Why the Magic?

https://buttondown.email/carlzimmer/archive/fridays-elk-january-12-2024/

by prismatic • 3 years ago

46 9 3 years ago

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wscourge• 3 years ago

Psilocybin may have evolved as a defense mechanism. Controlling host behavior as a defense.

I like the shrooms' style.

jazzyjackson• 3 years ago

getting the host to travel farther afield to distribute the spores is an interesting notion

i read somewhere that catnip is similarly defensive, causing amnesia along with euphoria, perhaps causing the predator to forget where they found it

Affric• 3 years ago

Tryptophan/indole/serotonin... really you want to look at their effect on the digestive tract of fungivores. These compounds can act as inhibitors of digestive acid secretion in some species.

I think the idea that they get snails tripping is attractive for obvious reasons. Highjacking conciousness is sexier than not getting spores digested... but is it more likely?

chr15m• 3 years ago

This is how they get to space.

euroderf• 3 years ago

I rather like the idea of the late Terrance McKenna, that psychedelic spores are interstellar bearers of messages for conscious beings. Alien engineered artifacts, if you will.

4ggr02• 3 years ago

I've consumed magic mushrooms about 5-6 times now, and I'm a huge fan. Always had a very nice experience which felt like it really helped me to become a better person. Problems suddenly don't appear so big, or rather, obvious solutions come to mind. And you really seem to understand your relationships to other people, what your role is, who you are, why you are the way you are etc.

You have to respect them, of course. Always took them at home in a calm, safe enviroment. Would never consume shrooms to go to a club etc. Never took them multiple times during a short time, always leave a couple of months between trips.

I've had one bad-ish experience - Felt a bit sad and still consumed them. The whole trip was then spent exploring this sad feeling and thinking about some trauma. During the trip it wasn't that comfortable, of course. But afterwards, I really felt like it helped me process these valid feelings. So in the end, it was still a net positive.

The interesting thing about shrooms to me is that I'm always aware that they're the reason I'm tripping. Yeah, the fibers on my couch seem to be alive and everything looks and feels weird, but I never lost my sense of reality. Even though you do heavily question reality. Alcohol is waaay worse in that regard(blackouts, wild behaviour etc.)

I don't know...I'm really a huge fan of them. Not surprised that Psychologists are looking into using them for therapy. I also think that shrooms made me even more open-minded than before and gave me some sort of calmness. I did have some out of body and very spiritual experiences, but they were always enjoyable and enriching.

Definitely shaped my world-view in a dramatic way.

YMMW, of course.

jddj• 3 years ago

I never lost my sense of reality. Even though you do heavily question reality. Alcohol is waaay worse in that regard (blackouts, wild behaviour etc.)

Just in case anyone gets the wrong idea from the above: As with anything, including alcohol, the dose makes the poison. It's possible to go similarly far with psilocybin.

Examples that I've witnessed: standing in the shower screaming, mistreatment of police, etc.

4ggr02• 3 years ago

Yeah, that's true, my bad. I never took a huge dose, but still enough for strong visuals etc. And my doses were still so large that I was eating them for 10-15 minutes, and they're actually disgusting to eat.

But in my opinion the fear mongering around shrooms is waaay bigger than the actual risks. Some people seem to be believe that taking shrooms somehow frequentely leads to people jumping out of windows etc.

poulpy123• 3 years ago

Interesting point. I was thinking psilocybin was a poison for parasites/predators that just didn't work well on humans

Why the Magic?

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