LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug • Hacker News Board

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug

#221

Post by terchin » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 12:24 AM UTC

tajddin wrote: post #210

anonLSD wrote: post #177

I offer some of the highlights of my personal experience with LSD, anonymously, due to the very unfortunate stigma. I'm very positive on its ability to unlock potential, trigger insights, expand perspective, and facilitate learning, even in spite of having experienced a few bad trips. Although the experience is deeply personal, I'll try to offer the most concrete accounts I can. First, of all the hundreds of little i…

"What's a color? What's a country? What's a "week"? What's a leader? What is solid? Which way is up? What's a job? Your brain starts trying to decompose every concept into basic principles, and you realize that for a lot of things in the human world, there are none." While I've personally never tried LSD, my favorite is, e, which offers a similar, but different, opening of the mind. Since I've never tried LSD, I can…

I've never taken LSD, but I've done mushrooms once. After the effects started I was outside near a bay and it was humid. I started asking things like "What is wet? Is the wetness from the air different from the wetness of the water?" and I started putting my hands into water to discern the differences. Our "watcher" took us back inside and handed me Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations.

I read it cover-to-cover in about 2 hours and I thought it was the most amazing material. The structure of that book is very much like the thinking process of someone on hallucinogens, or rather, a dialogue between a person on LSD who's babbling and a completely sober person trying to refute the babblings. It ends up making sense though.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug

#222

Post by d2 » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 12:30 AM UTC

moultano wrote: post #172

If you have any predisposition towards psychosis, in family history or personally, please avoid LSD. For those firmly rooted, it might be pleasurable or productive to become a little less so. If you're already sometimes on the edge, LSD can push you over. This happened to one of my best friends. Growing up he was crazy, creative, always saw things a little differently, prone to manic behavior. After a year of regular…

Thanks for posting this. I've had two friends profoundly affected by the drug. One is now schizophrenic after taking a large dose and will have a lifelong struggle. Thankfully he is supported by his family and his mom is a psychiatrist.

The second took a large dose about a decade ago and after being a very conservative straight guy. Mormon. Straight A's. Didn't take drugs or drink. He immediately dropped out of school, moved in with a prostitute and decided he wanted a sex change. That was 10 years ago. Last year he had sex reassignment surgery in Thailand.

In both cases I suspect the drug opened pathways that were suppressed. I see LSD as a truly mind altering drug. In rare cases it alters minds for the better. In many cases it exposes latent problems that can be debilitating and life-destroying.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug

#223

Post by blankslate » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 12:31 AM UTC

peterwwillis wrote: post #138

What in the name of Albert Hoffman has the title got to do with the actual article? They talk about a couple scientists and a symposium on LSD. How is this a 'geek wonder drug'? CAFFEINE is the geek wonder drug. LSD probably contributes less than 5% of the world's drug-induced geek accomplishments.

I respectfully submit that caffeine is geek oxygen.

If we're casting around for a "wonder" drug, I'd suggest looking at dexamphetamine sulphate, modafinil, etc.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug

#224

Post by mattgreenrocks » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 12:40 AM UTC

bitwize wrote: post #195

khafra wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The experience which is validated by many independent tests is the feeling of tapping into something truer and deeper. I don't think the GP is questioning the feeling, just the actual truer, deeperness of it.

The question that scientists and other empiricists ask when considering ideas is not "is it true?" but "is it useful?" Do people bring back useful (in the engineering sense) knowledge from their times tripping/rolling? Are they more likely to experience e.g., fruitful insights akin to Kekulé's vision of the benzene ring as an ouroboros, as a result of having consumed these drugs? If so, then the drugs may indeed live…

You're using the word 'useful' as a euphemism for 'practical,' and missing the point. You cannot expect to fully grasp a wholly subjective experience through a predominantly rational mindset. Better to simply discard the intellectual point of view for this topic and attempt to engage it otherwise.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug

