So, what are your thoughts about this situation? — Shawn
Why are drugs so alluring to some and growing in popularity amongst (quite a few) Americans? — Shawn
But more generally speaking, it's basically the only "instant mood change" available to man. Bills too high? Wife got you down? Dog ran away? Wife ran away with your dog and left you with a bill? Don't worry, get high! Heh, something like that. — Outlander
I wouldn't be quite so confident. List of psychoactive drugs used by militariesIf I was tasked with overthrowing a nation state, or fighting an army, if I could have one condition granted to bestow upon my enemy or targeted population, it would be for them all to be high. — Outlander
I'd like to add to my OP, that I don't quite understand the 1960's that well. I know it was the counterculture; but, I don't understand why it became a fascination with drugs... I mean, it was about peace, love, and political activism; but, why the popularity arose to drugs? — Shawn
Most commonly, because they are unhappy or anxious. Most of the unhappy people have good reason to escape the reality in which they live. Most anxious people feel more in control when they change perspective.What's the reason why people want to alter their moods? — Shawn
I'm hesitant to consider the listed reasons as rationalizations; but, regarding psychologizing the issue, I would like to know why people seek mood alteration? What's the reason why people want to alter their moods? — Shawn
There were all kinds of dire predictions about slippery slopes, a surge of drug use and increase in traffic accidents, etc. You know what actually happened? Nothing. — Vera Mont
It brought in a nice revenue from licenses (instead of the money-sink that policing users had been for many years) as well as boosting the legitimate economy. License holders make a decent living as well as paying taxes. Most people take their pot home or to a party and enjoy it in private. — Vera Mont
Most commonly, because they are unhappy or anxious. Most of the unhappy people have good reason to escape the reality in which they live. Most anxious people feel more in control when they change perspective. — Vera Mont
Why are drugs so alluring to some and growing in popularity amongst (quite a few) Americans? — Shawn
My previous psychedelic sessions had opened up sensory awareness, pushed consciousness out to the membranes. Psilocybin had sucked me down into nerve nets, into body organs, heart pulse, and air breath; had let me spiral down the DNA ladder of evolution to the beginning of life on this planet. But LSD was something different. Michael's heaping spoonful had flipped my consciousness into a dance of energy, where nothing existed except whirring vibrations and each illusory form was simply a different frequency.
It was the most shattering experience of my life. And through it all, sitting with his head cradled in his knees, was the architect of this enlightenment, the magician who had flicked the switch to this alchemical show, Michael, the trickster. The effects of the drug began to wear off by dawn. I was still higherthan ever before, but some structure was coming back. The flow of electronic vibrations was slowing, and I felt myself freezing into a mold plastic. There was a terrible sense of loss, of nostalgia for the radiant core of meaning.
I walked up to the Fergusons' room. They were feeling the same despair, ejected from paradise. I knelt before Flo with my head in herlap. Tears came down her eyes, and I found myself shaking with sobs.Why had we lost it? Why were we being reborn in these silly leather bodies with these trivial chessboard minds? For the rest of the morning I was in a daze, stunned by what had happened, trying to figure out what to do with these revelations, whatto do with life routines that were completely artificial.
I remember driving to my office in Cambridge the next day, still feeling a strange electric noise in my brain. Why did I return? Where had I lost the flow? Was it the result of fear, greed, past stupidities? And would I ever again break through to that other illusion, dance at the center of the great vibration dance? Then I realized what I was doing. I was imposing a pre-acid mental game on the revealed mystery of life. It all had to do with trust and acceptance.
It has been twenty years since that first LSD trip with Michael Hollingshead. I have never forgotten it. Nor has it been possible for me to return to the life I was leading before that session. I have never recovered from that ontological confrontation. I have never been able to take
myself, my mind, or the social world quite so seriously. Since that time I have been acutely aware that everything I perceive, everything within and around me, is a creation of my own consciousness. And that everyone lives in a neural cocoon of private reality. From that day I have never lost the sense that I am an actor, surrounded by characters, props, and sets for the comic drama being written in my brain.
Well, at least with regard to psychedelics, for some they help to catalyze higher states of enlightenment. Here’s Timothy Leary’s account of his acid acid trip: — Joshs
Are you kidding?!! How many ads do you see on mainstream tv for over-the-counter remedies for everything from indigestion to allergies to every kind of pain? (Maybe not as many as i do, since they target old people and sponsor the kinds of program old people are likely to watch.) How many emails do you get for detox, vitamins and m.a.l.e enhancement products? The pharmaceuticals love self-diagnosis and medication. And they want in on the cannabis market.It's a fickle game for the pharmaceutical industry who probably oppose self-medication, — Shawn
When legalizing a drug, the government also undertakes to regulate its sales and monitor its safety. So do states that legalized it: they license the distributors, restrict the age at which people can buy it, and how much they're allowed to have.so the government is responding by regulating the use of drugs and not simply legalizing drugs like states did. — Shawn
Not so out of-the-box!I mean, I think the mood-alteration is associated, as you say, with anxiety. But, what a strange way to treat anxiety, with dopamine, really? — Shawn
So, what are your thoughts about this situation? Why are drugs so alluring to some and growing in popularity amongst (quite a few) Americans? — Shawn
I mean, it was about peace, love, and political activism; but, why the popularity arose to drugs? — Shawn
Since that time I have been acutely aware that everything I perceive, everything within and around me, is a creation of my own consciousness.
