9 ms·

I'm glad the taboos around psychedelics research, especially as tools for therapy, are slowly falling down- there's some fascinating stuff in there. To people

by GuiA 13y ago

I'm glad the taboos around psychedelics research, especially as tools for therapy, are slowly falling down- there's some fascinating stuff in there. To people who have never experienced drugs, grown up in a culture that demonizes them all indiscriminately, have a hard time wrapping their head around what they are/do exactly but are curious about them, I recommend this article by Sam Harris, a great neuroscientist[0] For a slightly more in depth essay, Aldous Huxley's "Doors of Perception" [1] is a great book, albeit slightly dated. There are also some extremely interesting synergies between the origins of the computer industry and the psychedelics/California counter culture era. John Markoff's "What the Dormouse Said" [2] is a fantastic read, although it requires knowing about computer history a little bit already. I learned from it that there was scientific research on LSD conducted in Menlo Park, a few blocks away from where I used to live. There's also a great essay by Timothy Leary about parallels between psychedelics as tools for expanding the human mind and the computer as a tool to enhance the human brain in Brenda Laurel's book "Art of Human Computer Interaction Design". [3] There's a great essay by Carl Sagan about his experiences using marijuana creatively/intellectually [4]. I had never tried any drugs before moving to California in my 20s, and had grown up in a fairly standard European culture of all drugs = the devil. Some changes occurred, and it turns out there's a really fascinating history and philosophy in there (especially w/ regards to parallels with computer history, as described in the aforementioned book). [0]: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-life http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-... [1]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Doors-Of-Perception-thINKing/dp/1907590099/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393956956&sr=8-1&keywords=doors+of+perception http://www.amazon.com/The-Doors-Of-Perception-thINKing/dp/19... [2]: http://www.amazon.com/What-Dormouse-Said-Counterculture-Personal/dp/0143036769/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393956981&sr=8-1&keywords=dormouse+said http://www.amazon.com/What-Dormouse-Said-Counterculture-Pers... [3]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Human-Computer-Interface-Design/dp/0201517973/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393956970&sr=8-2&keywords=art+of+human+computer+interaction http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Human-Computer-Interface-Desig... [4]: http://marijuana-uses.com/mr-x/ http://marijuana-uses.com/mr-x/

