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LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

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Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

#171

Post by sillysaurus3 »

2anon4this wrote: post #139
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Third, go out into nature if you can. Preferably with just your friends and not a lot of people around. It's pretty cool. LSD impairs your ability to feel cold. People have died by taking drugs and then going out into snow. I sadly can't find the proof to back up my claim, but I read about a case of a girl taking ketamine and then going outside and succumbing to hypothermia. Here's another case of someone dying from…

>People have often credited significant breakthroughs to taking LSD, but your chances of getting rich from bitcoin are significantly higher than >making a huge impact on the world by consuming LSD. It'll certainly have a huge impact on your personal life, though, for better or worse. You probably won't believe me, but I went from being a directionless loser to going to med school and becoming a successful doctor afte…

The money is irrelevant. LSD isn't why you chose to invest in bitcoin. It was a happy coincidence.

My comment said "Don't do it unless you're sure you dislike yourself." Before I say this, I want to clarify that this isn't an insult: you called yourself a directionless loser, so your reply doesn't disagree with me.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

#172

Post by anonbanker »

lomnakkus wrote: post #158
anonbanker wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, definitely adding you to the list of astroturfers to look out for on every pro-drug HN thread. If we wanted the incorrect mainstream opinion, we'd go to the ONDCP's homepage.

Sorry, what? (If you're going to claim astroturfing you're going to have to come up with some evidence. Look through my posting history -- you'll find none.) EDIT: Actually, scratch that. If you didn't already do that before accusing me of astroturfing, then fuck you and the horse you rode in on.

One does not need to be a sock puppet account to astroturf.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

#173

Post by lomnakkus »

anonbanker wrote: post #172
lomnakkus wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, what? (If you're going to claim astroturfing you're going to have to come up with some evidence. Look through my posting history -- you'll find none.) EDIT: Actually, scratch that. If you didn't already do that before accusing me of astroturfing, then fuck you and the horse you rode in on.

One does not need to be a sock puppet account to astroturf.

Again, I'm mystified. Please state your case plainly. Whom, exactly, are you accusing of astroturfing?

(I realize that this not necessarily contributing to NH as such, but I'm genuinely intrigued.)

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

#174

Post by sillysaurus3 »

gwern wrote: post #165
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Third, go out into nature if you can. Preferably with just your friends and not a lot of people around. It's pretty cool. LSD impairs your ability to feel cold. People have died by taking drugs and then going out into snow. I sadly can't find the proof to back up my claim, but I read about a case of a girl taking ketamine and then going outside and succumbing to hypothermia. Here's another case of someone dying from…

> I read about a case of a girl taking ketamine and then going outside and succumbing to hypothermia. Turner and this woman's case are covered in _Ketamine: Dreams and Realities_ http://www.maps.org/books/K-DreamsKJansenMAPS.pdf , by Jansen; he argues that there are extenuating circumstances in those cases and it's not as simple as 'ketamine killed them'.

Thanks. I appreciate the book reference. Do you happen to remember what the circumstances were?

Here's a working link: http://www.pdfarchive.info/pdf/J/Ja/Jansen_Karl_-_Ketamine.p...

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

#175

Post by [deleted] »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #82
jarin wrote: post #68

I actually tried LSD a couple of times because of this article, back when it was written. It was a pretty enjoyable experience, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in trying it, with a few caveats. First, you need to have an experienced sitter with you. You're in for the full 8-10 hours, and on the off chance you start having a bad trip (things getting really dark and scary), you need someone to ground y…

Third, go out into nature if you can. Preferably with just your friends and not a lot of people around. It's pretty cool. LSD impairs your ability to feel cold. People have died by taking drugs and then going out into snow. I sadly can't find the proof to back up my claim, but I read about a case of a girl taking ketamine and then going outside and succumbing to hypothermia. Here's another case of someone dying from…

[deleted]

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

#176

Post by avodonosov »

kirsebaer wrote: post #163
avodonosov wrote: post #103

My friend and university classmate - a kind of wounderkind. He was accepted to university without exams, because he had great results on programming olympics. Turned out he was also good at chemistry. When he was around 8 his mother arranged him to take chemistry classes with elder schoolchildren. But he dropped the classes because he was borred - he already knew everything taught there. In university he tried drugs…

Very sad to hear about your friend. Suicide is one of the most common causes of deaths for young men. Overall, 1-2 people per 100 will die by suicide. Here is a new large epidemiology study which found that people who used psychedelics had lower rate of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempt: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/22/psychedelic-researc... It's important to take a statistical perspective when talking a…

Good comment. But I think in this case the drugs had destabilizing effect on his mind and contributed significantly to the result. At that time he become strange and difficult to communicate.

