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'I've read many anecdotes of people who sought psychedelics after reading his book with the expectation of life-changing experiences or psychedelic treatments f

'I've read many anecdotes of people who sought psychedelics after reading his book with the expectation of life-changing experiences or psychedelic treatments for their conditions, only to be disappointed when they didn't experience the miraculous experiences and transformations he describes." Now this sounds at least as interesting as anything Pollan himself writes about. I'd be interested in hearing the details of what they tried and how (ie. their set and setting). Why these substances work for some people and not others (even when administered in the exact same therapeutic settings and using the same protocols) is one of the biggest open questions in psychedelic research.

Animats 5y ago
See "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman". Feynman was convinced by Dr. Timothy Leary, in the 1960s, to try LSD. Feynman then thought he'd solved some problem he was working on. But when he went to give a talk on the problem, he realized that he had not solved the problem. He had only hallucinated that he had solved the problem. After which Feynman didn't try LSD again. "I like to think. I don't want to break the machine", he wrote.
- elevenoh 5y ago
  "I like to think. I don't want to break the machine" The 60s had some quite negative urban legends regarding LSD's effect on the brain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legends_about_drugs#Lysergic_acid_diethylamide_(LSD) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legends_about_drugs#Lyse...
  - galaxyLogic 5y ago
    I think it is useful to come up with incorrect theories and then and thus understand what is wrong with them. Then one can come up with a better one perhaps. For Feynman it must have felt like a dangerous experiment since it led him to come up with incorrect conclusions. But I tend to think I learn most from my incorrect thinking (assuming I realize it is incorrect)
- pmoriarty 5y ago
  I love that book, and find Feynman eloquent, likeable, and funny. He was also incredibly smart and highly accomplished.. in his own field. But Feynman, like many other intelligent, famous people, had a bad habit of opining on and dismissing out of hand subjects he knew little about. He did this with philosophy and with psychedelics. At least he tried LSD, but he was clearly not an authority on LSD, and his experience with it was minimal. Not to mention that back in the 60's little was known about how best to use it (there was some research in to this, but most people were not aware of the most effective methods.. and even now, while we know better we might not have the optimal method figured out). While Feynman might not have solved his scientific problem on that particular session that doesn't mean that it's useless in helping problem solving. In fact, there has been research that indicated that it helped with both creativity and problem solving: [1][2] and there's still ongoing research in to this subject.[3][4] As we all know today, the benefits of psychedelics can extend far beyond helping with creativity and problem solving, however.. they can help with various personal and mental issues, for example, increase empathy and openness, help with end-of-life anxiety, help with relationships, etc... apparently Feynman was either completely ignorant of this potential or chose to ignore it while focusing only on the narrow subject of scientific problem solving and his fear.. which is understandable, but not really a fair assessment of the potential of psychedelics. Which isn't to say that Feynman should have taken more LSD (that's a personal choice for everyone, and I respect his decision).. but just because Feynman didn't doesn't mean no one should. [1] - https://www.amazon.com/LSD-Spirituality-Creative-Process-Groundbreaking/dp/0892819731 https://www.amazon.com/LSD-Spirituality-Creative-Process-Gro... [2] - https://maps.org/news/media/4814-jim-fadiman-on-psychedelics-2 https://maps.org/news/media/4814-jim-fadiman-on-psychedelics... [3] - https://sciencetrends.com/does-microdosing-lsd-stimulate-creativity-and-productivity/ https://sciencetrends.com/does-microdosing-lsd-stimulate-cre... [4] - https://maps.org/news/multimedia-library/3171-can-psychedelic-drugs-enhance-creativity https://maps.org/news/multimedia-library/3171-can-psychedeli...
  - teknopaul 5y ago
    To say Feynmam knew "nothing about" a drug he actually personally experienced is a hard sell. "Feynman was either completely ignorant of his potential or chose to ignore it". [citation needed] IMHO he did rather well i his limited time on the planet.
- svat 5y ago
  The "I don't want to break the machine" part from the book was mainly about alcohol, and only secondarily about LSD: > I started to walk into the bar, and I suddenly thought to myself, "Wait a minute! It's the middle of the afternoon. There's nobody here. There's no social reason to drink. Why do you have such a terribly strong feeling that you have to have a drink?" and I got scared. > I never drank ever again, since then. I suppose I really wasn't in any danger, because I found it very easy to stop. But that strong feeling that I didn't understand frightened me. You see, I get such fun out of thinking that I don't want to destroy this most pleasant machine that makes life such a big kick. It's the same reason that, later on, I was reluctant to try experiments with LSD in spite of my curiosity about hallucinations. Also, according to this passage, Feynman's experiments with LSD/hallucinations came after (and despite) this decision, and they are described extensively in the book. I don't remember a mention of Timothy Leary in the book (it mentions John Lilly; maybe you've mixed up the two), and I also don't remember the part about him giving a talk about a problem he thought he had solved.

