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LSD Microdosing Gaining Popularity For Silicon Valley Professionals (rollingstone.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Rolling Stone reports that an unusual new trend is popping up around the offices of Silicon Valley companies: taking tiny doses of LSD or other psychedelic drugs to increase productivity. "A microdose is about a tenth of the normal dose – around 10 micrograms of LSD, or 0.2-0.5 grams of mushrooms." According to the article, the average user is a 20-something looking to improve their creativity and problem-solving skills. Some users report that the LSD alleviates other problems, like anxiety or cluster headaches. That said, it's important to note that such benefits are not supported by scientific research — yet.
I guess it isn't important to note that this is a Schedule I compound? That many people are jailed for life over such things? That if they were not rich silicon valley elite there's a good chance their lives would be ruined for doing such a thing?
Actually, I'm surprised that it's taken so long for this idea to be tried.
LSD was the first of the serotonin-modification drugs to be discovered; and apparently the most potent of them. The problem with LSD use in the '50s and '60s was that the doses were so high that the users went off on psychedelic trips. Serotonin modification drugs developed later, starting with the SSRI family such as Prozac and its derivatives and work-alike compounds, turned out to be very valuable in treating depression (although they have their own side effects). The idea of switching back to the original serotonin-modification drug, LSD, but using it at a dosage that doesn't cause the tripping, always seemed like an obvious approach to try.
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
How we got the Internet of Things.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Have you ever tried LSD? The effect is somewhat different from what you think, possibly; a major component is that it works like speed, to some extent, and it keeps going for ~8 hours. I'm not sure how much work I would be able to do in that state, but I know some people can (John Lennon famously did at least for a while). I've only ever taken large doses, but even then you don't simply disappear into a wild maelstrom of hallucinations - it is more controllable than that. But you do get inspirations and ideas pouring into your mind all the time - I got tired of it in the end.
Agreed - self-reported results have little credibility (see homeopathy), and those of psychoactive substance use are particularly suspect.
And neither productivity nor creativity gains, even if real, are worth much unless accompanied by good judgement.
I don't think so. A small increase in creativity for a short period of time maybe. Though quite possibly it makes you *think* you're being more productive, just like people who take concaine *think* they're being incredibly interesting when they chat, whereas usually the complete opposite is the case.
Same with ethanol. Nothing is more annoying than walking into a party where people have been drinking. It usually takes me a couple drinks before they stop being asshats.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Comparing recreational doses of cocaine to microdoses of LSD is an apples-to-oranges comparison though. Cocaine is a stimulant; LSD is a hallucinogen; it would make more sense to compare it to marijuana, although all these drugs have radically different (and very complex) mechanisms of action. Because we call them all "illegal drugs" doesn't mean they're the same thing or act the same way. Even the same drug at different dosages can have dramatically different effects.
It's very plausible that microdoses of LSD produce illusory creativity, since many drugs do indeed undermine self-perception -- not that that tends to be very reliable in humans anyway. But drugs are unlikely in my opinion to be a substitute for struggle in the creative process. Creativity has two components: novelty and appropriateness. Drugs are an easy way to get to novelty, but when it comes to judging appropriateness there's no substitute for plain, naked struggle with the obvious but inadequate approaches to a problem. Only then, after you've been forced to gain a deep and intimate connection to the problem's constraints, can some kind of flash of insight do you any good. Until you've struggled with a problem your insights are worthless, whether or not they come to you in a flash.
So it's essentially inconceivable that any drug could make you creative. However it seems plausible that some drugs could act as a kind of adjuvant to creative struggle when you're approaching a creative breakthrough. Such breakthroughs often come at a time when you're critical faculties are slightly deranged; when you're exhausted; dropping off to sleep; or just say "screw it for now" and do something unrelated.
Note that "plausible" isn't the same as "probable", much less "likely". The problem with information with drugs is that it's almost always slanted one way or the other. For example I think MDMA has a lot of potential to alleviate suffering, however research on it has been restricted by the fear that if it proves useful then controlling its recreational use will become harder. On the other hand I wouldn't take the word of recreational users and dealers unquestioningly either; I can easily find people who swear by homeopathy. There's a distinct lack of objectivity and reliability in information about recreational drugs.
The "good" news, I think, is that there's no substitute for creative struggle; and I think you can mentally train yourself to make that leap of intuition once struggle has prepared you.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
I was thinking that this explains a lot of the daft UI design we've seen recently.
Please do not confuse taking a ten strip at Burning Man as being analogous with a true ++++ on the Shulgin Scale. Once you start pushing above 1mg, weird shit does happen. The dosage I just gave was NOT a misprint, puddles and prints will go 1 or 2 orders of magnitude beyond that. It's one thing to climb a mountain, another to stand on the plateau at the top and an entirely different experience when you jump off the cliff into the maw of eternity. Don't take my word for it, get on the bus and ask any knowledgeable member of the Family.
But my goal isn't to diminish your experience... our job is to shed light and not to master. The idea that a threshold dose is preferable is bit absurd though. Once could easily have ++ or a +/- from the exact same dose at different times. Each experience is unique unto itself and some times is independent of dosage. I've learned by personal experience that a low dose trip can produce a negative feedback loop into a bad trip easier that a large dose. Probably because I flirted with and fixated on the illusion of control versus just surrendering to the experience.
"Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right!"