aware: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20503245187674...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why, the next best thing after significant medical research, anecdotal research! So far so good.
So far in this topic, it’s been research of the “my friend said” kind. Which is even less reliable than direct anecdotal research.
I have a friend who has experienced magic mushrooms recreationally about half a dozen times in her 20s. After each trip she reported feeling clear headed and more mindful - she described it as though her mind's harddrive had been defragmented. Fast forward 10 years and that same friend felt low during lockdown over the past 12 months. After reading up online she decided to try microdosing mushrooms rather than the ma…
I know a lot of people whose minds were ruined by psychedelics. It’s something you will see when you spend time in those communities. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but it’s common.