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"The drugs can take you up in a helicopter to see what's there, but you can't stay. In the end, you have to climb the mountain yourself - the hard way." That

"The drugs can take you up in a helicopter to see what's there, but you can't stay. In the end, you have to climb the mountain yourself - the hard way." Thats a really good way to put it.

michaelochurch 15y ago
The metaphor I've often preferred is that meditation is like biking into the woods. You know the path, and you only get so far as you are in shape to go, but you also know that you can get back out and that you're safe. Taking drugs is like hitch-hiking. You can go a lot farther with less effort, and you're probably OK, but you have no idea where the fuck you are or how to get back.
jwuphysics 15y ago
Having done many of the ones listed in the article, I would like to throw in my two cents: Drugs, like LSD or DMT, are not at all like seeing things from a helicopter. Sure, they are from a "new perspective", but unfortunately it's all in your head. My closest analogy is to dreaming--it seems to make perfect sense when you're dreaming, but when you wake up, you realize that all your thoughts were nonsense. I've had high ideas before. The feeling of revelation is unparalleled... even if it's all in my head. Once I sober up, though, I suddenly realize that they're a load of crap. Rather being a helicopter to check out what's up there, drugs more so resemble staring out the window and pretending to visualize things past the horizon. You don't come to your senses until you realize it's all in your head. I've quit them all now and honestly I only miss acid from time to time. But the fact that it's just eight hours of false epiphanies makes sure that I don't care to ever trip again.
- Alex3917 15y ago
  "Once I sober up, though, I suddenly realize that they're a load of crap." That's your experience. A lot of other people have really good ideas when they are high, and those ideas are still really good while sober. Part of this is that normally when you have an insight while sober, there is a unique feeling of pleasure you get in your brain. This is because part of the way we identify when we've had an insight is when we get this feeling. However, when we're high we get this feeling much more easily, even if what we're thinking about isn't actually at all insightful. Thus you need to sort of reteach yourself how to think and evaluate the quality of your ideas in a way that isn't reliant on whether or not something 'feels' insightful. It's a big step once you can divorce the depth of insight from the intensity of the eureka feeling. They are not necessarily linked.
- Psyonic 15y ago
  Francis Crick gives credit to LSD for helping him to unravel the double helix nature of DNA. Is that not real?
  - gnosis 15y ago
    Not to mention the probably billions of works of art, music, and literature which were inspired by various drugs, including LSD.

"The drugs can take you up in a helicopter to see what's there, but you can't stay. In the end, you have to climb the mountain yourself - the hard way." Thats a really good way to put it.

michaelochurch 15y ago

The metaphor I've often preferred is that meditation is like biking into the woods. You know the path, and you only get so far as you are in shape to go, but you also know that you can get back out and that you're safe. Taking drugs is like hitch-hiking. You can go a lot farther with less effort, and you're probably OK, but you have no idea where the fuck you are or how to get back.

jwuphysics 15y ago

Having done many of the ones listed in the article, I would like to throw in my two cents: Drugs, like LSD or DMT, are not at all like seeing things from a helicopter. Sure, they are from a "new perspective", but unfortunately it's all in your head. My closest analogy is to dreaming--it seems to make perfect sense when you're dreaming, but when you wake up, you realize that all your thoughts were nonsense. I've had high ideas before. The feeling of revelation is unparalleled... even if it's all in my head. Once I sober up, though, I suddenly realize that they're a load of crap. Rather being a helicopter to check out what's up there, drugs more so resemble staring out the window and pretending to visualize things past the horizon. You don't come to your senses until you realize it's all in your head. I've quit them all now and honestly I only miss acid from time to time. But the fact that it's just eight hours of false epiphanies makes sure that I don't care to ever trip again.

Alex3917 15y ago
"Once I sober up, though, I suddenly realize that they're a load of crap." That's your experience. A lot of other people have really good ideas when they are high, and those ideas are still really good while sober. Part of this is that normally when you have an insight while sober, there is a unique feeling of pleasure you get in your brain. This is because part of the way we identify when we've had an insight is when we get this feeling. However, when we're high we get this feeling much more easily, even if what we're thinking about isn't actually at all insightful. Thus you need to sort of reteach yourself how to think and evaluate the quality of your ideas in a way that isn't reliant on whether or not something 'feels' insightful. It's a big step once you can divorce the depth of insight from the intensity of the eureka feeling. They are not necessarily linked.
Psyonic 15y ago
Francis Crick gives credit to LSD for helping him to unravel the double helix nature of DNA. Is that not real?
- gnosis 15y ago
  Not to mention the probably billions of works of art, music, and literature which were inspired by various drugs, including LSD.