4 ms·

How is it not a "natural" way of life to imbibe natural compounds from plants and fungi that have been imbibed for tens of thousands of years? THC, CBD, and psi

How is it not a "natural" way of life to imbibe natural compounds from plants and fungi that have been imbibed for tens of thousands of years? THC, CBD, and psilocybin, as well as many other compounds like coffee, tea, chocolate, caffeine, etc. have been part of human diets for countless generations. There are even biological theories that state that these plants and humans co-evolved, with humans spreading around the plants intentionally and unintentionally, and selecting those plants with "positive" effects and thus co-evolution occurred.

chaos_emergent 7y ago
I don't think that kossTKR said anything about the ingestion of these substances being unnatural; rather, their implication is that psychedelics are poised as a solution to the depressive symptoms that we feel by nature of living in the societies that we do. In other words: instead of fixing some of the symptoms caused by society, why not change society and the ways that we live? There are strong parallels in western notions of mindfulness. In our society mindfulness/meditation are considered tools that helps us mitigate stress. The original intent was to stop the sources of stress and suffering by developing one's mind, but western interpretations fall far shorter of that, opting for a grotesquely simplified and amputated version of the original philosophy that aids in placating the masses rather than bringing about fundamental changes to the ways we live.
kossTKR 7y ago
I don't disagree. Also i am all for this small step towards hopefully an eventual legalisation! I even wrote that i tried them myself. I just wanted to illuminate a certain aspect of mainstream, adoption that i find potentially problematic but apparently that's not something people really want to discuss at this moment in time i can se by the torrent of downvotes. To elaborate it's the same dillema that widespread corporate Mindfulness presents, or the problem of using all kinds of other -in essence beautiful/profound measures- but in a decontextualised and corporate context to push depressed workers or the general standing reserve to perform better while the "true" solutions are actually about rights, real-wages, loneliness, painfully long work hours or other classical problems that psychedelics won't help you with. A good "bad trip" can help you "wake up" and realise that your life circumstances are unnatural and bad and make you want to steer you life in another direction and that's beautiful. But if psychedelics becomes a way to push an already stressed out population to find meaning and beauty in horrible conditions then that's not a good thing - just as weed as a life long sedative is also a bit depressing i my eyes. Chop wood and carry water but don't remove the context of doing it. Just like rituals, myth, community and location worked as context for psychedelics. This is - at least i think - is important to remember when re-introducing powerful concepts. It's because it's very very potent that we need to be critical.

chaos_emergent 7y ago

I don't think that kossTKR said anything about the ingestion of these substances being unnatural; rather, their implication is that psychedelics are poised as a solution to the depressive symptoms that we feel by nature of living in the societies that we do. In other words: instead of fixing some of the symptoms caused by society, why not change society and the ways that we live? There are strong parallels in western notions of mindfulness. In our society mindfulness/meditation are considered tools that helps us mitigate stress. The original intent was to stop the sources of stress and suffering by developing one's mind, but western interpretations fall far shorter of that, opting for a grotesquely simplified and amputated version of the original philosophy that aids in placating the masses rather than bringing about fundamental changes to the ways we live.

kossTKR 7y ago

I don't disagree. Also i am all for this small step towards hopefully an eventual legalisation! I even wrote that i tried them myself. I just wanted to illuminate a certain aspect of mainstream, adoption that i find potentially problematic but apparently that's not something people really want to discuss at this moment in time i can se by the torrent of downvotes. To elaborate it's the same dillema that widespread corporate Mindfulness presents, or the problem of using all kinds of other -in essence beautiful/profound measures- but in a decontextualised and corporate context to push depressed workers or the general standing reserve to perform better while the "true" solutions are actually about rights, real-wages, loneliness, painfully long work hours or other classical problems that psychedelics won't help you with. A good "bad trip" can help you "wake up" and realise that your life circumstances are unnatural and bad and make you want to steer you life in another direction and that's beautiful. But if psychedelics becomes a way to push an already stressed out population to find meaning and beauty in horrible conditions then that's not a good thing - just as weed as a life long sedative is also a bit depressing i my eyes. Chop wood and carry water but don't remove the context of doing it. Just like rituals, myth, community and location worked as context for psychedelics. This is - at least i think - is important to remember when re-introducing powerful concepts. It's because it's very very potent that we need to be critical.