It being scary is kind of the point. Or rather, if you’re going to do LSD, you need to be in the mindset that 1) this is temporary, and you’ll feel fine tomorrow, and 2) the experience you’re about to have will be extraordinarily novel and impossible to fully describe, even after having experienced it. It’s an intense hallucinogenic, and is the most potent mind altering substance that we know of. It’s also one of the safer ones, if you’ve done your research and aren’t predisposed to a certain category of mental illnesses (schizophrenia, bipolar, anxiety).
Knowing that it’s temporary is the best tether to this world that keeps me from having a bad trip, if it feels like that could happen. As others have said, an LSD trip is going to take you places you might not expect to end up. Meditation can be good preparation leading up to a trip.
LSD is one of those chemicals that gives you a glimpse at what it’s like to process the world with a completely different category of consciousness.
Microdosing (or rather 1/4-1/10th a normal dose) works quite well. You get much of the mental flexibility without serious disorientation and serious physical reaction (jitteriness and nausea, which is also why I avoid shrooms—too physical).
It's also worth noting LSD is quite pleasant on the come down. You're just very comfortable and calm. Typically self-soothing through the angst of the first half of the trip is straightforward. Also a great reason to be in good mental health before hand.... if you're not prepared to face something you've been avoiding or deluding yourself through, LSD is a very, very bad choice.
It's not only the chitin that causes nausea/cramping/stomach upset. It's also the binding of the triptamine of your choice that you just flooded your body with to the many serotonin receptors in your gut. Techniques like lemon-tek or other filtering methods to remove chitin can help at reducing nausea, but it's only one factor.
It's an interesting thought. I have had a similar thought about AI and consciousness while tripping. But there are many pros and cons that just end up in speculation. Which is interesting but not very productive?
what basis would you recommend? Given the rate that chatbots engaging in making stuff up you can't just ask them. At least as humans we can take the substance ourselves to verify there's something happening. I think there will always be an insurmountable barrier to deciding if computers can be conscious, at least in our lifetimes. We're not even sure other humans experience similar consciousness.
I suppose we could simulate tripping in that fashion but it would seem easier to affect a distributed activation function or other parameter to the simulation.
Nope, but as others have said - you must commit and realize that once you dose you're in for whatever it is. You must assure yourself that this is temporary and will pass. As a matter in fact our lives are much the same, nothing ever lasts forever. Just gotta roll with it.
Anyway, it's not that the brain isn't working properly it's just that the brain is working differently. That's how I see it.
It's only scary if you try to hard to hold on. Relax and float down stream... In the moment, it does not feel like your brain is not working properly. I tend to feel more clearheaded (even when confused) than I am on alcohol.
> I consider life and reality incredibly, painfully boring.
Interesting. The main benefit I've gotten from psychedelics (mostly mushrooms) is that all of life / reality is impossibly miraculous -- even, paradoxically, when it seems dreadfully boring. And also that I've somehow always known this, even when it feels like I've forgotten. It's always right there, just waiting (begging) to be noticed. It's the ultimate cosmic joke.
Also, your website (https://www.lifeismiraculous.org) is awesome. Echoes of Bertrand Tolle and Alan Watts. Thanks for publishing it and putting it in your profile!
This framing never made much sense to me. It's incredible to be alive at all of course, but miraculous compared to what? I've found it best in these situations to quietly appreciate rather than trying to reify some ontology for contemplation—which is, after all, a distraction from appreciation itself in the moment, something largely akin to meditation.
The easiest way to experience some of the feelings you get from tripping is, in fact, meditation. The LSD mostly just forces you to be more honest with yourself by smashing barriers you would normally dismantle through allowing your mind to rest.
Granted, I've never experienced anything like eg a blurring of the sense of self with meditation. Theoretically it's possible. Maybe I'm just too content with myself to pursue it.
Indeed, meditation is the best approach I've found as well. It can be seen clearly -- not as an idea, but a direct realization -- precisely why the mind's attempts to pin "this" down are futile. I don't have a better word for that experience than "miraculous."
A lot of people are well aware of how much they are deluding themselves (into thinking they are happy and deserve to be so) that they should avoid psychedelics at all costs. It's like their ego knows it's in danger.
