[ExI] 27 psychedelics??

Sat Mar 26 16:49:23 UTC 2022

Quick note just to avoid confusion: Few will argue that opiates are performance enhancing or mind-expanding. My experience is they are mind-numbing and a sedative. 

In contrast, many by now have heard about the famous no-hitter game by Dock Ellis while on LSD (and amphetamines). He was not intending to trip and play ball that day btw. In his own words: https://youtu.be/_vUhSYLRw14

Re. opiates, however, I recommend my psychologist colleague’s best-selling book to everyone, Drug Use for Grown-Ups by Carl Hart, wherein he admits to being a highly functional daily heroin user all while he is a prestigious researcher and Department Chair at Columbia. He shatters stereotypes and preconceptions of what an opiate user looks like. Most don’t know that around 90% of opioid users do not develop the problems that lead to a Dependence (aka addiction) diagnosis. Another way to put this is the vast majority of heroin users do not have impaired functioning and problems related to their use. People who know this are are scared to say it loudly because they say it will lead to more experimentation and use. I disagree as most people I’ve talked to about say they still have no interest in trying heroin after learning this. Same answer if heroin were made legal—most wouldn’t be rushing out to try it. Anyway, Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear is a great book. 

-Henry

> On Mar 26, 2022, at 11:56 AM, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
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> Gene Krupa was addicted to heroin and insisted that he played better under it.  So someone challenged him:  tape a session with and without heroin.  He admitted that he played better straight.
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> I played a variety of instruments but never wanted to do them under the influence.  You can put lipstick on a pig............  I want to hear great music played by great performers.   And I do.There are 1500 male grandmasters and 40 female ones.  Can we say that men are better at spatial things?   Yes - we are very spacial. bill w
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> On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 10:24 AM spike jones via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
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>> >…From: spike at rainier66.com <spike at rainier66.com> 
>> Subject: RE: [ExI] 27 psychedelics??
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>> >…after I wrote that, it occurred to me how obvious is the idea.  All my ideas are so obvious, I can just always assume it has been done.  Damn.
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>> >…OK, now all we need to do is find who has done it and how the games went.  Note that we get a lot more data than just the win/loss number.  Data is generated with every move.  If the tripper is making mistakes but simultaneously finding brilliant ideas, we can get that info…
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>> Regarding Reefer Madness, that party scene compelled millions to try marijuana.  So many were misled to believe that smoking a single reefer could enable them to play wild cool jazz piano.  Well hell, if a reefer could really do that, of course we would smoke them, even I would.  Reliable sources report that it didn’t work.  But that Hot Fingers reefer cat be throwin down some hot jazz licks in the movie, ya gotta hand it to him.  He be TESTIFYIN on that keyboard.  Wish I could do that.
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>> (138) Hot Fingers - YouTube
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>> Regarding the psychedelic notion of psychedelics enabling faster and more creative thinking, below is an example of a computer analysis of a game I played yesterday against a guy who is more than 100 Elo points above me, so I wasn’t even trying for a win, kinda hoping to end the day on a draw if possible.  I went with a well-worn Giuoco Pianissimo line as black, but my 1930 Elo opponent was having none of that draw nonsense.
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>> I made a drawish play on move 12, which you see there on the graph.  The computer called it a blunder.  I knew it was weak and cowardly, but thought it was my best bet against this monster.  He replied with an aggressive blunder, which I spotted and exploited, putting me in good shape for at least a draw.  I kept my cool, grinding away on his ass in a surprisingly accurate 49 move marathon for the win.
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>> Oh, life is goooood.
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>> This is the kind of data we can get free, if anyone wishes to experiment with psychedelic performance enhancers.  I volunteer to be the straight guy.  I have a piano you can borrow if you don’t play chess.  Before we do that however, consider that chess, like any other sport, is one in which the adherents will do whatever it takes, whaaateeeever it takes, anything, to play better.  We get far too wrapped up in it and want to do better, for we love the game.  This leads me to the speculation that every chemical brain enhancement up to and including such absurdities as devouring the semen of grandmasters, has been tried and has failed.
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>> Granted I could have stopped writing before that particular revolting example, but you get the picture.  Chess has been played in its current form for over 500 years in every country on the planet, and is a reasonable proxy for measuring brain performance for those who play.  The reason I am so bold with the challenge is my complete confidence that had there been any such effective chemical therapy, we would know all about it by now.
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>> spike
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