EC1 13y ago
Before entering the corporate work place I never touched anything. Once my one coworker started talking about it, the whole chain revealed itself, now it's super social to go smoke a joint with my bosses after work and have a beer, I love it. I wonder how much I'm actually destroying my health by smoking weed every day, drinking coffee, and having some alcohol at least in a minor capacity. I feel as if the emotional/mental pain I suffered by not having any outlet greatly outweighs the physical damage I'm doing to myself. Now that I smoke/drink while working most of the time (self unemployed), I find that I am much more productive because I'm enjoying myself the entire time. Tunes, a drink, a smoke, and code. Never seen talk on HN about drugs really. What's your routine like with HN? What are your experiences?
- hiphopyo 13y ago
  Everything excess in life is poison. Like they say, it is possible that you hate a thing which is good for you [emotional/mental pain], and love a thing which is bad for you [being a drunk].
  - bennyg 13y ago
    Maybe. I'm not convinced that when things are going well we should try to make things go badly just to "feel the downswing too." I think it more has to do with the fact that life can have ups and downs, they aren't easily predictable, and one shouldn't be afraid to face them both in stride.
- today 13y ago
  I thought I had things under control with weed. Gradually I realised I was using it to cope with chronic depression due to an earlier personal tragedy. Weed probably is great when things are actually in order in your life, but you may be losing contact with reality precisely because it makes it possible to enjoy yourself the entire time. I think you have to be very mindful of that. It's a painful processes, turning to face life directly, but I feel like I'm managing to do so day by day. Part of this processes involves speaking to a psychiatrist and starting an SNRI prescription. I do plan to smoke weed again, cautiously, once things are "in order". It's funny - when I used to smoke weed, I always felt like I needed to clear my daily todo list before hand. I would take out the trash I should have taken out, put clothes in the laundry, maybe respond to some lingering emails. It was quite productive. Now I'm recapitulating that pattern at a higher level in life. At least, I hope that's what's happening...
amartya916 13y ago
I second the reference to Doors of Perception. If you folks have the time, and you haven't already read about Sasha (Alexander Shulgin), give it a whirl. Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Shulgin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Shulgin There's a movie on his life, isn't great but it's a decent watch, Dirty Pictures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA8ddx_iC_g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA8ddx_iC_g
Nursie 13y ago
"LSD - My Problem Child" is also well worth a read IMHO. It's by Hoffman and it tells the story of its discovery, also giving a few of his thoughts on what happened afterwards. Personally I'm not a huge fan of the "wonder drug that will cure all ills and open your EYES man" theories that abound around psychedelics. They can certainly induce a sense of the profound but I'm not sure they actually produce profundity. That said, long term changes to thought patterns and moods are certainly evident and I think research in this area could be very useful. I also think it's a person's own business what they take, that the dangers of "drugs" are vastly and deliberately overstated, and that the drug war is an inhuman waste of lives, time and money. That probably makes me some sort of crazy hippy radical...
- epsylon 13y ago
  They can certainly induce a sense of the profound but I'm not sure they actually produce profundity. What's the difference?
  - grmarcil 13y ago
    One of the classic effects of LSD (happens to many but by no means all users) is a sensation of ego death - ie, your sense of identity and who you are in the world is either eliminated or greatly changed. This, as you might imagine, is an extremely profound feeling ('a sense of the profound'). But, after coming down, does this experience have any grounding in reality? Did it 'actually produce profundity' or was it a hallucination, pure and simple? Hope that helps capture the difference.
    - sizzle 13y ago
      I only heard about this phenomenon with shroom, good to know.
      - bennyg 13y ago
        Both molecules are very similar and have been theorized to act very similarly in the way they affect neurotransmitters. However, as anyone who has experienced both will tell you, they are quantifiably and qualitatively different.
derwiki 13y ago
Electric Kool-aid Acid Test[0] by Tom Wolfe is an interesting perspective on LSD as well. It starts with the main character, Ken Kesey, taking part in the CIA-run LSD experiments in Menlo Park. The book details his journey from straight-laced-not-even-alcohol to driving a psychedelic bus across the country and finishing with large-scale public acid trips -- all before LSD was criminalized. [0]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Electric-Kool-Aid-Acid-Test/dp/031242759X http://www.amazon.com/The-Electric-Kool-Aid-Acid-Test/dp/031... [Edit to fix run-on sentence]
doorhammer 13y ago
If you haven't read it, you should check out Hallucinations, by the neurologist Oliver Sacks. His books in general are super fascinating, but there's a really interesting section on drugs in that one, and specifically mentions psychedelics a number of times (which isn't a shock considering it's a book on hallucinations). http://www.amazon.com/Hallucinations-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0307957241 http://www.amazon.com/Hallucinations-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0307957...

by GuiA 13y ago

EC1 13y ago

Before entering the corporate work place I never touched anything. Once my one coworker started talking about it, the whole chain revealed itself, now it's super social to go smoke a joint with my bosses after work and have a beer, I love it. I wonder how much I'm actually destroying my health by smoking weed every day, drinking coffee, and having some alcohol at least in a minor capacity. I feel as if the emotional/mental pain I suffered by not having any outlet greatly outweighs the physical damage I'm doing to myself. Now that I smoke/drink while working most of the time (self unemployed), I find that I am much more productive because I'm enjoying myself the entire time. Tunes, a drink, a smoke, and code. Never seen talk on HN about drugs really. What's your routine like with HN? What are your experiences?

