I'm sorry, but that doesn't actually address what I asked for. It's a study of how certain hallucinogens can create a 'spiritual' experience in certain people (and of course, the people chosen were those who 'all had active spiritual practices', so that they were able to contextualize their experience).
I noted this:
All of the study’s authors caution about substantial risks of taking psilocybin under conditions not appropriately supervised. “Even in this study, where we greatly controlled conditions to minimize adverse effects, about a third of subjects reported significant fear, with some also reporting transient feelings of paranoia,” says Griffiths. “Under unmonitored conditions, it’s not hard to imagine those emotions escalating to panic and dangerous behavior.”
This doesn't convince me that psilocybin and other hallucinogens are harmless 'warm fuzzy' recreational drugs which are only demonized because the facist industro-militarist system doesn't want people to enjoy themselves.
I'm looking for evidence of the specific claims made for them, and evidence that the 'insightful and mind amplifying effects' specifically enhance the cognitive processes in the manner under discussion. I want to see repeatable evidence that the use of hallucinogens specifically enhance the cognitive processes in the manner under discussion. You have actually acknowledged the inherently unrepeatable nature of hallucinogenic experiences, which substantiates my argument.
I don't think you know what I mean by mind amplifying.
It seems most people have forgotten the original claims made for hallucinogens in this thread. I'm talking about these claims:
Ezias wrote:One theory by Harvard professor Lester Grinspoon is that psychedelic drugs allow human consiousness to grasp a reality that is always there but beyond our normal physical senses.
Ezias wrote:There are many ideas about the structure of the universe in quantum physics that are very similar to what some have "realized" during drug trips. Perhaps, in an altered mental state, the mind has an ability to sense and percieve what science is just starting to scratch the surface of.
I responded:
Fortigurn wrote:A list of quantum physics experts who recognise that drug trips are a much faster way of getting to the truth of quantum physics than the dumb boring old way of using maths, science, and physical observation of our universe, would also be useful. I'm sure that they'd be very happy if they could bypass three years of painstaking and expensive research with a few hours a week flying high as a kite.
To date, no evidence has been provided to support these claims. I'm still waiting for this evidence to be provided.
I mean that things in the mind that are normally hidden from consciousness (subconscious) are brought to the surface. Psychedelics can amplify fear, or joy, or normally idle thoughts. They can also amplify latent mental illness (which is a bad thing).
There's no doubt about this. That is not the issue under discussion. It has never been contested that hallucinogens alter perception, amplify emotions, and trawl up subconscious thoughts and feelings to the conscious level. But that's not the issue under contention. All you've provided so far is evidence that hallucinogens are like someone walking through a room and turning it upside down in a totally random way.
They can also alter the perception of a problem and help a user think outside the box (a good thing).
Can they be used to do so
reliably and in an effective manner? This gets back to the claims earlier, and the fact that I'm still waiting for evidence for these claims.
They are a controlled substance because they are so powerfull, and can be abused, not because the side effects outwiegh the benefits.
What do you mean 'they are so powerfull and can be abused'? Could you provide evidence that they are controlled because 'they are so powerfull and can be abused, not because the side effects outweigh the benefits'? The article to which you linked appears to state the opposite.
Psychedelics are unique because they do not always produce the same results that can be repeated. This is because the results are affected by the setting and the mental state of the user. Can you control your wandering subconscious mind? If not, how would you think this would affect the experience of having that mind amlified to the forefront of consciiousness?
Well that's exactly my point. You can't claim that hallucinogens can be used for X, Y and Z if those results cannot be repeated. The effects are unpredictable, uncontrollable, unrepeatable, and to all intents and purposes totally random.
The most which can be said at present is this:
“I had a healthy skepticism going into this,” says Griffiths, “and that finding alone was a surprise.” But, as important, he says, “is that, under very defined conditions, with careful preparation, you can safely and fairly reliably occasion what’s called a primary mystical experience that may lead to positive changes in a person. It’s an early step in what we hope will be a large body of scientific work that will ultimately help people.”
Emphasis mine.
Say you wanted to see if psychedelics could consistently provide more mental clarity. What if the user was in a confused state of mind before taking the drug? It would likely end up in a confusing experience.
I agree entirely.
If the user had a clear state of mind before the trip, this would also likely be amplified, resulting in more insights into ideas the mind is considering.
Evidence please.
Lazy research debunked: bcspace x 4 | maklelan x 3 | Coggins7 x 5 (by Mr. Coffee x5) | grampa75 x 1 | whyme x 2 | rcrocket x 2 | Kerry Shirts x 1 | Enuma Elish x 1|