[ExI] 27 psychedelics??

Sat Mar 26 17:43:08 UTC 2022

Well, Henry, let me ask you this:  is there a drug short of being quickly
poisonous that canNOT be used with discretion and care?  I don't think so.
The mindset that gets people in trouble:  if some feels good, more would
feel better.  Speaking only of pure, undiluted drugs.

Off the subject:  I have been following biofeedback for a long time but
lost interest sometime back.  We know that smiling can make good chemicals
release in our brains.  If you follow golf, you will know what I am talking
about:  some go through a variety of twitches and jerks, and looking at the
hole ten times before they hit the ball.  Is it possible that they are
making themselves nervous by doing so?   bill w

On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 11:49 AM Henry Rivera <hrivera at alumni.virginia.edu>
wrote:

> 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:
>
> 
> 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.
>
> 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
>
> On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 10:24 AM spike jones via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *>…From:* spike at rainier66.com <spike at rainier66.com>
>> *Subject:* RE: [ExI] 27 psychedelics??
>>
>>
>>
>> …
>>
>>
>>
>> >…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.
>>
>>
>>
>> >…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…
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> (138) Hot Fingers - YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eauSPoxI0gY>
>>
>>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> [image: image002.jpg]
>>
>>
>>
>> Oh, life is goooood.
>>
>>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> spike
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