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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

#81

Post by jinfiesto »

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.

Lol, I don't think it's enlightenment, but I experienced the feeling without drugs first. In the Buddhist tradition, it's known as kensho or satori (technically different, but similar enough for our purposes.) In either case, it's definitely worthwhile and can't be learned from a book.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#82

Post by wynand »

edtechre wrote: post #15
MarkPNeyer wrote: post #10

i took mushrooms once, and documented my experience. i've gone back and re-read it several times, and each time i do so, i both laugh like crazy and realize i was getting glimpses of ideas i'm only now starting to understand. if you want to read it, here it is: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9465583/ShroomReport.pdf

How is that enlightening? The doc makes you sound like an imbecile.

Please avoid personal remarks.

It's alright to disagree strongly with someone else but mutual respect is one of the attributes that keeps HN an open and interesting discussion forum.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#83

Post by barrkel »

edtechre wrote: post #63
pyre wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

What do you think "takes action", if not your mind? Your point, such as it is, is self-contradicting.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#84

Post by GiraffeNecktie »

Angostura wrote: post #80
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…

Is that your perception, or do the people around you, able to give an unbiased opinion concur? Afterall I'm not entirely convinced that my heartfelt conviction of alchohol's beneficial effects on my singing are universally shared.

If I feel like my life has changed for the better, I don't have to validate it with other people. It's my life, not theirs.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#85

Post by randallsquared »

innes wrote: post #31
pavs wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading a "good" book definitely has lasting personality changes for me. I can safely say that at-least 15 of the 22 books I have read so far this year, had lasting effect on my personality.

Changes in these traits ... were larger in magnitude than changes typically observed in healthy adults over decades of life experiences, the scientists say. Clearly most people don't read good books, or scientists would have seen evidence of their radical personality-changing effect.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but I would say it is certainly true that most people don't read good books. Most people don't read books, in general. Of those who do, most read for entertainment (like me), rather than seeking out great books to have read.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#86

Post by Angostura »

GiraffeNecktie wrote: post #84
Angostura wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that your perception, or do the people around you, able to give an unbiased opinion concur? Afterall I'm not entirely convinced that my heartfelt conviction of alchohol's beneficial effects on my singing are universally shared.

If I feel like my life has changed for the better, I don't have to validate it with other people. It's my life, not theirs.

Of course, and I wasn't attempting to be antagonistic. I was merely pointing out that when you say you feel it "changed me for the better" in your original post, that could be for one of two reasons. I was simply curious as to whether you could determine whicgh reason(s) applied in your case.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#87

Post by dmm »

WA wrote: post #33
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…

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.

Your ignorance of history is affecting your understanding of these circumstances.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#88

Post by melloclello »

edtechre wrote: post #61
swombat wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Someone like you almost always pops up in every internet discussion on hallucinogenic drugs - they're always pretty universally dismissed as what you would call, 'wrong', by everybody who actually knows what they are talking about.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#89

Post by fybren »

tiles wrote: post #36
MarkPNeyer wrote: post #10

i took mushrooms once, and documented my experience. i've gone back and re-read it several times, and each time i do so, i both laugh like crazy and realize i was getting glimpses of ideas i'm only now starting to understand. if you want to read it, here it is: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9465583/ShroomReport.pdf

Thanks for sharing this. This is literally a legal proxy for understanding what kind of changes the article is talking about, so I think this is plenty relevant :)

Agreed. Also - thoroughly entertaining & just, real. Thank you for sharing, Mark.

Re: Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change

#90

Post by innes »

randallsquared wrote: post #85
innes wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Changes in these traits ... were larger in magnitude than changes typically observed in healthy adults over decades of life experiences, the scientists say. Clearly most people don't read good books, or scientists would have seen evidence of their radical personality-changing effect.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but I would say it is certainly true that most people don't read good books. Most people don't read books, in general. Of those who do, most read for entertainment (like me), rather than seeking out great books to have read.

No sarcasm. I have read good books (I think), but am pretty sure that they didn't modify my personality. Normally they result in a couple of days of thinking "wow, that was a good book".
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