I am a big believer in scientific approach and statistics. Note though, that studies are often performed incorrectly. For example in your link they describe "reduced likelihood of past-year suicidal thinking" and "reduced likelihood of past-year suicidal planning". But the indicator to observe before making such conclusion is real "successful" suicide cases. We need to compare a drug-using group and non-using group, and compare the number of completed suicides in groups.

For me, it would take more studies, rigid, reviewed and confirmed by other scientists, before shading doubts on psychedelics danger.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

#177

Post by sillysaurus3 »

zethraeus wrote: post #155
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Third, go out into nature if you can. Preferably with just your friends and not a lot of people around. It's pretty cool. LSD impairs your ability to feel cold. People have died by taking drugs and then going out into snow. I sadly can't find the proof to back up my claim, but I read about a case of a girl taking ketamine and then going outside and succumbing to hypothermia. Here's another case of someone dying from…

> Exploring how chemicals affect your brain is fun if becoming a different person is fun. So don't do it unless you're sure you dislike yourself. This sentence isn't really logically sound. There are lots of reasons to make a transition from a place of satisfaction to a place of uncertain satisfaction. Happy people often explore! Aside, 'Becoming a different person' implies a large amount of permanence. I'd really en…

There's nothing scientific. A friend hadn't ever dreamed in color before taking LSD, but after taking it and going to sleep later that night, they had a vivid dream in color. Since then, every dream they remember having has always been in color. They were very surprised and very certain.

That was some pretty convincing anecdotal evidence that LSD can cause permanent changes in certain susceptible people. It was an improvement in their case, but that seems like luck.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

#178

Post by ZeroFries »

codeshaman wrote: post #102

Some people assume that taking LSD gives you some kind of super abilities which would make one more competitive in this world, but it's not what the experience is about. Yes, while tripping, your mind can handle infinity or galactic-sized data sets, visualise abstract concepts and zoom in and out of matter or numbers, but I don't think that's the true power of this substance. The real power comes from the realisation…

This is exactly what I've felt on a couple separate occasions (both on mushrooms and ayahuasca). The trouble is the rational/ego-based mind kicks in as soon as I'm off them and I begin to question the validity of these assumptions. Whilst sober it seems ridiculous, but whilst on these substances, it's sober everyday life which seems truly ridiculous, like it was so obviously staged and unreal and how could I have not seen it? Ultimately I'm always led back to the same conclusion: we don't and won't ever really know anything beyond our own qualia.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

#179

Post by toolz »

pyre wrote: post #151
toolz wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So don't do it unless you're sure you dislike yourself. This is, in my opinion, a terrible reason to stay away from LSD. You're effectively saying avoid anything that may have bad results. Not liking yourself has never been a prerequisite for being curious. I've seen people have panic attacks on roller coaster rides that almost certainly altered their chemical balance for a significant period of time with permanent…

You pull an excerpt from a quote that I included from the parent comment to my post. I'm not sure if the "you" is generic or directed at me, but I didn't say "don't do it unless you're sure you dislike yourself."

No, I've actually just clicked the wrong reply button. My apologies.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006)

#180

Post by ZeroFries »

bjourne wrote: post #140
pmoriarty wrote: post #59

An example of LSD's effect on art: [1] More details here [2] Then there's the visionary art[3] of Alex Gray.[4] There's a great book that documents studies done on LSD's effect on creativity.[5] On the subject of music, LSD famously influenced the Beatles,[6] and many other 60's bands... and which, in turn influenced many others. In fact, there's a very good chance that most if not all of the contemporary music you l…

The Beatles heavily used alcohol and tobacco too. But really, they were three of the century's most talented and most hardworking musicians with incredible managers and producers and almost unlimited resources. I can't prove it, but I don't believe there is a causative link between tripping on LSD and writing great music. I do believe there is a causative link between working hard and practicing a lot and writing gre…

I can think of three ways LSD might influence music production:

1) LSD can cause synesthesia, especially music related synesthesia, which can definitely influence the creation of music in my experience.

2) It can be incredibly inspirational and emotive.

3) It can allow you to explore subconscious worlds and use previously inaccessible information.

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