Wednesday, 30 May 2018
quote [ Pollan’s initial skepticism and general lack of hipness work wonders for the material. The problem with more enthusiastic or even hallucinatory writers on the subject is that they just compound the zaniness at the heart of the thing; it’s all too much of the same tone, like having George Will walk you through the tax code. ]
I'll start listening to this as an audiobook on my commute in the next few days. I've read several of his books, and deeply enjoyed them, as well as seen him speak a few times. There's a link to a recent interview about the book with Michael Pollan by Sam Harris in the extended, along with a few of my own thoughts. NYT text also in extended.
NYT article full text and photo, credited:
https://samharris.org/podcasts/127-freedom-known/ As a believer in materialism and science, and yet as one who has had some pretty profound experiences dealing with the nature of space, time, awareness, death, etc. mostly without any chemical help, I found the conversation between Harris and Pollan refreshing. There is no supernatural Woo here, but they aren't afraid to explore and express the profundity of non-standard consciousness and its potential positive effects on our lives. It's been almost 30 years since I took any traditional psychedelics (mushrooms a few times), and I suspect I might have a lot more understanding and appreciation of the experience these days. Once I finish the book, I might have to ask around... I highly recommend Pollan's books, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and The Botany of Desire. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3109.The_Omnivore_s_Dilemma
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perezoso said @ 2:47am GMT on 30th May
Phil, Bobby, Jerry, and about 1,000 semi-clad spinning dervishes congesting the hallways of Hampton Coliseum and a few other places were my experienced guides and (semi-)safe place. Having Michael Pollan explain the experience to me is a little bit of tough sell. It's time to invest in shares of South American ayahuasca tourism camps if this guy's well (financially) endowed and (not so) liberal readers are all about take a trip.
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LurkerAtTheGate said[1] @ 3:18am GMT on 30th May
+1 for the book reco. Headed to Wyoming for family vacation next week and need reading material (on top of PSVita JRPGs and Darkest Dungeon/Moonlighter).
Been about 20 years since I've had mushrooms - growing them helped pay the bills in college - and only took LSD once. Never had a guided trip, but was called on to guide a few people already well on their ways to bad ones. I found my own experience of perceptive effects mildly entertaining, though never spiritually or otherwise enlightening. I'd grown out of my nihilist phase by that point and thus held few of ego's illusions. Due to my struggles with interpersonal interactivity, and, as far as I and the psychiatrist-my-parents-dragged-me-to can tell, a noticeable absence of empathic ability, I've always wondered what something like MDMA would do to me. Never known anyone to have some that wasn't of questionable origin or quality, and frankly have dreaded the idea of a serotonin hangover, so I've never tried. |
perezoso said @ 4:28am GMT on 31st May
[Score:1 Informative]
In my experience, which also was many years ago now, X was a sort of "lite" "safe trip" kind of thing. I don't know if I'd even really call it a trip in comparison to a largish dose of acid, because it definitely lacked the ego risk and experiential intensity. Not as profound as an acid trip could be but sharing some characteristics and virtually none of the risk. Honestly I might have done more of it were it not for the prevalence of a ridiculous rumor about MDMA and spinal fluid at the time. But in retrospect, X'ing times were sort of 'having a good time' throwaways while LSD is something I think back on now - basically 30 years later - as having been significant. Not that I would really want to do it again at this point in my life. Although you might twist my arm with some shrooms if you were able to find any lingering spores. :-)
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LurkerAtTheGate said @ 5:56pm GMT on 31st May
Mushrooms remain something I would do again; LSD unlikely. I've looked into getting spores again to start a small, personal-use terrarium but seems like they're harder to get these days (short of darkweb transactions, anyway).
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midden said @ 10:10pm GMT on 31st May
Mushrooms would be nice, but like you, not easy to come by in my current social circles. I have dozens of morning glories growing on my property, though. I'm considering trying them. From what I have read, the seeds contain significant amounts of LSA, a molecule very closely related to LSD. Supposedly its effects are less hallucinatory and less anxiety inducing, which I take as both positive.
https://azarius.net/encyclopedia/5/morning-glory-ipomoea-violacea/ |
midden said @ 1:44pm GMT on 30th May
I'm certainly no guru, but as I understand it and from my own experiences, if you think you've outgrown ego's illusions, you almost certainly haven't, regardless of any preceding nihilist phase. :)
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LurkerAtTheGate said[1] @ 5:51pm GMT on 31st May
Certainly; I did say 'few.' There's still a handful lingering I'm only just now catching a glimpse of as I'm pushing 40. But 20 year old me tripping in rural SC with friends? I watched the pretty colors and bendy reality; they had realizations that shook the foundations of their religious beliefs.
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