#225

Post by blankslate » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 12:45 AM UTC

tokenadult wrote: post #15

Around the world, there are many different patterns of regulation of drugs, and here in the United States, schedule I controlled substances like LSD can be used for legitimate medical research. Research on new drugs is a multibillion dollar industry in several different countries. But there is a dearth of well statistically controlled studies of the safety and effectiveness of LSD for any purpose. Indeed, medical res…

It's worth noting that Timothy Leary espouses some silly shit, and I'm not sure he improves the perceived legitimacy of psychotropics, despite his intentions.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug

#226

Post by terchin » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 12:47 AM UTC

ellyagg wrote: post #194

jmtame wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why did you think it was more related to mdma versus an amphetamine? i remember when i saw limitless the first time, i kept thinking 'is this movie just about adderall and vyvanse?'

I had the same reaction as grandparent, so that's a good question. In my case, maybe it's just because it's the closest drug I've used that matches the description from the movie and I've never tried other amphetamines. The bright blue skies and sun dappled leaves. The pronounced extroversion and talkativeness that makes you think you're a suave genius. The fearlessness. Like Jay-Z said, "MDMA has you feeling like a…

I've taken MDMA (Molly) and Adderall, separately. MDMA was good every time. The Adderall only gave me sweaty palms and the inability to stay seated. They don't compare to each other, at least for me.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug

#227

Post by mattgreenrocks » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 12:47 AM UTC

gbog wrote: post #213

idonthack wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if by "chemical tests" you mean compatibility with the human digestive tract and metabolism, then yes

I mean no. It looks very wrong to me to think that art's primary purpose is to be examined. Am I the only one?

Nope. I think art's purpose is to change and mature you, if you let it.

It's just that the Internet is home to a lot of people that believe rationalism is the only valid way to perceive the universe, when in reality it is just one way to do so. Personally, I found myself unhappy when I restricted myself to it. The universe seemed cold, empty, and cruel. I think a lot of people hit this stage and then just give up completely.

It's really sad.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug

#228

Post by yid » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 12:55 AM UTC

joelhooks wrote: post #113

yid wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow! Those are amazing by any standard. In fact, is selling an option?

hey, thanks. I don't do much artistic creation outside of the silly sketches anymore so they are essentially priceless to me. Cheers though :>

FYI, my comment got 6 upvotes...

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug

#229

Post by jtheory » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 1:00 AM UTC

1337p337 wrote: post #206

anonLSD wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People smoke cigarettes primarily because they are profoundly addictive, both chemically and psychologically. That confounds ordinary risk/reward analysis, and so I think it is a red herring here. Also, the "Hope you..." phrasing makes your comment come off as a bit sneering/condescending, just FYI.

When I am reading HN, it's almost always during time outside the office in the smoking area, or in front of my house, smoking a cigarette, like now. I would certainly agree that nicotine is profoundly addictive, and the cigarette as a delivery system equally so. It reduces anxiety (especially useful to smooth the effects of caffeine), acts as an apetite suppressant (long nights hacking can be interrupted by a five-mi…

I'm grateful fairly frequently that I never went beyond sampling cigarettes as a kid. So a bit by chance, I don't smoke now, and I'm sure as hell not going to start as an adult.

It's just profoundly clear to me (from your comments, from similar discussions with lots of other smokers) that there's no going back to a pre-smoking life. Life after quitting smoking (or any other deeply-rooted addition, I suspect) is not at all the same as a life where you never started; that bridge is burned.

Re: LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug

#230

Post by billybob » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 1:01 AM UTC

danenania wrote: post #157

parenthesis wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> What it feels like is that you are tapping into something truer and deeper It might feel like you are tapping into something truer and deeper, but that doesn't mean that you are.

Ultimately, all our experiences are subjective and we can't be sure that any of them are authentic. Perception is reality. LSD really makes this fact stand out.

Perception isn't reality. Incorrectly perceiving an oncoming car will prove this.

There are perceptions and there are facts. This is true whether the facts are easily knowable or not, and extends as much to the existence of God and other such questions as it does to the sum of two numbers.