Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behavior and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.
This in my opinion is exactly right. I do not have wide experience with psychedelics, but I have experienced a few, and the common element among all of them was how much it opened my mind up to new lines of thinking, and these paths were tended lead in directions that were not amicable towards our neoliberal capitalist society.
They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.
In mathematical modeling, they say that every model is wrong, but some are useful.
Insofar as psychedelics are dissociatives, they can cause harm by convincing us to discard our wrong but useful models of the world. And I have experienced that when no associations seem significant, all associations gain significance, independent of usefulness.
Our brain works pretty well with our incomplete-but-useful heuristics, and the ability to discover these heuristics and transmit them culturally is one of our central powers as a species. I don't have the perspective of a state to say why exactly they have been banned, and I don't have the perspective of a god to say whether the lubrication of psychedelics might slip us into a greater local optimum. But I do have enough personal experience to say that bad things can happen to an unmoored mind.
That's an interesting conjecture, but is there any evidence at all? Say, in the form of dysfunction in cases where users of psychedelics come into leadership positions or positions of influence? Or among communities where use of psychedelics is common?
Respectfully, I make no conjectures. When I say that psychedelics can cause us harm, I mean that psychedelics can cause the individual harm, and I generalize from my own (extremely mild) experience.
This is exactly what I retain from my limited experience with psychedelics. I sometimes jokingly say the world would be a better place if every politicians would have used psychedelics but I tend to think that might be true.
Why 'jokingly'? I'm a firm believer that anyone with the right mindset can really open their minds to different paths and different ways of thinking once experimenting with psychedelics. Politicians are no different to say, a builder and an engineer. They would benefit, just like the engineer would.
Therein lies the problem though. It comes down to mindset. Psychedelics are great for helping people with anxiety, stress/tension and helping them remove dependence on medication, alcohol and so on (my experience) as it helps you step outside the square and play the whole "mind over matter" thing. That being said, if you're an anxious person, there's a chance that being on a "trip" would make you even more so. That wasn't the case for me. I believe in myself, I just needed to see myself outside the square.
I would imagine for Politicians especially, they may be able to discover something within themselves on just that: _themselves_. They're people, like you and I. I'm sure there's plenty out there who have crippling anxiety over something. Undue stress about another thing. Rely on alcohol to get to sleep, and so on.
I used to have the worst anxiety until I tried psychedelics for the first time (many years ago) and I still remember every second from that wonderful journey. I am confident the world would be a better place with healthier and happier people. (note: not everyone needs to if they can face their problems/demons without any help)
I think the quote is wrong, because most people who make laws do not have experience with psychedelics, so they wouldn't know or fear the power of psychedelics. Instead, they believe that quotes like the one above are a bunch of hooey that druggies throw out to justify taking drugs.
I would argue that the reality is that the people who make the laws are paternalistic and view drug use (including psychedelics) as a moral failing. Since they are paternalistic, they believe it is the role of government to fight moral failings, and outlaw drug use. This is the same mindset that opposes goverment funding for birth control or sex education.
A note that the openness to new thought pathways doesn't end when the psychedelics' effects do. The "doors of perception" stay open -- This is implicit in what you and others have said. Making it more explicit here for those with less-wide experience as this differs from how other narcotics behave.
Comments
This in my opinion is exactly right. I do not have wide experience with psychedelics, but I have experienced a few, and the common element among all of them was how much it opened my mind up to new lines of thinking, and these paths were tended lead in directions that were not amicable towards our neoliberal capitalist society.
In mathematical modeling, they say that every model is wrong, but some are useful.
Insofar as psychedelics are dissociatives, they can cause harm by convincing us to discard our wrong but useful models of the world. And I have experienced that when no associations seem significant, all associations gain significance, independent of usefulness.
Our brain works pretty well with our incomplete-but-useful heuristics, and the ability to discover these heuristics and transmit them culturally is one of our central powers as a species. I don't have the perspective of a state to say why exactly they have been banned, and I don't have the perspective of a god to say whether the lubrication of psychedelics might slip us into a greater local optimum. But I do have enough personal experience to say that bad things can happen to an unmoored mind.
That's an interesting conjecture, but is there any evidence at all? Say, in the form of dysfunction in cases where users of psychedelics come into leadership positions or positions of influence? Or among communities where use of psychedelics is common?
Respectfully, I make no conjectures. When I say that psychedelics can cause us harm, I mean that psychedelics can cause the individual harm, and I generalize from my own (extremely mild) experience.
This is exactly what I retain from my limited experience with psychedelics. I sometimes jokingly say the world would be a better place if every politicians would have used psychedelics but I tend to think that might be true.
Why 'jokingly'? I'm a firm believer that anyone with the right mindset can really open their minds to different paths and different ways of thinking once experimenting with psychedelics. Politicians are no different to say, a builder and an engineer. They would benefit, just like the engineer would.
Therein lies the problem though. It comes down to mindset. Psychedelics are great for helping people with anxiety, stress/tension and helping them remove dependence on medication, alcohol and so on (my experience) as it helps you step outside the square and play the whole "mind over matter" thing. That being said, if you're an anxious person, there's a chance that being on a "trip" would make you even more so. That wasn't the case for me. I believe in myself, I just needed to see myself outside the square.
I would imagine for Politicians especially, they may be able to discover something within themselves on just that: _themselves_. They're people, like you and I. I'm sure there's plenty out there who have crippling anxiety over something. Undue stress about another thing. Rely on alcohol to get to sleep, and so on.
I used to have the worst anxiety until I tried psychedelics for the first time (many years ago) and I still remember every second from that wonderful journey. I am confident the world would be a better place with healthier and happier people. (note: not everyone needs to if they can face their problems/demons without any help)
I think the quote is wrong, because most people who make laws do not have experience with psychedelics, so they wouldn't know or fear the power of psychedelics. Instead, they believe that quotes like the one above are a bunch of hooey that druggies throw out to justify taking drugs.
I would argue that the reality is that the people who make the laws are paternalistic and view drug use (including psychedelics) as a moral failing. Since they are paternalistic, they believe it is the role of government to fight moral failings, and outlaw drug use. This is the same mindset that opposes goverment funding for birth control or sex education.
A note that the openness to new thought pathways doesn't end when the psychedelics' effects do. The "doors of perception" stay open -- This is implicit in what you and others have said. Making it more explicit here for those with less-wide experience as this differs from how other narcotics behave.