hiphopyo 13y ago
Everything excess in life is poison. Like they say, it is possible that you hate a thing which is good for you [emotional/mental pain], and love a thing which is bad for you [being a drunk].
- bennyg 13y ago
  Maybe. I'm not convinced that when things are going well we should try to make things go badly just to "feel the downswing too." I think it more has to do with the fact that life can have ups and downs, they aren't easily predictable, and one shouldn't be afraid to face them both in stride.
today 13y ago
I thought I had things under control with weed. Gradually I realised I was using it to cope with chronic depression due to an earlier personal tragedy. Weed probably is great when things are actually in order in your life, but you may be losing contact with reality precisely because it makes it possible to enjoy yourself the entire time. I think you have to be very mindful of that. It's a painful processes, turning to face life directly, but I feel like I'm managing to do so day by day. Part of this processes involves speaking to a psychiatrist and starting an SNRI prescription. I do plan to smoke weed again, cautiously, once things are "in order". It's funny - when I used to smoke weed, I always felt like I needed to clear my daily todo list before hand. I would take out the trash I should have taken out, put clothes in the laundry, maybe respond to some lingering emails. It was quite productive. Now I'm recapitulating that pattern at a higher level in life. At least, I hope that's what's happening...

amartya916 13y ago

I second the reference to Doors of Perception. If you folks have the time, and you haven't already read about Sasha (Alexander Shulgin), give it a whirl. Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Shulgin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Shulgin There's a movie on his life, isn't great but it's a decent watch, Dirty Pictures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA8ddx_iC_g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA8ddx_iC_g

Nursie 13y ago

"LSD - My Problem Child" is also well worth a read IMHO. It's by Hoffman and it tells the story of its discovery, also giving a few of his thoughts on what happened afterwards. Personally I'm not a huge fan of the "wonder drug that will cure all ills and open your EYES man" theories that abound around psychedelics. They can certainly induce a sense of the profound but I'm not sure they actually produce profundity. That said, long term changes to thought patterns and moods are certainly evident and I think research in this area could be very useful. I also think it's a person's own business what they take, that the dangers of "drugs" are vastly and deliberately overstated, and that the drug war is an inhuman waste of lives, time and money. That probably makes me some sort of crazy hippy radical...

epsylon 13y ago
They can certainly induce a sense of the profound but I'm not sure they actually produce profundity. What's the difference?
- grmarcil 13y ago
  One of the classic effects of LSD (happens to many but by no means all users) is a sensation of ego death - ie, your sense of identity and who you are in the world is either eliminated or greatly changed. This, as you might imagine, is an extremely profound feeling ('a sense of the profound'). But, after coming down, does this experience have any grounding in reality? Did it 'actually produce profundity' or was it a hallucination, pure and simple? Hope that helps capture the difference.
  - sizzle 13y ago
    I only heard about this phenomenon with shroom, good to know.
    - bennyg 13y ago
      Both molecules are very similar and have been theorized to act very similarly in the way they affect neurotransmitters. However, as anyone who has experienced both will tell you, they are quantifiably and qualitatively different.

derwiki 13y ago

Electric Kool-aid Acid Test[0] by Tom Wolfe is an interesting perspective on LSD as well. It starts with the main character, Ken Kesey, taking part in the CIA-run LSD experiments in Menlo Park. The book details his journey from straight-laced-not-even-alcohol to driving a psychedelic bus across the country and finishing with large-scale public acid trips -- all before LSD was criminalized. [0]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Electric-Kool-Aid-Acid-Test/dp/031242759X http://www.amazon.com/The-Electric-Kool-Aid-Acid-Test/dp/031... [Edit to fix run-on sentence]

doorhammer 13y ago

If you haven't read it, you should check out Hallucinations, by the neurologist Oliver Sacks. His books in general are super fascinating, but there's a really interesting section on drugs in that one, and specifically mentions psychedelics a number of times (which isn't a shock considering it's a book on hallucinations). http://www.amazon.com/Hallucinations-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0307957241 http://www.amazon.com/Hallucinations-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0307957...