3 ms·

There's good evidence that psychedelics can increase neuroplasticity, you can web search those keywords. It would be surprising if it didn't at least sometimes

There's good evidence that psychedelics can increase neuroplasticity, you can web search those keywords. It would be surprising if it didn't at least sometimes help with cognition. On the other hand, a colleague who works in the field said to me "who says plasticity is good?" I've yet to ask him to clarify this; it challenges my assumptions but he is way more knowledgeable than I. There are also studies into psychedelics and creativity (as in problem solving, rather than painting) which again you could look up. The one I'm thinking of in particular was before the war on drugs and rather flawed methodology. But there have been more recent studies.

basil-rash 3y ago
There is no guarantee that when you break down and reform something, the end result is in any way “better”. This is especially true for reality.
- highstep 3y ago
  that's the thing about resetting to default settings... sometimes your custom preferences were useful and they'll some time to reconfigure
- ahazred8ta 3y ago
  "He who breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." — Gandalf speaking to Saruman
- hackable_sand 3y ago
  [flagged]
enonimal 3y ago
> "Who says plasticity is good" In Machine Learning, we might think of this idea as "setting your Learning Rate too high"
- basil-rash 3y ago
  In ML, this will bump you into a nearby optima at random. That optima may or may not be better than your prior. And if it’s worse, there’s a good chance it’ll be very difficult to get back to where you were without external checkpoints to revert to. The brain is the same, but no checkpoints.
  - LoganDark 3y ago
    I wouldn't say the brain has no checkpoints. Certain events (like concussions or stroke) can knock out memories or habits and result in roughly what was some months or years ago. Also, certain things like Dissociative Identity Disorder can result in past/younger versions of yourself splitting off and halting development for years or more. Then they can come back up later. With that said, I don't think anyone really has control over this. I'm a DID system and I have some sort of limited control but my time skips are usually on the order of days or weeks, not years.
aredox 3y ago
I am really interested in what your friend meant by "who says plasticity is good?". Plasticity seems to me to be seen as a quality in psychology, no ifs no buts.
- ccppurcell 3y ago
  Some interesting points raised by other comments to this post. My best guess is that he meant that you could have a traumatic experience afterwards that leaves you worse than before. Maybe (just spitballing) whatever mental defences you have against trauma are enhanced by not being too plastic.

basil-rash 3y ago

There is no guarantee that when you break down and reform something, the end result is in any way “better”. This is especially true for reality.

highstep 3y ago
that's the thing about resetting to default settings... sometimes your custom preferences were useful and they'll some time to reconfigure
ahazred8ta 3y ago
"He who breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." — Gandalf speaking to Saruman
hackable_sand 3y ago
[flagged]

enonimal 3y ago

> "Who says plasticity is good" In Machine Learning, we might think of this idea as "setting your Learning Rate too high"

basil-rash 3y ago
In ML, this will bump you into a nearby optima at random. That optima may or may not be better than your prior. And if it’s worse, there’s a good chance it’ll be very difficult to get back to where you were without external checkpoints to revert to. The brain is the same, but no checkpoints.
- LoganDark 3y ago
  I wouldn't say the brain has no checkpoints. Certain events (like concussions or stroke) can knock out memories or habits and result in roughly what was some months or years ago. Also, certain things like Dissociative Identity Disorder can result in past/younger versions of yourself splitting off and halting development for years or more. Then they can come back up later. With that said, I don't think anyone really has control over this. I'm a DID system and I have some sort of limited control but my time skips are usually on the order of days or weeks, not years.

aredox 3y ago

I am really interested in what your friend meant by "who says plasticity is good?". Plasticity seems to me to be seen as a quality in psychology, no ifs no buts.

ccppurcell 3y ago
Some interesting points raised by other comments to this post. My best guess is that he meant that you could have a traumatic experience afterwards that leaves you worse than before. Maybe (just spitballing) whatever mental defences you have against trauma are enhanced by not being too plastic.