[extropy-chat] LA Times article on hallucinogens

[Ben Goertzel]

> So yes, having a drug-induced hallucinogenic experience, enhanced by the
> rush of a significant flow of certain neurotransmitters and (for these
> drugs in particular) minor refractory impact, can easily lead to a
> shakeup in world view.  But the results don't necessarily have much to
> do with chemicals.

Uhhh ... having taken hallucinogenic mushrooms at various points in
the past myself, I find this explanation of their impact pretty
unconvincing.

Yeah, there is the element of "anything shocking can shake the mind
out of its rut" ... but there is also much more to it than that.

There is a large literature on psychedelic psychology so I won't
repeat the basics here, though...

-- Ben G