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Psychedelic mushrooms put your brain in a “waking dream,” study finds
- the_cat_kittles 12y agowhat if some of the lasting effects are really just the powerful insight gained from the temporary perspective shift?
- kristofferR 12y agoHasn't that always been "known" to be the case among the sane rational users?
- lipoicacid 12y agoThat was my interpretation, and the article talks about ego death. When one removes ego, it mimics "zen mind, beginner's mind" where you are more open to more ideas. In theory.
- shawnz 12y agoSure, "known" in the sense of "highly suspected", but of course that doesn't absolve the need for real science on the issue.
- kristofferR 12y agoI completely agree. The way the_cat_kittles phrased it though made it seem like he thought it was a new concept.
- model500 12y agonew here and somehow I separated this comment from my comment he responded to, thought the upvote was like a thanks button. But I think it was a rhetorical question, because it was true.
- kazinator 12y agoI don't know why, but I suddenly feel like watching Altered States. (1980 flick starring William Hurt).
- MichaelAO 12y agoAlmost positive that movie is based on John C. Lilly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Lilly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Lilly) If you're remotely interested, I highly recommend reading his books. 'Programming the Human Biocomputer' and 'The Scientist' were great.
- NAFV_P 12y agoHow about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Lunch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Lunch
- anigbrowl 12y agoIf you like that you'll appreciate this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYga-lJOMbE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYga-lJOMbE ;)
- iammyIP 12y agoI am looking forward to a time where the existance of these psychoactive drugs becomes more widely accepted for scientific studies and medical treatment without any of the current demonisation. There seems to be too much to learn about the function of the self that it almost seems irresponsible to wash this aside and criminalise it with a last centuries mindset.
- kristofferR 12y agoTrue, but not just medical/scientific use, responsible personal usage should also be accepted.
- test_account_1 12y agoI very much agree with this point.
- maroonblazer 12y agoSam Harris, whose PhD is in neuroscience, wrote a piece on drugs that elegantly lays out the potential benefits and pitfalls that come with the use of hallucinogens, and how there may be other routes, e.g. meditation, to similar experiences. http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-life http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-...
- kristofferR 12y agoGreat article! I'm already a huge fan of Sam Harris, but I hadn't read this one yet. That being said though - I disagree with the notion that meditation can lead to similar experiences. Meditation can certainly create very powerful and "spiritual" experiences, but only for people who are both extremely skilled meditators (which is not realistic to expect even 1% of the users of psychedelics to accomplish) and only while meditating (with psychedelics you can see/hear/taste/feel/experience the environment around you, not just the environment of your mind like with meditation). Psychedelics should certainly be handled with extreme care (yet there's the paradox that being overly anxious/nervous about the experience may cause a bad experience), no doubt about it. One of the cardinal rules of psychedelic use is to never do it alone though, his near-death experience in Nepal was due to breaking that rule. Being together with someone else isn't a guarantee of not having a bad trip/experience, but it's a good way to prevent putting yourself in dangerous situations like he did.
- catshirt 12y ago"It’s still not clear why such effects can have more profound long-term effects on the brain than our nightly dreams." maybe because it's not really like dreaming at all? calling a psychedelic trip a "waking dream" really undermines the way your consciousness is altered during a trip. as a matter of fact, your consciousness is one of the few things that seems consistent through the real world and dream world. calling it a "waking dream" also kind of undermines how insane dreaming actually is and how little we know about it.
- electromagnetic 12y agoAgreed. I've yet to have ego death, or the overwhelming feeling of solipsism when sleeping. The only time I've had even a remotely similar experience when sleeping was the time I had a fever that caused me to hallucinate. That's once in my life, you know of entering a dream state every day of my existence. I've also yet to have a dream that can overwhelmingly shift my perspective and motivation. An LSD trip made me "take the risk" and move continent with no support to be with my girlfriend. I say "take the risk", because I can just walk into any police station and get my ass deported and land right back at my parents house. Everyone thought I was crazy, but LSD made me see the real probability of risk in that it was negligible. Mushrooms made me motivated to lose weight. I remember standing in my bathroom naked looking at myself and I came to the conclusion I wanted to be in shape for my son. Another mushroom trip made me reevaluate risk and see that I have to start my own business. In fact, I just registered a business name and got insurance so I can get licensed. Funny that dreaming did none of this for me.
- 12y ago
- tptacek 12y agoPretty sure those are morels, not psilocybin. Delicious, but not psychoactive.
- oneeyedpigeon 12y agoI was thinking the same, but maybe it's because they're dried?
- jessaustin 12y agoYeah the caption is "a man displays dried mushrooms", as if that had anything to do with anything. Their file-photo folks really mailed it in on this one.
- blendergasket 12y agoI find the use of this picture quite immorel.
- TallboyOne 12y ago"Psychedelic mushrooms put your brain in a “waking dream,” study finds" This sounds like an Onion headline, heh. They needed a study to figure that out? Just take 1/4 oz and call me in the morning.
- boyaka 12y agoThat's basically what Vice did: http://www.vice.com/hamiltons-pharmacopeia/hamilton-and-the-philosophers-stone-part-1 http://www.vice.com/hamiltons-pharmacopeia/hamilton-and-the-...
