The Doors of Perception
Inhabitants of this region enjoy watching sunsets. They come from all over the mainland to stand on the edge of the water, sometimes even in the water, then facing west, they wait for the sun to go down.
Imagine the actual state of things, based on the latest scientific data. Our eyes contain neural photoreceptors. Around 120 millions precision-engineered rods to sharpen details and 6 to 7 million lascivious cones ready to receive arousing color information. Intricate complexity. Photons travel from the sun, strike surfaces on Earth, bounce into our eyeballs, and stimulate these visual receptors. At this point, the mechanical information is transduced into a neuro-chemical cascade flowing along visual pathways, encoding, translating, and rendering electro-biochemical information until an image is created inside our heads.
What do you think would happen if we could somehow alter these visual input and our response to it through artificial means? Every dope fiend knows that there’s nothing more astonishing than the raw naked reality of a psychedelic sunset, for example. Done correctly, such an experience gives you a greater appreciation for the mysteries of the world around you. It opens possibilities beyond “normal” perception. Unfortunately, this led to hysterics in the 60s when reports of Sun-blinded hippies began to surface. Most of the reports were nonsense, but the urban legends persisted. It’s a shame because I really think that if you’re a healthy, well-adjusted, and God-fearing individual, then you owe it to yourself to stare at the Sun while high on drugs. In the words of the immortal Otto, “I don't need drugs to enjoy this. Just to enhance it.”
Wasn't this what the U. S. army was trying to do in the 50s and 60's? The Legacy of the CIA’s Secret LSD Experiments on America
Yes, they were trying to find truth serums and personality modification tools to use against enemies of the state (real or imagined). Unfortunately for them (good for the rest of us), they could not direct the psychedelic experience to their desired military needs. Instead, they accidently unleashed a cultural revolution the likes human culture has never seen before. It's still ongoing, though it's a bit more low key.
Personally, I'm 100% for the intelligent use of these substances to explore novel states of consciousness, and 100% against uninformed and coercive use of these powerful neurochemicals.
Thank you for visiting, @agmoore!
If they put it in a bottle and sold it as a pharmaceutical (if some drug company could make money off it)....it would be considered totally legitimate.
You ever listen to commercials for newly minted drugs? The warnings? It's laughable. Everything you take carries a risk. If adults are willing to take that risk, OK with me. Not something that I find attractive, though. My mind is quite lively as it is. Wouldn't want any more 'sparks' up there ;))
Psychedelics carry their own risks. They're not for everyone. Very few people know how to properly conduct sessions. The experience can be confusing if one is not properly prepared with the right set and setting.
Fortunately, researchers are creating derivatives that are able to bypass the more chaotic aspects of the experience. They're aiming to use them as therapeutic tools for issues like PTSD. I'm more of a psychonaut, exploring these uncharted territories for creative, aesthetic, scientific, and metaphysical endeavors. To me psychedelics are just tools like the telescope, the microcoscope, and rocket ships. Know thyself, they used to say in Athens. Sounds like excellent advice to me.
I know myself. I don't want to go there. I'm really quite 'electric' without chemical assistance :)) Nothing against it for anyone else who does it in an supervised, controlled way.
I don't view weed like that, because there are so many strains. You can target therapeutic applications. A more benign alternative to conventional pharmaceuticals.
Project Stargate! Read the book, see the movie, "The Men Who Stare At Goats." Brilliant, funny, scary.
Project Stargate: The CIA's Human Experiments with Mind ...
https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2019/01/psychic-warriors-and-project-jedi/
And this:
https://www.grunge.com/53425/untold-truth-project-mkultra/
The Men Who Stare at Goats The critically acclaimed movie The Men Who Stare at Goats was an adaptation of the book that was written by Jon Ronson and published in 2004. Both the book and the 2009 movie, which features Hollywood stars George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges, are partially the result of project MKULTRA.
I saw the movie, and found it hilarious. There is a lot of important historical events that remain unknown, for obvious reasons. We're still skiddish about the brain and its operation. Discussion of its mechanisms and functions is right up there with discussions of Voodoo and UFOs.
Hi @carolkean,
I have a feeling I've seen that movie, and at the moment I'm gripped by a sudden compulsion to see it again.
What a cast. What crazy stuff. You'd think it was made up, but....
Quotable (or tweetable!) quotes - this line caught my eye, but then, they all do. And my earth-goddess niece has been photographing sunsets too. Sublime!
Aren't we amazing? I'm always blown away by the intricacies of the human nervous system. Just imagine, your eyes have millions of sensors to receive and parse color, light, shadows, etc. Everything we see. Wouldn't that be a better compliment to give someone? "Hey Carol, you got pretty photoreceptors."