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Terence McKenna's Mega Bad Trip (2025)

psychedelics.community

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Re: Terence McKenna's Mega Bad Trip (2025)

#91

Post by tpm »

sibeliuss wrote: post #70
xvxvx wrote: post #16

I remember discovering McKenna in the late 90’s when I first got internet access at home. The comparison with Alex Jones is a good one: he was initially very interesting, sparking the imagination that whole worlds existed out there that I didn’t know about. But quickly it fell apart and I understood it was just horseshit, a form of fantasy. I’ve never tripped but it sounds similar to fever dreams I had a few times wh…

McKenna to Alex Jones? That is an offensively bad comparison for someone as philosophically astute and well-rounded as he was. And tripping to a fever dream... You know, sometimes it's best to just not respond if you know nothing about a subject at all.

> someone as philosophically astute and well-rounded as he was

Just my general observation having never read anything from him: many people with generally good qualities but also with a bit of narcissism and self-importance have, when exposed to psychedelics, gone off the rails and became truth-owning preachers or outright abusers. This is to me interesting in so far as this is not the case generally for others groups of psychedelic users.

In that aspect I can understand the analogy, although I have no idea if it's correct.

Re: Terence McKenna's Mega Bad Trip (2025)

#93

Post by Xmd5a »

sid_talks wrote: post #88
burnto wrote: post #81

> A further factor was cannabis. Attempts to quit left him feeling stranded in a “horribly profane” world, with a “tremendous narrowing of consciousness.” Substances that once served exploration soon functioned as psychological maintenance. “He just needed to be high on cannabis,” Harrison said. “That was his medicine… what drove everything,” keeping him from “bouncing off the ceiling.” Clearly there were a number of…

> Cannabis dependency really can sneak up on people, and for some it’s quite difficult to get off it, with real physical and emotional symptoms. Throughout my university years, many of my peers smoked cannabis on a daily basis, often several times a day. Most of them seemed oblivious to the fact that they might have developed a dependence; whenever anyone tried to talk to them about it, they dismissed it, claiming ca…

Ok, now do SSRIs.

Re: Terence McKenna's Mega Bad Trip (2025)

#94

Post by psd1 »

LocalH wrote: post #63
dubbie99 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could you know, answer the question…

I don't believe in any "God". I believe that only the universe is any "supreme being". Is that woo? Maybe. But it helps me be kinder than any religion seems to teach others.

That raises an interesting point.

The big religions of the world all explicitly teach kindness - personal and concrete kindness practiced by you, the follower.

Is that what they effectively teach? Or is it just window dressing on top of underlying hegemonisation?

A/B testing is likely impossible and i can't see how you would measure kindness. Nonetheless, my conjecture is that religion likely shifts people in the direction of kindness. I suspect that believers who are cruel would typically also be cruel without the religion.

I assert that there are more direct and effective waits of developing compassion, but that they require a base level of self-awareness higher than the median found in neoliberal nations. Perhaps religion is close to optimal for those who need extrinsic motivation to develop any self-government.

Furthermore, it looks to me like neoliberalism leaves a philosophical vacuum which demands filling with something, and that something is all too eagerly supplied by charlatans. We should evaluate religion relative to whatever philosophy would take its place. Tribalism, fascism, supremacy: these are perennially seductive. Religion is not incompatible with these, but it might crowd them out.

Re: Terence McKenna's Mega Bad Trip (2025)

#95

Post by homeonthemtn »

Classic psychedelic community. Preach about ego death while maintaining a huge ego.

Guy goes through traumatic experiences because he abused the hell out of psychedelics (5g weekly, wtf?) but continues to encourage people to do the same because he doesn't want to be seen as weak

I have so many problems with McKenna. Guy was a drug addict but because he was one of the first to write about drugs during an era of taboo, he gets a pioneers deference. That would be fine if people still didn't glorify his absurd doses and bull shit about "knowledge downloads" or whatever it is.

Anyways, pardon my rant

Re: Terence McKenna's Mega Bad Trip (2025)

#96

Post by jazzyjackson »

psd1 wrote: post #89
jazzyjackson wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are finders and seekers. I’m always impressed with people who ardently believe they know the truth, they can act without doubt, an interesting skill.

I'm also impressed, but not in a good way. I consider certainty to be the biggest tell of falsehood, and I wish to deny the vote to people with certainty. Certainty of opinion on a complex topic reveals a belief that organic brains can, in practice, judge the correctness of their own reasoning - a conceit that borders on the psychotic, and at minimum a complete failure of self-awareness. These people don't need agenc…

You sound awfully sure of yourself!

Re: Terence McKenna's Mega Bad Trip (2025)

#97

Post by joenot443 »

xvxvx wrote: post #16

I remember discovering McKenna in the late 90’s when I first got internet access at home. The comparison with Alex Jones is a good one: he was initially very interesting, sparking the imagination that whole worlds existed out there that I didn’t know about. But quickly it fell apart and I understood it was just horseshit, a form of fantasy. I’ve never tripped but it sounds similar to fever dreams I had a few times wh…

> I’ve never tripped but it sounds similar to fever dreams

This sounds a bit like someone who’s never played a video game being disappointed in John Carmack.

When you’re that far removed from a certain subculture it shouldn’t be surprising when you’re unable to understand it.

Re: Terence McKenna's Mega Bad Trip (2025)

#98

Post by quickthrowman »

cj17382 wrote: post #4

It's important to have a spiritual practice to go alongside psychedelics to weather the ontological shock.

Not in the slightest. Telling yourself “this is a drug that is altering my perceptions and it will end” is enough for me. That’s all the grounding LSD and mushrooms require and I’ve never had a bad trip, but I have plenty of drug experience so perhaps I’m just used to being in an altered state.

Psychedelics don’t reveal anything profound, they just alter your thinking and perception temporarily.

Re: Terence McKenna's Mega Bad Trip (2025)

#99

Post by Ylpertnodi »

sid_talks wrote: post #88
burnto wrote: post #81

> A further factor was cannabis. Attempts to quit left him feeling stranded in a “horribly profane” world, with a “tremendous narrowing of consciousness.” Substances that once served exploration soon functioned as psychological maintenance. “He just needed to be high on cannabis,” Harrison said. “That was his medicine… what drove everything,” keeping him from “bouncing off the ceiling.” Clearly there were a number of…

> Cannabis dependency really can sneak up on people, and for some it’s quite difficult to get off it, with real physical and emotional symptoms. Throughout my university years, many of my peers smoked cannabis on a daily basis, often several times a day. Most of them seemed oblivious to the fact that they might have developed a dependence; whenever anyone tried to talk to them about it, they dismissed it, claiming ca…

> Today, I personally know that at least a couple of them developed serious mental and physical problems, and to this day, they are unable to cope with life without being high.

Perhaps the cannabis helps with the problems, and stops your friends feeling worse.

Re: Terence McKenna's Mega Bad Trip (2025)

#100

Post by zbentley »

Xmd5a wrote: post #93
sid_talks wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cannabis dependency really can sneak up on people, and for some it’s quite difficult to get off it, with real physical and emotional symptoms. Throughout my university years, many of my peers smoked cannabis on a daily basis, often several times a day. Most of them seemed oblivious to the fact that they might have developed a dependence; whenever anyone tried to talk to them about it, they dismissed it, claiming ca…

Ok, now do SSRIs.

That’s pretty silly whataboutism. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, don’t trade off, have both risks and benefits, and can be used or prescribed responsibly or irresponsibly. What are you getting at?
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