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LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

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Re: LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

#111

Post by grzm »

tossaway1 wrote: post #109
grzm wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a tendency in discourse to make generalizations across large groups of people, which degrades our ability to see the nuance and diversity of opinion and perspective that clearly exists. This gets particularly pernicious when discussing contentious topics. Given the how damaging this can be (current political discourse in the US or here on HN is a good example), making such generalizations really needs to be j…

Healthy discourse can include both qualitative and quantitative commentary. I think HN readers can generally differentiate between the two. We don't need comment police complaining that some qualitative comments are lacking statistical support.

Sure, there can be qualitative and quantitative commentary. I don't agree that generalizations of groups of people are worthwhile qualititive commentary. One final question: is 'lcw's initial comment improved by the inclusion of the statement regarding HN?

Re: LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

#112

Post by slantaclaus »

always_good wrote: post #73

It's hard for me to imagine getting any meaningful programming work done on even a low dose of acid. One look at my computer and I go "I sure waste a lot of my life on this thing. I'm going to go outside."

That's what psilocybin would do, maybe not lsd. Shrooms will send you to the woods though for sure

Re: LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

#113

Post by slantaclaus »

M_Grey wrote: post #12

Ah yes... you see it anywhere that people are closely matched and seek perceived "edges". Athletes wear their copper bullshit, Valley types take stimulants and psychedelics. It's a symptom of people not understanding the nature of survivorship bias, hindsight fallacy in general, and an inability to delay gratification for a greater reward. There's nothing inherently wrong with the drug, but there's something inherent…

The comparison of copper bracelets to LSD is pretty weak in that if you take LSD, something WILL HAPPEN

Re: LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

#114

Post by bluebeard »

e1g wrote: post #63
krisoft wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would you recommend, how could one start meditating? Is there a practice, or book or something you would specifically recommend? And what time interval would be not "too soon" in your opinion?

I am a huge supporter of Headspace (the app), and 4 other people in my life stuck with it after passing through many other options. Headspace offers a broad library of targeted programs, and I can pick a topic that causes the most friction right now - be it anxiety, productivity, relationships, health, etc. Each program has a supporting structure and provides continuity for my daily practice. I feel like I'm taking n…

I've done the first free 10 days and was surprised by the results from something so simple.

Re: LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

#115

Post by fsiefken »

drwl wrote: post #49
fsiefken wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is microdosing LSD compromising health? There is no evidence for that

I'm not sure there is or isn't evidence but if you study the brain I think you can come to some plausible conclusions that it does compromise health to some extent.

Conclusions? You mean 'ways'... the only way I know of - apart from individuals not prone to developing schizophrenia - is taking a lethal dose. The LD50 in humans has not been established but it might be similar to nicotine, around 10 mg/kg. While acid is cheap, it's a few hundreds times more then the typical dosage (40 micrograms). Albert Hoffmann writes in "LSD, my problem child":

"The LD50 for the mouse amounts to 50-60 mg/kg IV (that is 50 to 60 thousandths of a gram of LSD per kilogram of animal weight upon injection of an LSD solution in the veins). In the rat the LD50 drops to 16.5 mg/kg, and in rabbits to 0.3 mg/kg. One elephant given 0.297 g of LSD died after a few minutes. The weight of this animal was determined to be 5,000 kg, which corresponds to a lethal dose of 0.06 mg/kg (0.06 thousandths of a gram per kilogram of bodyweight). Most animals die from a lethal dose of LSD by respiratory arrest. The minute doses that cause death in animal experiments may give the impression that LSD is a very toxic substance. However, if one compares the lethal dose in animals with the effective dose in human beings, which is 0.0003-0.001 mg/kg (0.0003 to 0.001 thousandths of a gram per kilogram of bodyweight), this shows an extraordinarily low toxicity for LSD. Only a 300- to 600-fold overdose of LSD, compared to the lethal dose in rabbits, or fully a 50,000- to 100,000-fold overdose, in comparison to the toxicity in the mouse, would have fatal results in human beings. These comparisons of relative toxicity are, to be sure, only understandable as estimates of orders of magnitude, for the determination of the therapeutic index (that is, the ratio between the effective and the lethal dose), is only meaningful within a given species. Such a procedure is not possible in this case because the lethal dose of LSD for humans is not known."

