This has a very "virgin writing about sex" quality to it, which has been a problem with academic writing about psychedelics since the early days. Do you try them, and lose your "objectivity" or do you not use them and act like a Cold-War era Professor of Soviet Studies who has never visited the USSR?
One of the problems with much of the literature about psychedelics is that it is written by people who want to write more than "well, they're sort of fun." The people who have this attitude rarely write very much. Many of them work professional jobs and they go to things like Burning Man, Grateful Dead shows, Contemporary Art events, Raves, etc. They do it because it's a fun experience, not because they think it means anything "spiritual." In fact, that all of the "spiritual woo" dominates much of the discourse is because academics are inclined to spiritual woo, the University itself being an invisible immortal entity. And many academics are "True Believers" in this aspect of the spirit realm.
The idea that psychedelic drug use is "pushed" is also fairly silly. Anyone who is remotely intellectually curious has heard of them, and there is ample evidence that they are quite harmless for the vast majority of people. Growing psilocybe mushrooms is very, very easy and has been for decades---historically, the most difficult thing was obtaining spores, and now, thanks to the internet and commercial retailers, and trading, the spores are easy to get.
Drugs like LSD are extremely easy to buy online now---if you have bitcoin, you can buy them. In my City, there are advertisements upon telephone poles indicating websites you can buy LSD, MDA, MDMA, DMT, etc. from. No one is "pushing" these drugs except in the sense that it's now more obvious than ever that they are available. Even twenty years ago, getting dosed meant being part of a "clique" but not anymore.
Finally, all of this has to be looked at from the backdrop of an alcohol-soaked society. If one is really and truly concerned about the pushing of substances, it's a truism that two wrongs don't make a right, but alcohol could probably be called a deliriant anaesthetic. It turns off the brain's executive function far more persuasively than LSD, psilocybin, MDA, DMT, etc. And it is a far more pressing social problem. We can be against all substance use, but that is not really likely to succeed. Plus, can the Grateful Dead fans really be wrong? Perish the thought.
A decent article, but I think that it is a bit one-sided.
But what if they genuinely cure autism?
This shit sucks man
This has a very "virgin writing about sex" quality to it, which has been a problem with academic writing about psychedelics since the early days. Do you try them, and lose your "objectivity" or do you not use them and act like a Cold-War era Professor of Soviet Studies who has never visited the USSR?
One of the problems with much of the literature about psychedelics is that it is written by people who want to write more than "well, they're sort of fun." The people who have this attitude rarely write very much. Many of them work professional jobs and they go to things like Burning Man, Grateful Dead shows, Contemporary Art events, Raves, etc. They do it because it's a fun experience, not because they think it means anything "spiritual." In fact, that all of the "spiritual woo" dominates much of the discourse is because academics are inclined to spiritual woo, the University itself being an invisible immortal entity. And many academics are "True Believers" in this aspect of the spirit realm.
The idea that psychedelic drug use is "pushed" is also fairly silly. Anyone who is remotely intellectually curious has heard of them, and there is ample evidence that they are quite harmless for the vast majority of people. Growing psilocybe mushrooms is very, very easy and has been for decades---historically, the most difficult thing was obtaining spores, and now, thanks to the internet and commercial retailers, and trading, the spores are easy to get.
Drugs like LSD are extremely easy to buy online now---if you have bitcoin, you can buy them. In my City, there are advertisements upon telephone poles indicating websites you can buy LSD, MDA, MDMA, DMT, etc. from. No one is "pushing" these drugs except in the sense that it's now more obvious than ever that they are available. Even twenty years ago, getting dosed meant being part of a "clique" but not anymore.
Finally, all of this has to be looked at from the backdrop of an alcohol-soaked society. If one is really and truly concerned about the pushing of substances, it's a truism that two wrongs don't make a right, but alcohol could probably be called a deliriant anaesthetic. It turns off the brain's executive function far more persuasively than LSD, psilocybin, MDA, DMT, etc. And it is a far more pressing social problem. We can be against all substance use, but that is not really likely to succeed. Plus, can the Grateful Dead fans really be wrong? Perish the thought.
A decent article, but I think that it is a bit one-sided.
Good stuff.