"I've conversed with many people who have done this to themselves, and they present as drug addicts to me, not as fully-functioning, let alone super-functioning

"I've conversed with many people who have done this to themselves, and they present as drug addicts to me, not as fully-functioning, let alone super-functioning, humans. Rather than grow as human beings, they're growing as some weird alien species." This seems unfairly judgmental, and even worse I don't understand what kind of basis you're using to make that judgement. If it's just an ambiguous feeling, I have to say that sounds pretty unscientific. For most of human history there has been addiction. It's just as valid a part of the human condition as anything else. Only in the last century or so has it become so stigmatized and relegated to fringe behavior. The vast majority of humanity has always been addicted to some substance or behavior or another, most likely including you. Just for the sake of conversation. I feel like a lot of this self-experimentation is incredibly difficult to quantify, and you have to be aware that when you believe you've discovered something or made progress the easiest person to fool will be yourself. How do we determine whether or not our default mode network is switched off without an MRI machine? How do we communicate the thoughts and feelings of that state to another person in a way that enables them to do the same thing or recognize those results reliably? It's extremely subjective. Nobody knows very much about this field, and those who claim to know are likely charlatans.