4 ms·

AFAIK, Hoffman didn't really "decide to try it on himself", but accidentally got some dose through his skin because of working without gloves and felt that some

by krick 12y ago

AFAIK, Hoffman didn't really "decide to try it on himself", but accidentally got some dose through his skin because of working without gloves and felt that something is not right. I don't remember where I got that — I guess it was his autobiography or something.

sehr 12y ago
Can you imagine that bike ride home? Dude must have some mental fortitude. Basically took a thumbprint and walked it off
- nemo1618 12y ago
  Hoffman's "Bicycle Day" dose was 0.25mg[1], whereas the mythical "thumbprint" dose is upwards of 1mg (perhaps substantially more)[2]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lysergic_acid_diethylamide#.22Bicycle_Day.22 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lysergic_acid_diethy... [2] http://insanebraintrain.blogspot.com/2011/07/massive-dosing-lsd-thumbprint.html http://insanebraintrain.blogspot.com/2011/07/massive-dosing-...
- d23 12y ago
  Actually, I read the excerpt from a talk once that argued it was extremely unlikely that he actually ingested the LSD. It has some pretty interesting arguments: https://www.erowid.org/general/conferences/conference_mindstates4_nichols.shtml https://www.erowid.org/general/conferences/conference_mindst...
sillysaurus3 12y ago
You're absolutely right. I screwed up in my recollection of that. The experiment wasn't intentional. It may be true that the legal restrictions were looser back then, but it had nothing to do with the discovery of LSD. My bad. It's interesting to realize that it did require human experimentation in order to discover, though. But maybe I'm flat out wrong about chemists dying through self-experimentation. Regardless, I'll start re-checking my sources before saying anything.
- krick 12y ago
  > It's interesting to realize that it did require human experimentation in order to discover, though. Yeah, in hindsight it is, but if we try to remember history of pretty much every discovery — it all actually required some human experimentation. Everything starts from accidentally noticing something — something unknown and thus potentially risky. I remember how funny it sounded back then in school when somebody was telling about Volta checking if there is electricity by putting wires in his own ears. Because, — yeah, who does that! — right? But back then there was no other way to tell! (Of course voltage must have been really low, but still, I find it quite demonstrative.) I like to think that this actually is the essence of science: doing apparently stupid things and foolishly risking even your own health because of sheer curiosity.
Houshalter 12y ago
Most artificial sweeteners were discovered by chemists accidentally tasting chemicals.

by krick 12y ago

sehr 12y ago

Can you imagine that bike ride home? Dude must have some mental fortitude. Basically took a thumbprint and walked it off

nemo1618 12y ago
Hoffman's "Bicycle Day" dose was 0.25mg[1], whereas the mythical "thumbprint" dose is upwards of 1mg (perhaps substantially more)[2]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lysergic_acid_diethylamide#.22Bicycle_Day.22 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lysergic_acid_diethy... [2] http://insanebraintrain.blogspot.com/2011/07/massive-dosing-lsd-thumbprint.html http://insanebraintrain.blogspot.com/2011/07/massive-dosing-...
d23 12y ago
Actually, I read the excerpt from a talk once that argued it was extremely unlikely that he actually ingested the LSD. It has some pretty interesting arguments: https://www.erowid.org/general/conferences/conference_mindstates4_nichols.shtml https://www.erowid.org/general/conferences/conference_mindst...

sillysaurus3 12y ago

You're absolutely right. I screwed up in my recollection of that. The experiment wasn't intentional. It may be true that the legal restrictions were looser back then, but it had nothing to do with the discovery of LSD. My bad. It's interesting to realize that it did require human experimentation in order to discover, though. But maybe I'm flat out wrong about chemists dying through self-experimentation. Regardless, I'll start re-checking my sources before saying anything.

krick 12y ago
> It's interesting to realize that it did require human experimentation in order to discover, though. Yeah, in hindsight it is, but if we try to remember history of pretty much every discovery — it all actually required some human experimentation. Everything starts from accidentally noticing something — something unknown and thus potentially risky. I remember how funny it sounded back then in school when somebody was telling about Volta checking if there is electricity by putting wires in his own ears. Because, — yeah, who does that! — right? But back then there was no other way to tell! (Of course voltage must have been really low, but still, I find it quite demonstrative.) I like to think that this actually is the essence of science: doing apparently stupid things and foolishly risking even your own health because of sheer curiosity.

Houshalter 12y ago

Most artificial sweeteners were discovered by chemists accidentally tasting chemicals.