- model500 12y agoI've taken them a few times, and all have been positive experiences that let you explore existence. I remember at the time I was reading Flow the psychology of experience. And while I was under the influence at work, I started thinking about how that book applied to what I was doing, and was seeing it happen all around me ( auto assembly), no loss in motor skills because my skill level of that job was higher than the amount of thought actually needed, so my unused thought energy seperated from my actions, I started looking at things differently, mainly myself and that point of response to stimuli for action or whatever. The point where if you notice it can lead you towards or away certain goals with some sort of common thread. words cant explain, because it will help each individual upgrade their mental operating system differently. there was a two week span where I took a small dosage each day, and i felt better than any anti anxiety or anti depressant I've taken previously. Have never taken another "mental" rx medication since, that as about 4 years ago. marijuana excluded ca-legal
- Spockulus_Rift 12y agooh great, so glad I bought that Tesla.
- shawnz 12y agoThat is incredibly dangerous. It is very likely that you were underestimating how impaired you were.
- balbaugh 12y agoHere is a link to the actual research article, "Enhanced repertoire of brain dynamical states during the psychedelic experience." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1002/hbm.22562/ http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1002/hbm.2256...
- Alex3917 12y agoFor what it's worth, this article was written by a mycologist, not a drug expert. That's why some of the explanations sound a little off. I also don't know anyone who would describe psilocybin as being like a waking dream.
- crimsonalucard 12y agoI often hear that these types of drugs can change the way you see the world. As someone who has never taken a psychedelic I wonder if my highly scientific/atheist view of the world will shift after taking a shroom? Can anyone relate?
- namlem 12y agoI've definitely shifted a little towards pantheism since the first time I took LSD. The thing is though, my views didn't really change much, it's more that I gained a greater sense of respect for the universe.
- Lost_BiomedE 12y agoI agree with Carl Sagan on this one. It is more likely that you will attribute any awe or grandeur to something else than a religious construct. This is also why when surveyed a 'religious or spiritual event' is used rather loosely.
- nirmel 12y agoI have a scientific + atheistic view of the world, and when I took psilocybes, those views grew stronger and more complex. I do not believe you will have a revelation that makes you believe in God. To the contrary, you'll explore things you think about deeper.
- Xcelerate 12y ago> I wonder if my highly scientific/atheist view of the world As someone with a highly scientific/religious view of the world, I too wonder how I would be affected. Curiosity isn't enough to make me try them though.
- brudgers 12y agoIf you are interested in the subject I'd reccommend reading some Carlos Castaneda. It takes an anthropological view of the issues and conveys his psychedelic experiences in reasonable detail. If you find it to be a bunch of bullshit, then you'll be ahead in the game. If it confirms your warm feelings then at least you will engage the risks better informed.
- 12y ago
- stephenitis 12y ago“Except for some naïve users who go looking for a good time…which, by the way, is not how it plays out,” Shrooms and LSD is not a party drug. I repeat. not a party drug.
- namlem 12y agoLSD can work for certain types of parties. I can't really see shrooms being fun at any kind of party though.
- swayvil 12y agoDepends on much. I have had an excellent time partying on LSD. Shrooms, however, no. Some of my friends, but not me. Too intense. Maybe a matter of dosage.
- llllllllllll 12y agoReally depends. Absolutely not for a first time, you're right. For me though, as I became more comfortable with the altered psychedelic state of mind, being around people became much easier. I wouldn't want to be trapped at a party, but I've stopped in at them for 30-40 minutes, had fun, and then left to move onto the next thing. The important part for me is to have options, whether that's a ride back home, a nearby park, someone to take a walk, an Ipod and some headphones, etc.
- swayvil 12y agonow we just have to figure out what a dream is
- pessimizer 12y agoI don't even think that there is such a thing. A dream is what you think just happened when you wake up with your brain in an inconsistent state, and it rationalizes how it arrived there. People's subjective experience of their own dreams changes based on cultural expectations: Why Did We Think We Dreamed in Black and White? http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/SchwitzAbs/DreamB&W.htm http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/SchwitzAbs/DreamB&W.htm edit: "In the 1950s, dream researchers commonly thought that dreams were predominantly a black and white phenomenon, although both earlier and later treatments of dreaming assume or assert that dreams have color. The first half of the twentieth century saw the rise of black and white film media, and it is likely that the emergence of the view that dreams are black and white was connected to this change in film technology. If our opinions about basic features of our dreams can change with changes in technology, it seems to follow that our knowledge of the experience of dreaming is much less secure than we might at first have thought it to be."
- pessimizer 12y agoI've never been downvoted for my lack of belief in dreams before. It's a strange experience:)
- tritium 12y agoThere's an odd mix of people in possession of downvote powers, and not all of them are particularly discerning in their use of the downvote button. I think a lot of people past the 500 point mark got their because of one lucky submission (or a small handful of decent picks), and not necessarily because of the quality of their character. Anyway, I think, at a cursory glance, people (or maybe just one narrow-minded person) are assuming that you intend to dismiss the significance of the interpretation of dreams. I think your concept is pretty insightful though. Considering the distortion of time we experience during sleep, where dreams can seem to span decades, or seconds, yet transpire within hours or fractions of an hour, that aspect holds up well with the premise that we reconstruct the context of the dream based on the state we're confronted with when awakening.
- dutchbrit 12y agoI like how this guy explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrYl9krZksk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrYl9krZksk
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]