Re: LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

#116

Post by akud »

mistermann wrote: post #76
akud wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll second that. There is nothing that will change your life more than developing a daily meditation practice. My mindfulness practice helps me to achieve direct insights in software engineering, though that's not the reason I do it. I do it for the insights into my own psyche, and for my mental health. It just happens to be the case that quieting the chatter in you mind will help you step out unproductive thought p…

Does meditation quiet the mental chatter only while meditating, or do you find it has a calming effect in general throughout the day? (Did you perhaps alter other aspects of your life as well to contribute to that, such as reducing exposure to the news? Something else I am considering.)

I would say it has a calming effect throughout the day, because when you sit you practice the mental activity of bringing your attention to the present moment. It's like building a muscle; when the muscle is stronger you can use it throughout the day. At first it's very hard to control your attention, but with practice you get better at it, and will start to notice your mind going off into repetitive thought patterns sooner.

Re: LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

#117

Post by Analemma_ »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #94
Analemma_ wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where he reports a null result. It's wasting your money, take a full dose or not at all.

It's a sample size of one, even a well designed test is basically meaningless. Plus, from my research on the subject, a full dose can have positive effects for months after the experience. Taking a full dose around a week before the experiment may have tainted the data.

It's a sample size of one, but considering the rigorous methodology used I think it counts for at least as much evidence as the anecdotes of people going "it totally boosts my creativity man" with no control group and subjective measurements of efficacy that are highly vulnerable to a placebo effect.

Re: LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

#118

Post by M_Grey »

slantaclaus wrote: post #113
M_Grey wrote: post #12

Ah yes... you see it anywhere that people are closely matched and seek perceived "edges". Athletes wear their copper bullshit, Valley types take stimulants and psychedelics. It's a symptom of people not understanding the nature of survivorship bias, hindsight fallacy in general, and an inability to delay gratification for a greater reward. There's nothing inherently wrong with the drug, but there's something inherent…

The comparison of copper bracelets to LSD is pretty weak in that if you take LSD, something WILL HAPPEN

You can take a sugar pill and something will happen... we're talking about a microdose after all, not a full hit.

Re: LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

#119

Post by neom »

akud wrote: post #116
mistermann wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does meditation quiet the mental chatter only while meditating, or do you find it has a calming effect in general throughout the day? (Did you perhaps alter other aspects of your life as well to contribute to that, such as reducing exposure to the news? Something else I am considering.)

I would say it has a calming effect throughout the day, because when you sit you practice the mental activity of bringing your attention to the present moment. It's like building a muscle; when the muscle is stronger you can use it throughout the day. At first it's very hard to control your attention, but with practice you get better at it, and will start to notice your mind going off into repetitive thought patterns…

The above has been my experience also. It's sorta like I discovered how to interface with my mind? I can kinda be like... yo, what do you think about this? listen for a bit to what is "said" and then move on.

Re: LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley

#120

Post by quintushoratius »

pmoriarty wrote: post #64
jb1991 wrote: post #11

I would strongly encourage anyone looking for new perceptions that aid in concentration and/or creativity to first really try, and properly try, and without giving up too soon, the art of meditation. It's cheaper, safer, longer-lasting, and most certainly a higher-quality experience once properly learned.

"It's cheaper, safer, longer-lasting, and most certainly a higher-quality experience once properly learned." A lot of people say this, but most of them have never tried psychedelics at all, much less had high-dose, strong trips. In those cases, I'm not sure they know what they're talking about. There are others, like Ram Dass, who definitely have had strong trips, and many trips at that. They tend to have a much more…

> "A lot of people say this, but most of them have never tried psychedelics at all, much less had high-dose, strong trips. In those cases, I'm not sure they know what they're talking about."

What you say is true, but meditation comes with two major benefits over recreational drugs of any type: it's not illegal, and you (the meditator) have control over the quality.

It's a good place to start; you can easily try something different if it doesn't work, with no regrets.

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