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psychoactive drugs are a whole different category. You bring your whole mental baggage with you when you take them, unlike aspirin.

BossingAround 4y ago
How do you define "psychoactive"?
- EmilyHughes 4y ago
  Anything that influences your psyche in an obvious way.
  - BossingAround 4y ago
    Isn't Aspirin psychoactive in the same way? I.e. it takes away pain, which influences your psyche in an obvious way.
    - EmilyHughes 4y ago
      You could argue that. there is no clear line of course, but most people would agree that a beer influences them more than aspirin or an antibiothic.
      - BossingAround 4y ago
        I see. To me, it is not very useful to talk about "psychoactive" substances, since sugar, caffeine, or nicotine are also "psychoactive". I would recommend the term "entheogens" in your original post.
        mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
        Entheogen is even worse, that specifically means psychoactive drugs used for religious purposes. And guess what: nicotine is an entheogen!
    - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
      It's nit psychoactive in the sense that is has any direct perceptible effect on the brain. It reduces inflammation, which can be perceived as less pain indirectly altering your mental state. Whereas psychoactive drugs generally affect the actual underlying processes in the brain through various interactions with receptor, enzymes, or neurotransmitters. I hope that distinction makes sense.
- its_bbq 4y ago
  This is so disingenuous. Psilocybin directly affects levels of different neurotransmitters in the brain. Aspirin is an anti inflammatory.
  - BossingAround 4y ago
    It's not about disingenuousness, it's about the proper terminology. Caffeine is "psychoactive" yet very few people would say that you need to clear your mental baggage before you start drinking coffee.
    - hackernewds 4y ago
      It's a difference in the degree of effect. it seems there is some intentional focus on being pedantic and perfunctory.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago
Thank you for replying, but I would like to understand what "mental baggage" is and why it makes a difference. Why doesn't "mental baggage" affect aspirin? Also, just to be clear, I don't think you're saying that you have to be in a special frame of mind for psychoactive drugs to make a difference. For example, I've been told that homeopathy doesn't work for me because I "don't believe in it", but I'm pretty sure that a sufficient dose of psilocybin would get me just as high as anyone else (modulo tolerance), belief or no belief.
- RosanaAnaDana 4y ago
  Your prior mental state, past trauma, physical state and comfort, will have a significant impact on how your experience develops. Any neuroticism can bubble to the surface and you might find yourself obsessing over a bad habit you have instead of enjoying the mystery and pattern of the universe.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago
    Sorry, that sounds too mystical to me and I don't believe in the supernatural. I note you're not the OP though?
    - TaylorAlexander 4y ago
      The phrase is “set and setting” meaning that it is strongly advised to only take psychedelics when you have a good mindset and a good setting. The thing about psychedelics is that you will have powerful mental imagery during the trip, that’s just how they work. So what is on your mind that day will affect what you think about, and with the power of psychedelics I’m told it could get scary or bad if you’re in a particularly bad mood. For example I’ve twice taken mushrooms while I was lonely. About 1 gram. In both cases I ended up just feeling an amplified sense of loneliness that was very difficult to handle. Another time, and this wasn’t particularly bad, but I ended up thinking about my parents dying (they’re still alive) and it was a powerful feeling. That was good though, because after that I began to put more effort in to seeing them and spending time with them. But my point is that the experience is a powerful mental experience that is affected by what is on your mind. So they strongly recommend only doing a trip if you have a good mindset and a good setting to do so. Otherwise wait. By the way the parent comment is correct. Psychedelics bring up a powerful feeling of connectedness with the universe. You feel like you’re seeing patterns of the matter around you and you feel one with it all. I’m not a mystical person but that’s how I’ve felt on a strong trip.

BossingAround 4y ago

How do you define "psychoactive"?

EmilyHughes 4y ago
Anything that influences your psyche in an obvious way.
- BossingAround 4y ago
  Isn't Aspirin psychoactive in the same way? I.e. it takes away pain, which influences your psyche in an obvious way.
  - EmilyHughes 4y ago
    You could argue that. there is no clear line of course, but most people would agree that a beer influences them more than aspirin or an antibiothic.
    - BossingAround 4y ago
      I see. To me, it is not very useful to talk about "psychoactive" substances, since sugar, caffeine, or nicotine are also "psychoactive". I would recommend the term "entheogens" in your original post.
      - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
        Entheogen is even worse, that specifically means psychoactive drugs used for religious purposes. And guess what: nicotine is an entheogen!
  - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
    It's nit psychoactive in the sense that is has any direct perceptible effect on the brain. It reduces inflammation, which can be perceived as less pain indirectly altering your mental state. Whereas psychoactive drugs generally affect the actual underlying processes in the brain through various interactions with receptor, enzymes, or neurotransmitters. I hope that distinction makes sense.
its_bbq 4y ago
This is so disingenuous. Psilocybin directly affects levels of different neurotransmitters in the brain. Aspirin is an anti inflammatory.
- BossingAround 4y ago
  It's not about disingenuousness, it's about the proper terminology. Caffeine is "psychoactive" yet very few people would say that you need to clear your mental baggage before you start drinking coffee.
  - hackernewds 4y ago
    It's a difference in the degree of effect. it seems there is some intentional focus on being pedantic and perfunctory.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago

Thank you for replying, but I would like to understand what "mental baggage" is and why it makes a difference. Why doesn't "mental baggage" affect aspirin? Also, just to be clear, I don't think you're saying that you have to be in a special frame of mind for psychoactive drugs to make a difference. For example, I've been told that homeopathy doesn't work for me because I "don't believe in it", but I'm pretty sure that a sufficient dose of psilocybin would get me just as high as anyone else (modulo tolerance), belief or no belief.

RosanaAnaDana 4y ago
Your prior mental state, past trauma, physical state and comfort, will have a significant impact on how your experience develops. Any neuroticism can bubble to the surface and you might find yourself obsessing over a bad habit you have instead of enjoying the mystery and pattern of the universe.
- YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago
  Sorry, that sounds too mystical to me and I don't believe in the supernatural. I note you're not the OP though?
  - TaylorAlexander 4y ago
    The phrase is “set and setting” meaning that it is strongly advised to only take psychedelics when you have a good mindset and a good setting. The thing about psychedelics is that you will have powerful mental imagery during the trip, that’s just how they work. So what is on your mind that day will affect what you think about, and with the power of psychedelics I’m told it could get scary or bad if you’re in a particularly bad mood. For example I’ve twice taken mushrooms while I was lonely. About 1 gram. In both cases I ended up just feeling an amplified sense of loneliness that was very difficult to handle. Another time, and this wasn’t particularly bad, but I ended up thinking about my parents dying (they’re still alive) and it was a powerful feeling. That was good though, because after that I began to put more effort in to seeing them and spending time with them. But my point is that the experience is a powerful mental experience that is affected by what is on your mind. So they strongly recommend only doing a trip if you have a good mindset and a good setting to do so. Otherwise wait. By the way the parent comment is correct. Psychedelics bring up a powerful feeling of connectedness with the universe. You feel like you’re seeing patterns of the matter around you and you feel one with it all. I’m not a mystical person but that’s how I’ve felt on a strong trip.