4 ms·

I mean we do map out sex. Just look what sells on porn and advertising. The 'otherworldly experiences' lsd are not outside the bounds of what we have seen befo

I mean we do map out sex. Just look what sells on porn and advertising. The 'otherworldly experiences' lsd are not outside the bounds of what we have seen before. A fey creature full of animus and life, may be intense and full of subjective richness for you, we have seen this imagery before in pagan worship. It's not so difficult to describe a travelogue of the experience. Aldous huxley wrote The Doors Of Perception.

josephg 4y ago
It can be described. But its like describing sex, dreaming, music, the taste of delicious food or the feeling of grief. Words are no substitute. The experience itself can't be expressed in language. Language can refer to it, but without a common reference point, language will always fall short. > A fey creature full of animus and life, may be intense and full of subjective richness for you, we have seen this imagery before in pagan worship. So? The imagery isn't the interesting part. The subjective richness is, and the imagery denuded of its subjective richness is just some boring pigments. I've seen that imagery before, but that didn't prepare me at all for my trip. The imagery relates to the experience like a postcard relates to New York City. If I had never felt pain before, do you think you could explain it to me? Do you think you could teach what the color blue looks like to someone who is colorblind? I don't think you can do it - but by all means, prove me wrong :)
- barrysteve 4y ago
  I agree with what you say, but my point has been washed out. A description, no matter how poor gives us insight into the change and some subjective experience can be mapped to others. Iron deficiency causes your leg to bounce. CBT causes people to practice second order thinking. Faith causes people to experience grace. Your subjective experience has overlap with other phenomena, a description of the journey allows it to be mapped. People with medical grade depression can then decide if taking LSD is likely to resolve their problems. Playing the subjective-definition game is entry level stuff. There is real suffering that could be allieviated here with a little more insight and mapping.

josephg 4y ago

It can be described. But its like describing sex, dreaming, music, the taste of delicious food or the feeling of grief. Words are no substitute. The experience itself can't be expressed in language. Language can refer to it, but without a common reference point, language will always fall short. > A fey creature full of animus and life, may be intense and full of subjective richness for you, we have seen this imagery before in pagan worship. So? The imagery isn't the interesting part. The subjective richness is, and the imagery denuded of its subjective richness is just some boring pigments. I've seen that imagery before, but that didn't prepare me at all for my trip. The imagery relates to the experience like a postcard relates to New York City. If I had never felt pain before, do you think you could explain it to me? Do you think you could teach what the color blue looks like to someone who is colorblind? I don't think you can do it - but by all means, prove me wrong :)

barrysteve 4y ago
I agree with what you say, but my point has been washed out. A description, no matter how poor gives us insight into the change and some subjective experience can be mapped to others. Iron deficiency causes your leg to bounce. CBT causes people to practice second order thinking. Faith causes people to experience grace. Your subjective experience has overlap with other phenomena, a description of the journey allows it to be mapped. People with medical grade depression can then decide if taking LSD is likely to resolve their problems. Playing the subjective-definition game is entry level stuff. There is real suffering that could be allieviated here with a little more insight and mapping.