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Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

medicalxpress.com

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Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#61

Post by edtechre »

swombat wrote: post #43
edtechre wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no issue with whatever it is you posited after your masturbatory experience. It's just that I don't find your epiphany particularly deep, nor do I see how LSD was even necessary for you to arrive at your destination of nowhere. You know what actually makes a difference in life? Acquire knowledge, apply that knowledge, make connections and use all of that to HELP other people and change the world. Tripping on s…

You sound like exactly the kind of close-minded person who would benefit from a hallucinogenic trip. The reality is, you have no idea what a trip is like. You're building an image of what it might be like based on your own actual experiences, and it seems pretty lame, but that image is just that: an image; a picture; not the real thing. And, much like life cannot be experienced just by looking at pictures, drugs cann…

Flawless logic here. I guess I should try crack, heroine, or maybe downing some motor oil before coming to the conclusion they're not for me?

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#62

Post by edtechre »

mistermann wrote: post #42
edtechre wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no issue with whatever it is you posited after your masturbatory experience. It's just that I don't find your epiphany particularly deep, nor do I see how LSD was even necessary for you to arrive at your destination of nowhere. You know what actually makes a difference in life? Acquire knowledge, apply that knowledge, make connections and use all of that to HELP other people and change the world. Tripping on s…

edt....I respect your opinion, but I would respect it even more if you had experienced even once what people are discussing here. From the way you write, I know you haven't. If you have been through it, it's up to you to judge whether it is good or bad, for overall society, or even at the individual level. But as it is, you simply don't know what you're talking about. We have a word in our vocabulary: transcendental…

Nowhere did I say I support the war on drugs, prohibition, or any such rubbish. You are free to engage in whatever stupid activity you so choose. Just don't try to claim it was some kind of fulfilling accomplishment, when it was merely shallow recreation.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#63

Post by edtechre »

pyre wrote: post #41
edtechre wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no issue with whatever it is you posited after your masturbatory experience. It's just that I don't find your epiphany particularly deep, nor do I see how LSD was even necessary for you to arrive at your destination of nowhere. You know what actually makes a difference in life? Acquire knowledge, apply that knowledge, make connections and use all of that to HELP other people and change the world. Tripping on s…

> You know what actually makes a difference in life? Taking action makes a difference in life. People don't take action just for its own sake. They have motivations. Where do this motivations come from? Ultimately the mind. The mind can be influenced by books and general knowledge, as well as experiences. Do you contest that if one did the same thing twice (once on drugs, the other not) that those experiences would d…

You could claim the same about getting high off of glue since that affects the mind too. Seriously, what every day experience /doesn't/ affect your mind?

My point stands on its own. Taking action makes a difference, dropping acid does nothing for anyone. End.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#64

Post by slowpoke »

jarin wrote: post #51
Raphael wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Bible.

What about positive personality change?

I do believe there is some positive wisdom to be found in the bible - especially in the teachings of Jesus, and I tell you that as an agnostic atheist. Pity only a tiny fraction of the people who call themselves Christians actually act on those teachings.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#65

Post by petercooper »

bherms wrote: post #9

Psilocybin 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…

(no hidden depression or anything lurking in the back of your mind)

Which, by definition, could be rather hard to know about in advance :-(

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#66

Post by mseebach »

mistermann wrote: post #39
WA wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>There is a reason why drugs are prohibited in many countries. People don't use them "correctly" and can become messed up pretty heavily. There's another reason they're prohibited as well - users tend to think a lot about interpersonal relations, society, power structures, etc. Sorry to hear about your panic attacks, I've gone through the same thing as well, but likely a decade after I last took drugs of any kind. Th…

> There's another reason they're prohibited as well - users tend to think a lot about interpersonal relations, society, power structures, etc.

Yes, drugs are prohibited because the government is afraid that it will be brought down by junkies thinking too much about power structures.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#67

Post by shin_lao »

astrofinch wrote: post #38
aheilbut wrote: post #18

I 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?

The Tao Te Ching.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_Te_Ching

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#68

Post by lhnz »

edtechre wrote: post #21
MarkPNeyer wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the main thing i took out of the experience was that i should stop being so afraid of suffering, because suffering can lead to personal growth. also, realizing i didn't need a girlfriend to be happy was really big deal for me.

Instead of doing drugs to experience "enlightenment" (LOL), you could, I don't know... read a book and actually learn something of value.

It's interesting to me that you believe you can achieve the same kind of inner thoughts from reading books. There are many people here that have come out from trips feeling more enlightened than when they entered them. Remember also that you are in the comments for an article about a study in which it is said to increase openness. You're telling people that it won't enlighten? Do you disagree with the results of the study?

The belief you're holding is too strong since you've not been able to demonstrate any evidence for it.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#69

Post by static_cast »

astrofinch wrote: post #38
aheilbut wrote: post #18

I 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?

Seneca Letters to Lucillus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistulae_morales_ad_Lucilium

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#70

Post by Hari_Seldon »

bherms wrote: post #9

Psilocybin 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…

I aslo had experiences which made me a much more open and eclectic person. I was about 23 years old and found the experiences to be overwhelmingly positive. At the time (70's) the counter culture was well underway and there were many fellow travellers who would advise on the importance of the setting and also (sounds kinda corny now) that one should make the whole thing sacred and not treat it as just a buzz. Also there were many apocriphal stories of people who had gone on trips and hadn't come back.
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