On the personal level, that's the same with startup life, programming, gaming, veganism, cars, PC/Alt-right, environmentalism, body building, nerdery, sex, drink, sports, the stock market, politics, religion, and tons of other things besides, all the way to D&D.

But that doesn't mean psychedelics are especially prone to that.

It just might be the same thing as everything someone is doing more then others. Like building legos in your lego cave, going golfing every week etc. etc.

Yes the experience of LSD is shattering your own reality but for me, i'm very conscious to not promote it in something everyone needs to experience.

Having a flashback on the toilet 4 weeks later and thinking 'does it ever go away, am i imprisoned now, did i break my brain' for 10 minutes, is something difficult to handle.

Also while doing it and experiencing once, i'm fine with doing it every decade once, still not promoting it to everyone.

Giving LSD to someone on their death bed without prior experience? Holy shit no.

Eh, if I were slowly dying over the course of weeks, and I were given 50/50 odds: "this wild ameliorate your mortality salience, or break your brain and make you crazy" I'd still take that. Heck, if you're worried about being crazy, you are probably less worried about death.

I would probably prefer a high morphine dose though.

Lying in a hospital bed and tripping for the first time might just a little bit crazy.

NOT! Saying it should be illegal, i think the current laws are braindead.

Yeah, experiencing that in a hospital cot sounds awful. I believe usually they have some sort of comfortable space for that.

I have to say, I think you underestimate the suffering brought by insanity. Thankfully the odds are much better than that.

Actually I've struggled with bipolar disorder for two decades so I'm rather well acquainted with suffering caused by distorted perceptions of reality. Maybe that's why it's less daunting of a proposition to me :)

But yes you're completely right, the actual odds of an adverse psychologic reaction are much lower. My point was moreso that dealing with terminal illness can lead to its own kind of detachment from reality and all sorts of stress.

I like that thought of yours 'dealing with terminal illness can lead to its own kind of detachment from reality and all sorts of stress.'

I don't think it's (just?) the drugs.

We can observe the behaviour in many types of interests.

This being HN, the obvious example is programming language zealotry. Other common examples are sports and cars. We see people walking down the street covered in car brand livery and think approximately nothing of it, and some of them will bang on about their chosen interest endlessly.

I tend to think it's more like a flaw in human psychology. Or maybe a strength of our inquisitive nature that sort of gets hijacked by an almost neurotic obsession.

hallucinogenics, for those that have a positive experience, are so foreign and outside the bounds of normal life, while making you feel like you have new insight into your own life, that people just want other people to have that experience. kind of like the first time you see the ocean or the grand canyon or a sequoia.

It's incredibly creepy, like people insisting you join their religious or sexual cult. It's definitely beyond "hey the grand canyon is cool to look at" or "motorcycles are fun" and is way out there next to "wild eyed moonies handing out flowers at the airport." I'm always creeped out by HN threads on the subject, along with the ones on depression and the collection of fruit salad antidepressants/speed some people need to get through the day.

Mind you I have had positive experiences with psychedelics; I wouldn't push them on anyone, and think it both creepy and unwise to do so.

i think there’s a difference between “pushing” and talking about one’s experiences and recommending the experience. additionally, “creepy” is an aspect of a person, not a hallucinogenic. lastly, you are correct - “It's definitely beyond "hey the grand canyon is cool to look at" or "motorcycles are fun." It’s not that those experiences are only “fun” or “cool”, it’s that it’s a novel experience you couldn’t have expected or predicted before having it, which leaves you with a sense of something like awe. when I describe hallucinogenics to people, it’s with an explicit “you do you.” Hallucinogenics are a self directed experience, though you aren’t in control. It’s more like the mindset of someone who’s cool with whitewater rafting versus someone whose not. on a class 5 rapid, the river is always in control, and as a rafter, you have to accept that to have a positive experience. so, if you feel like you shouldn’t do hallucinogenics, you are correct, you should stay the hell away from them.