Sam Harris on Psychedelics

vapirtoo

Well-Known Member
To the major,
Good read, yes the conscious mind limits reality, so who can tell
what is all around us? Physics is now leaning towards multiple
universes. Our basic sense organs can perceive only a tiny
amount of the total electromagnetic continuum. Plato felt the
same way. Maybe drugs are expanding
our band width recognition.
 
vapirtoo,

SD_haze

Well-Known Member
vapirtoo said:
Our basic sense organs can perceive only a tiny
amount of the total electromagnetic continuum. Plato felt the
same way. Maybe drugs are expanding
our band width recognition.

Maybe the visuals from psychedelics is just interference from dark matter floating around!
:whoa:
hehe

Bookmarked article for reading tonite looking forward to it
 
SD_haze,

crawdad

floatin
everything he wrote in that article, i totally get and was a great read. thanks for posting. aldous would be pleased to be quoted in it im sure. :peace:
 
crawdad,

Stu

Maconheiro
Staff member
Very interesting read. I'm a Sam Harris fan and recommend especially his book "The End of Faith". If you appreciate the likes of Richard Dawkins and/or Christopher Hitchins, you will enjoy Mr. Harris' perspective, too.

:peace:
 
Stu,

MajorDoobage

Stationary Traveler
Stu said:
Very interesting read. I'm a Sam Harris fan and recommend especially his book "The End of Faith". If you appreciate the likes of Richard Dawkins and/or Christopher Hitchins, you will enjoy Mr. Harris' perspective, too.

:peace:
Harris is a very insightful writer! Unfortunately his vernacular is comprised mostly of words I've never heard or seen before lol. I own Letter to a Christian Nation and The End of Faith, both of which I haven't gotten through yet. I'll be a couple of paragraphs into a chapter, and suddenly realize I have no idea what the hell I'm reading! :lol:

Maybe I need to give it another shot. I haven't picked up either book in several years. Hopefully my reading comprehension has increased since then :/
 
MajorDoobage,

Stu

Maconheiro
Staff member
That's odd, Doobage. I found his writing style to be much less difficult to follow than the likes of Dawkins and Hitchens.

Give it another go, but make sure you vape first!! I find philosophical literature much more understandable after a little herb. :brow:

:peace:
 
Stu,

MajorDoobage

Stationary Traveler
Yeah I'll have to give it another go. I also have The God Delusion which I haven't finished either. I bought most of these books my 1st or 2nd year in undergrad (2006), and still haven't read them. I didn't have a problem getting through the article I posted, so maybe I'll find the read a lot less daunting. Right now I'm in the middle of The Pot Book which is an excellent read (and wholly unrelated to the topic at hand lol). Lots of good information on cannabis that is grounded in evidence-based science.

I wonder how many vaporists are secularists as well... It would be interesting to see if partaking in illegal substances (whether for pleasure or medicine) is correlated with a disbelief in the supernatural. I would imagine that most users of psychedelics reject the notion of "organized religion," but still believe in some kind of spirituality. Of course I have no evidence for this, just my assumption. :p

I have a hard time categorizing my own beliefs. I grew up Roman Catholic, but starting questioning my beliefs (and other organized religions as well) during middle school, which is about the time when humans are capable of abstract thought. I'd say I'm an agnostic leaning toward atheism, but I do find the philosophy of eastern religions compelling. I like the idea that we are all one, separated only by a physical barrier... and perhaps that notion has some basis in science?
 
MajorDoobage,

Stu

Maconheiro
Staff member
The God Delusion was an enjoyable read for me. Dawkins is one of my heroes. If you get through it, you might like The Blind Watchmaker by him as well.

I'm a recovering evangelical christian myself. I've now morphed into a militant atheist. Funny how our opinions can have such paradigm shifts over our lifetimes....

:peace:
 
Stu,

MajorDoobage

Stationary Traveler
Stu said:
The God Delusion was an enjoyable read for me. Dawkins is one of my heroes. If you get through it, you might like The Blind Watchmaker by him as well.

I'm a recovering evangelical christian myself. I've now morphed into a militant atheist. Funny how our opinions can have such paradigm shifts over our lifetimes....

:peace:
Very true! Unfortunately we are the exception and not the rule. Many people don't question their beliefs. Blind faith is a very scary thing.
 
MajorDoobage,

Purple-Days

Well-Known Member
I liked the article, but don't think he took Huxley's meaning properly. I think Huxley meant the opposite of Harriss' interpretation. But, what do I know ? Good article with that one quibble. :peace:
 
Purple-Days,
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