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‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review

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Re: ‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review

#111

Post by playday »

DoubleDerper wrote: post #102
playday wrote: post #99

People should be allowed to take whatever substances they want, as long as they stay away from my neighborhood. I’ve moved as far away from drug users as I could and it was the best decision to increase my productivity, lower my stress, and increase my physical safety I’ve ever made.

Which group of "drug users" must stay away from your neighborhood: recreational pot smokers, or those taking doctor prescribed opiods and adderall?

I mean the drug users that punched my car, break windows, yell at all hours, stole my best friends bike tire, and shit around every corner even though there are plenty of public toilets. Don’t care whether it’s “legal”.

Re: ‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review

#112

Post by rcme »

Aurornis wrote: post #108
neilv wrote: post #97

In case there's anyone skimming the comments and thinking that it seems everyone else is doing all sorts of drugs... you'd be getting a skewed perception. There are plenty of other people who are averse to drugs, so are less likely to be commenting on a post that appeals to enthusiasts. Personally, if anyone I work with is doing drugs, I hope they'll be OK, and that it won't make them ill, stupid, or flaky. BTW, if s…

> thinking that it seems everyone else is doing all sorts of drugs... you'd be getting a skewed perception. I’ve had a few friends and acquaintances fall into problematic drug use. The common theme among all of their situations was that they moved into social circles with a lot of drug users. When everyone around you is doing a lot of drugs it’s easy to start thinking that everyone in the world must be doing a lot of…

> The common theme among all of their situations was that they moved into social circles with a lot of drug users.

Or maybe they moved into those social circles because they had a developing drug problem. The reasons why people use drugs is very complex. I used a lot of drugs when I was younger (1. They were sociopaths. This was a big category of users. They just didn't care and wanted to do whatever felt good.

2. Endured some type of abuse at home.

3. This isn't a reason, but rather a correlation, but many drug users I knew came from divorced households, myself included.

There were other reasons, but those were the three broad categories I noticed.

Re: ‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review

#113

Post by eru »

tmccrary55 wrote: post #110
eru wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of sight, out of mind. I say that unironically. I don't care what my neighbours do in the privacy of their own home, as long as it doesn't affect me. (Eg as long as tobacco or pot smoke doesn't waft over to me.)

What about neighbors having backyard campfires or BBQers?

My objection is mostly based on how much things annoy me, not necessarily on health.

Health-wise backyard campfires and BBQ are probably no better (or worse) than burning tobacco or pot.

Many places already restrict backyard campfires and similar. See eg https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/17/wood-bur...

To expand a bit on my original comment:

> I don't care what my neighbours do in the privacy of their own home, as long as it doesn't affect me.

So I might care about them doing a backyard campfire. If it's both legal and long-standing custom in that neighbourhood, I might just not move there in the first place. If it's illegal and I already live there when they start, I might object.

Re: ‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review

#114

Post by eru »

mjevans wrote: post #106
eru wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the OP: I'd like pot smokers to stay away from my neighbourhood, just like smokers of any other kind. But that's just because of the smell. If they want to eat their cannabis or vape their tobacco etc, I don't mind.

I mind Vaping as well. In addition to all sorts of smoke. I even mind dryer scents; literally ANY unusual smell in the air. Unusually pungent foods, camp fire and BBQ smoke, any cleaning agents. IMO every house should have scrubbed exhausts and possibly also intakes.

I don't particularly like the smell of vaping, but I find it doesn't carry nearly as far as smoking nor does it stick around as much. So I object much less.

> IMO every house should have scrubbed exhausts and possibly also intakes.

You might find the Coase Therom interesting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coase_theorem

Re: ‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review

#115

Post by jurynulifcation »

Physkal wrote: post #107
jurynulifcation wrote: post #39

I see people giving prescriptions in this comment section. I am but a humble seeker. I can not claim to give anyone access to the best knowledge, or even lasting knowledge. Neither, I believe, can any of our fellow commenter. Anyone saying "you must integrate these lessons," or "ignore all else and read these books," are not wrong. They are giving advice that, to them, sounds good and wholesome. Perhaps they are. How…

Do you have a blog?

I do not, but I've considered making one before... this might be the question that gets me to do it. If I may ask, what about the post moved you to ask?

Re: ‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review

#116

Post by Karrot_Kream »

swayvil wrote: post #24
abyssin wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For having dabbed into both, I’m not sure psychedelic culture is better. The promises of psychedelics are higher and in my case the hopes were higher too, so it took me longer to acknowledge the issues with that culture. But many prominent people lie about their respect for science, and in the end I doubt there are fundamental differences with the field of meditation.

Not better, saner. By saner I mean they seem to be more organized and grounded. I mean look at Erowid. Here's the method : here's the report. We have some pudding, we have some proof. Straightforward as heck. Whereas the meditation scene seems to be full of grifters, dogmatists and hand-wavers. The psychedelic culture has a substance in hand. If the substance is bunk then that becomes apparent pretty quick. Solid evi…

It's a much older tradition that's been tried by hundreds of different cultures. It comes from long before empiricism became a strong value. It's kinda like cooking in that there's an objective part of it but also a bunch of hearsay that's been passed along for generations.

Re: ‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review

#118

Post by soultrees »

Gerard0 wrote: post #23
WallyFunk wrote: post #15

I recall Terrence McKenna (everyone's favorite historical psychonaut) saying "It's hard to do psychedelics". I agree with him. These things are dangerous when the set and setting is wrong, or if they're done at an off-kilter phase of your life, or that you simply over-indulge in them. I appreciate the mini renaissance period they're having these days, but these things need plenty of research before trying them. They'…

As someone who almost always tries to "use" substances in this way, I think it's also perfectly fine to do it just "to have fun", party or whatever. The experience itself is not to be disdained and not every trip has to be like this.

A good quote “ tripping with friends is bonding, tripping alone is therapy”. Both have their place and time and neither is better than the other.

Re: ‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review

#119

Post by malauxyeux »

swayvil wrote: post #33
krzat wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do metta. I'm still wondering if meditation makes you a gullible crystal buying idiot, or does it just attract such people.

Well it's a pretty good story surrounding meditation : what mediation can do for you, the philosophies about it, sounds kinda like magic, etc. Which would attract story-lovers. And might lead them to approach it from the story-end first (rather than seeking some more solid to work with). Which could be a problem.

> Which would attract story-lovers. And might lead them to approach it from the story-end first (rather than seeking some more solid to work with). Which could be a problem.

Can you elaborate on this? Thanks!

Re: ‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review

#120

Post by Physkal »

jurynulifcation wrote: post #115
Physkal wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a blog?

I do not, but I've considered making one before... this might be the question that gets me to do it. If I may ask, what about the post moved you to ask?

Your tone is.. disengaging. In a supercharged world where words are weaponry, I Just felt welcomed.
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