Animats 5y ago

See "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman". Feynman was convinced by Dr. Timothy Leary, in the 1960s, to try LSD. Feynman then thought he'd solved some problem he was working on. But when he went to give a talk on the problem, he realized that he had not solved the problem. He had only hallucinated that he had solved the problem. After which Feynman didn't try LSD again. "I like to think. I don't want to break the machine", he wrote.

elevenoh 5y ago
"I like to think. I don't want to break the machine" The 60s had some quite negative urban legends regarding LSD's effect on the brain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legends_about_drugs#Lysergic_acid_diethylamide_(LSD) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legends_about_drugs#Lyse...
- galaxyLogic 5y ago
  I think it is useful to come up with incorrect theories and then and thus understand what is wrong with them. Then one can come up with a better one perhaps. For Feynman it must have felt like a dangerous experiment since it led him to come up with incorrect conclusions. But I tend to think I learn most from my incorrect thinking (assuming I realize it is incorrect)
pmoriarty 5y ago
I love that book, and find Feynman eloquent, likeable, and funny. He was also incredibly smart and highly accomplished.. in his own field. But Feynman, like many other intelligent, famous people, had a bad habit of opining on and dismissing out of hand subjects he knew little about. He did this with philosophy and with psychedelics. At least he tried LSD, but he was clearly not an authority on LSD, and his experience with it was minimal. Not to mention that back in the 60's little was known about how best to use it (there was some research in to this, but most people were not aware of the most effective methods.. and even now, while we know better we might not have the optimal method figured out). While Feynman might not have solved his scientific problem on that particular session that doesn't mean that it's useless in helping problem solving. In fact, there has been research that indicated that it helped with both creativity and problem solving: [1][2] and there's still ongoing research in to this subject.[3][4] As we all know today, the benefits of psychedelics can extend far beyond helping with creativity and problem solving, however.. they can help with various personal and mental issues, for example, increase empathy and openness, help with end-of-life anxiety, help with relationships, etc... apparently Feynman was either completely ignorant of this potential or chose to ignore it while focusing only on the narrow subject of scientific problem solving and his fear.. which is understandable, but not really a fair assessment of the potential of psychedelics. Which isn't to say that Feynman should have taken more LSD (that's a personal choice for everyone, and I respect his decision).. but just because Feynman didn't doesn't mean no one should. [1] - https://www.amazon.com/LSD-Spirituality-Creative-Process-Groundbreaking/dp/0892819731 https://www.amazon.com/LSD-Spirituality-Creative-Process-Gro... [2] - https://maps.org/news/media/4814-jim-fadiman-on-psychedelics-2 https://maps.org/news/media/4814-jim-fadiman-on-psychedelics... [3] - https://sciencetrends.com/does-microdosing-lsd-stimulate-creativity-and-productivity/ https://sciencetrends.com/does-microdosing-lsd-stimulate-cre... [4] - https://maps.org/news/multimedia-library/3171-can-psychedelic-drugs-enhance-creativity https://maps.org/news/multimedia-library/3171-can-psychedeli...
- teknopaul 5y ago
  To say Feynmam knew "nothing about" a drug he actually personally experienced is a hard sell. "Feynman was either completely ignorant of his potential or chose to ignore it". [citation needed] IMHO he did rather well i his limited time on the planet.
svat 5y ago
The "I don't want to break the machine" part from the book was mainly about alcohol, and only secondarily about LSD: > I started to walk into the bar, and I suddenly thought to myself, "Wait a minute! It's the middle of the afternoon. There's nobody here. There's no social reason to drink. Why do you have such a terribly strong feeling that you have to have a drink?" and I got scared. > I never drank ever again, since then. I suppose I really wasn't in any danger, because I found it very easy to stop. But that strong feeling that I didn't understand frightened me. You see, I get such fun out of thinking that I don't want to destroy this most pleasant machine that makes life such a big kick. It's the same reason that, later on, I was reluctant to try experiments with LSD in spite of my curiosity about hallucinations. Also, according to this passage, Feynman's experiments with LSD/hallucinations came after (and despite) this decision, and they are described extensively in the book. I don't remember a mention of Timothy Leary in the book (it mentions John Lilly; maybe you've mixed up the two), and I also don't remember the part about him giving a talk about a problem he thought he had solved.