An interesting question is why humans evolved in a way that enabled alterations of consciousness through chemical substances. That is, what did our earliest ancestors gain by getting drunk that resulted in their increased survival? — Hanover
That is, what did our earliest ancestors gain by getting drunk that resulted in their increased survival? — Hanover
I'd like to add to my OP, that I don't quite understand the 1960's that well. I know it was the counterculture movement; but, I don't understand why it became a fascination with drugs... I mean, it was about peace, love, and political activism; but, why the popularity arose to drugs? — Shawn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasantville_(film)There [Pleasantville],fire does not exist, and firefighters merely rescue cats from trees, and everyone is unaware that anything exists outside of Pleasantville, as all roads circle back into it. David tells Jennifer they must play the show's characters and not disrupt Pleasantville, but she rebelliously goes on a date with Mary Sue's boyfriend, Skip Martin, the most popular boy in school. She has sex with Skip, who is shocked by the experience, which leads to the first bursts of color appearing in town.
Bill Johnson, owner of the malt shop where Bud works, experiences an existential crisis after realizing the repetitive nature of his life. David tries to help him break out of his routine and notices an attraction between Bill and Betty.
As Jennifer influences other teenagers, parts of Pleasantville become colorized, including some of the residents. Books in the library, previously blank, begin to fill with words after David and Jennifer summarize the plot to their classmates. When Jennifer gives a curious Betty an explanation about sex and tells her how to masturbate, Betty has an orgasm that results in her colorization and a fire in a tree outside.
It didn't seem to do him any harm - lived to 102.Dr. Albert Hofmann invented LSD25 in 1938. — Metaphysician Undercover
Why are drugs so alluring to some and growing in popularity amongst (quite a few) Americans? — Shawn
An interesting question is why humans evolved in a way that enabled alterations of consciousness through chemical substances. That is, what did our earliest ancestors gain by getting drunk that resulted in their increased survival? — Hanover
The correlation between alcohol and sexual behavior is obvious. We limit its use to adults and create specific areas for its consumption, where we gyrate to rhythmic beats around scantily dressed members of the opposite sex.
Sex, drugs, and rock and roll as they say.
If a substance lowers one's inhibitions and that results in reproduction, those best affected by it will do better to spread their genes. — Hanover
We are the descendants of drunk fuckers. Literally. — Hanover
Marx said "Religion is the opium of the masses". In late global Capitalism, perhaps addictive intoxication (i.e. escape, distraction, self-anaesthetization) is the religion of the masses. — 180 Proof
"Survival" in the context of evolutionary theory is reproductive, not personal. Maybe sex drugs and rock and roll, is a by-product of the resulting euphoria. — Metaphysician Undercover
It didn't result in increased survival; it resulted in increased enjoyment — Vera Mont
One self medicates because one is in a state of such confinement in one's own mind, and such alienation from reality, that intoxication actually brings one closer to reality for a short while. — unenlightened
Psychedelics are not without danger. They are very powerful and can exacerbate or cause mental illness. They can also do some really, really wonderful things. I've experienced both aspects and feel ambivalent about them. I generally don't recommend them to people. If you are inclined to explore such territories, you will go there of your own accord. I suppose it's like scuba diving or mountaineering. There are amazing things to see, but some people drown or crash on the rocks. Others find much of value. — petrichor
it seems like a shortcut for desired revelations about one's inner-life. — Shawn
I found out though that psychedelics are not without their dangers. I flew too close to the sun and got burned. And I have had some life struggles that I am not sure aren't partly a result of my use of psychedelics. It's hard to test the counterfactual though. I can't know how my life would have gone without them. — petrichor
We don't call all drugs recreational. Most drugs are therapeutic (prescribed for specific symptoms of illness) and many are remedial (to correct minor malfunctions, like a headache, upset stomach or allergy). Most psychotropic drugs are also used in the treatment of mental illness; marijuana is medicinal when relieving the side effects of cancer treatment or overcoming some of the lesser anxiety disorders.It's interesting to note, that nowadays we call the use of drugs as a recreational thing. I suppose this means that the behavior is an outlet... — Shawn
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