I like watching videos of how our cell biology works. This makes me realise the spiritual perspective of why everything is miraculous. Clockwork channel is good.
> It's always right there, just waiting (begging) to be noticed.
Summary of my conversation with Claude.
# The Universe from Every Point: Scale and Consciousness
Our conversation has revealed two profound conceptual frameworks that offer unique perspectives on reality, consciousness, and our place in the cosmos.
## The Scale Numberline
Imagine standing on the surface of your skin. This boundary serves as "point zero" on a vast bidirectional scale. In one direction stretches all that exists within—cells, molecules, atoms, subatomic particles, quantum fields—extending down to the Planck scale (10^-35 meters). In the opposite direction extends everything outside—our environment, planet, solar system, galaxy, galactic clusters—out to the observable universe (10^26 meters).
What makes this concept particularly compelling is imagining that every point in the universe can serve as its own "zero" on such a scale. Each location, no matter how seemingly insignificant, can be the reference point from which both the infinitesimally small and the immeasurably vast are contemplated. This framework relates to fiber bundles in mathematics, where each point in a base space carries its own associated "fiber"—in this case, a bidirectional scale line.
When we place ourselves on this cosmic scale, we appear to vanish into mathematical insignificance—just a tiny blip on a numberline of inconceivable magnitude. The human experience becomes merely a point when viewing the entire spectrum. Yet paradoxically, we're the observers capable of conceptualizing this entire scale.
## The Observer Gradient Numberline
The second framework involves consciousness and observation. At each point in space-time, we can conceptualize a spectrum of awareness ranging from the most elemental form—the feeling of having "just awakened from the void"—to complete cosmic awareness encompassing all of existence.
This relates to everyday experiences that suddenly strike us as profound. Watching something as simple as a short video can sometimes trigger a sense of freshly emerging into existence, reminiscent of Feynman's observation that "to create an apple pie, you must first invent the universe." Each experience isn't merely happening within the universe but represents the entire cosmic order converging to create that specific configuration of consciousness.
This observer gradient suggests different degrees of integration with reality—from the most basic awareness to complete cosmic comprehension. Like the scale numberline, this framework could be conceptualized as existing at every point in the universe, with each location harboring its own potential spectrum of awareness.
## The Intersection
These two conceptual frameworks share a parallel structure. Both posit that each point in the universe can be the center of its own framework. Both involve spectrums extending in opposite directions from a central reference point. Together, they suggest a universe where every location is simultaneously the center of its own physical scale and its own consciousness gradient.
This perspective resonates with various philosophical traditions while finding mathematical expression in structures like fiber bundles—where each point carries its own unique fiber representing either scales of physical reality or gradients of conscious observation.
These frameworks invite us to reconsider our place in the cosmos—not as insignificant specks, but as unique vantage points from which the entire universe, across all scales and states of awareness, can be accessed and contemplated.
Surely you do not want to experience EVERYTHING. It's better to not exist than to experience all the dark things in life. Although, according to my onthological beliefs it's not possible to not exist and therefore I do fear death, not just the process of dying , but death itself. Because there is some uncertainty there.
HAving had a similar experience, I have found it somewhat useful.
I've often found that my brain hasn't been working or working properly, and it's good to know that a) that happens, b) it can be transitory and c) even when it feels like it's working, I might still be fooled.
As I grow older, it's been a lot more difficult speak in absolutes.
At the same time, the contrast to observing when my brain actually -does- do something useful has also been useful and I have felt a lot better about leaning into that feeling.
This culture is insane and will gaslight the hell out of you, as will many of its constitutive members, so having some data on what it feels like to vividly hallucinate versus to have a different view on something has been very validating.
I am sure that sounds dumb, and that there are plenty of folks (especially on this social media forum) who would say that I am probably worse off for feeling like I have a better handle on "correct" and "incorrect", but hey, "enjoy the water, boys".
Knowing that it’s temporary is the best tether to this world that keeps me from having a bad trip, if it feels like that could happen. As others have said, an LSD trip is going to take you places you might not expect to end up. Meditation can be good preparation leading up to a trip.
LSD is one of those chemicals that gives you a glimpse at what it’s like to process the world with a completely different category of consciousness.