Earlier quoted context omitted.
What book do you estimate has the greatest probability of causing lasting personality change?
The Bible.
What about positive personality change?
Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change
51–60 of 173 posts
Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change
#52One reason I won't take them, then. I like who I am.
Hey, I like who I am too. But I know that I can be better.
Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change
#53I once had a single, very high dose Psilocybin experience which lead to a lasting change that was very much for the worse. Having had my perception of reality profoundly changed by the experience I began to question my senses on a regular basis, with associated anxiety and panic. Then there were also the nightmares where I was tripping, would wake up, have something weird / trippy happen have a "world is ending" anxi…
To echo that point... my pure-shroom experiences were generally positive, but one time mixing with MDMA resulted in a very strong experience that by the end involved some paranoia about keeping my thoughts and public utterances separate. That paranoia would occasionally mildly recur the next year or so. That's now many years ago, but I still wonder if crazy street people talking to themselves just mixed too many things, too many times creating permanent confusion.
Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change
#54'Nearly all of the participants in the new study considered themselves spiritually active (participating regularly in religious services, prayer or meditation).' ... 'In the study, the change occurred specifically in those volunteers who had undergone a "mystical experience,"... He defines "mystical experience" as among other things, "a sense of interconnectedness with all people and things accompanied by a sense of…
"So they took a bunch of people prone to mystical experiences and found when you give them hallucinogenics that they have further mystical experiences?"
The people they recruit aren't really much more prone to mystical experiences than anyone else, they're just trying to find volunteers who are psychologically stable and have a support network in case things go poorly.
Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change
#55If anyone is interested in learning more about the science of psychedelics, I'd recommend checking out the Horizons conference if you're going to be in NYC on Oct. 16th:
The speakers list is pretty awesome this year.
Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change
#56One reason I won't take them, then. I like who I am.
Until I was 27 I avoided all illegal drugs on the theory that they'd be like a random edit to my core self, after which I could no longer trust who I was. Eventually I decided both that there were parts of me so stable they were unlikely to be changed, and that there were other parts for which even random change wouldn't be so bad.
Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change
#57Psilocybin use definitely changed me for the better. The first time I did it was one of the most eye-opening and impacting experiences in my life. Since my first trip, I've tried to work it into my life at least 1-2 times a year. Every time I feel like I learn something new and/or come out a better person by seeing certain aspects of life in a new light. It's something you only want to try in controlled environments…
The emphasis is on: done right, with the right people. There is a reason why drugs are prohibited in many countries. People don't use them "correctly" and can become messed up pretty heavily. I took shrooms when I was 18. After an initial phase of a lot of hardly controllable laughter, I experienced the strongest fear that I ever had in my life. Basically, the fear to remain stuck on this trip - nothing unusual by th…
For what it's worth, here are the best practices for using these substances:
http://entheoguide.net/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.psychedelicpsychotherapy.com/content.php?122-jour...
In addition, here are some guides for dealing with difficult experiences:
http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/faqs/psychedelic_crisis_...
http://www.maps.org/videos/source4/video9.html
And of course all the information on Erowid for each substance is key. Psilocybin isn't especially dangerous, but as you said if you do it wrong you can definitely end up with anxiety/depression that lasts a year or two.
Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change
#58I don't doubt it, but reading a book may make a lasting personality change too.
What book do you estimate has the greatest probability of causing lasting personality change?
I read "Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives" back in high school, and it made a profound positive difference in the way that I view the world.
I recommended it to my roommate a few years ago though, and I read it again after he was done and found it to be super cheesy and slightly pretentious. My roommate seemed to like it, but I don't know if I would really recommend it to a grown adult anymore.
Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change
#59'Nearly all of the participants in the new study considered themselves spiritually active (participating regularly in religious services, prayer or meditation).' ... 'In the study, the change occurred specifically in those volunteers who had undergone a "mystical experience,"... He defines "mystical experience" as among other things, "a sense of interconnectedness with all people and things accompanied by a sense of…
It is pretty common to read or hear about spiritual, religious or mystical experiences even from ardent atheists under hallucinogens. That evidence raises a very interesting philosophical question.
Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change
#60Psilocybin and other psychoactive drugs of the sort somehow affect how we see and think about things. I'm surprised more isn't being done to research these. If it can have such a profound effect on perception and personality, research into psychoactives could reveal insights into how we think and how our personalities work. Fascinating stuff.
And, it could undermine the last few decades of anti-drug propagandizing by the government, DARE, etc. If the government can't justify its War On Drugs, the billions of dollars funding it[1] would have to go somewhere else, and I'm sure the military (and other recipients of this budget) would rather keep that cash flowing. I'm completely with you. These hallucinogenics have a growing mountain of scientific evidence p…
Much of this scientific evidence--enough to incite further research and almost enough to put the lie to the "no currently accepted medical use" criterion for Schedule I drugs--is decades old and often predated prohibition.