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Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

nature.com

81–90 of 258 posts

Re: Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

#81

Psilocybin has been a profound catalyst for change in my life. Macro + micro dosing both offer distinct benefits. Can’t imagine life without it now. I feel enlightened and awakened. Alive for the first time in a long time.

How has microdosing helped? Or I should say, what benefits does microdosing confer that macrodosing doesn't?

Not OP, but I dabbled in shroom microdosing for a month years ago. One effect I noticed was the resurfacing of long forgotten mental notes/tasks which not only were bubbling up to the surface, but also became impossible to ignore, forcing them to take priority and get done, for better or worse.

Re: Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

#82
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only that, but the fact that consuming a chemical can make your consciousness feel so different always felt to me like pretty good evidence that consciousness is material. I do think there are rational realizations that rational people can come to under the influence of psychedelics, that they might not otherwise, though.

Why do you believe in rational people?

I thought it was a useful label to describe a set of people who would make an effort not to settle for supernatural explanations

Re: Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

#83

At the risk of being "that guy", it has to be said that this kind of study is unreliable. Posting a bunch of messages to r/drugs and r/psychedelics to come take their survey is going to suffer from all sorts of statistical biases. It is still better than the lowest for the study, the sample size of one: "Well this is what I experienced". Yet here I go. I have always been a materialist, and I've also never done drugs…

I can't help but keep rereading this. The statement "I've never done drugs" juxtaposed with "20 and 30 experiments" is kinda funny to me.

Re: Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

#84

Despite having had the relevant experience, I've always found it hard to understand why this happens. You know you're taking a drug that reliably induces feelings of "oceanic connectedness". Why should you change your worldview as a result? All kinds of things can change the way you feel temporarily, but most of them don't leave you thinking that you got insight into the way things really are. Maybe it's that psyched…

Not only that, but the fact that consuming a chemical can make your consciousness feel so different always felt to me like pretty good evidence that consciousness is material. I do think there are rational realizations that rational people can come to under the influence of psychedelics, that they might not otherwise, though.

Rational rediscovered the power of psychedelics that aboriginal cultures all over the world have been using since the dawn of time to bring clarity to nature, ones place in it, and the universe.

https://maps.org/2004/08/08/nobel-prize-genius-crick-was-hig...

Simple put, psychedelics are used throughout the animal kingdom by all species for this same type of enlightnement. Arguments can be made that mushrooms brought about human evolution by waking us up to our own conciseness. We are the first generation of people to be tainted by the War On Drugs. And we will be the last to have forgotten it.

https://www.inverse.com/article/34186-stoned-ape-hypothesis

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dolphins-seem-to-u...

Unfortunately, our generation has grown up being fed properganda about how Drugs are bad and religious is the saviour and the only pure way to live.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar%27s_Messiah

One just needs to look at MDMAs effectiveness on treating PSTD with Gods version of treatment that covers up the trauma with religion instead of unwinding it from the mind.

https://adf.org.au/insights/mdma-ptsd/ Source from gods chrous themselves where they claim MDMA and ecstasy arn't the same thing now because science is showing its "positive uses" - even though every "Just Say No" ad i saw as a child insisted they were both going to fry my brain into an egg.

These substances will not produce profound effects when taken recreationally - no healer from any aboriginal culture will claim that. They are to be taken with intent, with specific settings under specific conditions in a variety of doses for you to gain a better understand of oneself.

Re: Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

#85

My experience has been that just as fast as the walls come down, the mind builds them back up.

Increase your dosage. Try climbing the ladder to a stronger experience. If you get to Bufo and your opinions are still in tact then settle on this.

Ladders and hallucinogens do not mix

Re: Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only that, but the fact that consuming a chemical can make your consciousness feel so different always felt to me like pretty good evidence that consciousness is material. I do think there are rational realizations that rational people can come to under the influence of psychedelics, that they might not otherwise, though.

Why can't consciousness be from both the material and the immaterial? If a chemical alters perception, that just shows that consciousness is strongly affected by the material, but other non-contradictory hypotheses aren't thus disproven.

Sure, it could be. I never said otherwise.

However, I am unsure what good evidence for a corresponding immaterial part might look like.

Re: Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it's because it shows you that reality is not actually real. It's just a product of your senses. During a psychedelic trip, one might wonder "if I had been like this all my life, I would consider this to be reality, not what I'm used too". It fundamentally shows you that what you consider reality might be very, very, very wrong. So how can I trust my own senses and perceptions if they can be so powerfully m…

You've got it backwards. Reality does not change due to hallucination, only my perception of it. I've tripped many times and none of what I saw was real, and everything I saw when I wasn't tripping was real. It's good as therapy, and reveals a lot about perception and thoughts, but nothing else.

> I've tripped many times and none of what I saw was real, and everything I saw when I wasn't tripping was real.

How would you possibly verify this claim?

What is reality if not your perception of it? Does objective reality exist? How do you know anything is objectively real and not a product of some brain process?

All of those are long-standing philosophical questions.

Here's [1] a quick intro on the problem space I found.

[1] https://iep.utm.edu/objectiv/#SH2a

Re: Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

#88
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you believe in rational people?

I thought it was a useful label to describe a set of people who would make an effort not to settle for supernatural explanations

We only use a minute amount of our brain. Supernatural is a state of dystopia set out by the Religious zealots to rationalise their inability to understand anything not fed to them by their sacred books.

Re: Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

#89
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only that, but the fact that consuming a chemical can make your consciousness feel so different always felt to me like pretty good evidence that consciousness is material. I do think there are rational realizations that rational people can come to under the influence of psychedelics, that they might not otherwise, though.

Rational rediscovered the power of psychedelics that aboriginal cultures all over the world have been using since the dawn of time to bring clarity to nature, ones place in it, and the universe. https://maps.org/2004/08/08/nobel-prize-genius-crick-was-hig... Simple put, psychedelics are used throughout the animal kingdom by all species for this same type of enlightnement. Arguments can be made that mushrooms brought…

> These substances will not produce profound effects when taken recreationally

This claim, at the very least, is false.

Re: Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Psychedelic perception is also repeatable. And sober perception is not reliable.

Same drug, same effects. Cameras can't see your wall melting, but they exactly match what we see in reality Huh, weird.

But you only see the recordings from those cameras with the same eyes you're trying to verify, so this isn't actually giving you anything useful.

You only have one input and no way of testing how reliable it is.

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