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Michael Pollan on the Science and Sublimity of Psychedelics

15 Aug 2018 23 published claims 2 attributable people

Speakers in the public record

Claim mix

belief 7uncertainty 5evaluation 4recommendation 3prediction 3observation 1

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The useful parts, with receipts.

23 published records

04 / uncertainty

Five-factor personality theory only captures a small amount of what people are, like any theory. We don’t know, but it’s at least possible one part of your personality changes.

“Five-factor personality theory only captures a small amount of what people are, like any theory. We don’t know, but it’s at least possible one part of your personality changes.”
Speaker
Tyler Cowen
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

08 / belief

The subject-object distinction goes away for a period of time, so everything seems objective, or whatever is subjective is objective. That’s built in, I think, to the mystical experience.

“The subject-object distinction goes away for a period of time, so everything seems objective, or whatever is subjective is objective. That’s built in, I think, to the mystical experience.”
Speaker
Michael Pollan
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

11 / uncertainty

One thing, though, people who are on an SSRI to raise their serotonin levels — although actually, we don’t even know that SSRIs do that, believe it or not; it’s incredible what we don’t know about them — but they do occupy the same receptor sites.

“One thing, though, people who are on an SSRI to raise their serotonin levels — although actually, we don’t even know that SSRIs do that, believe it or not; it’s incredible what we don’t know about them — but they do occupy the same receptor sites.”
Speaker
Michael Pollan
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

15 / evaluation

Her distinction between spotlight consciousness and lantern consciousness, with adults having this amazing ability to train their attention on something and block out everything else and get a lot of stuff done, versus the kid who doesn’t really stay focused, partly because he or she is taking in information from all directions and is not prioritizing, and there is a strength and a weakness in that.

“Her distinction between spotlight consciousness and lantern consciousness, with adults having this amazing ability to train their attention on something and block out everything else and get a lot of stuff done, versus the kid who doesn’t really stay focused, partly because he or she is taking in information from all directions and is not prioritizing, and there is a strength and a weakness in that.”
Speaker
Michael Pollan
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

17 / recommendation

I also don’t think they should be simply and completely legalized and deregulated, just because of their power and some of the risks, and that people do get into trouble with them.

“I also don’t think they should be simply and completely legalized and deregulated, just because of their power and some of the risks, and that people do get into trouble with them.”
Speaker
Michael Pollan
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

19 / evaluation

I think there are doses where that might apply — low dose, so-called recreational dose, when people take some mushrooms and go to a concert, and they’re high essentially. But the kind of experience I’m describing is a lot more — I won’t use the word profound because we’ve charged that one — that is a very internal and difficult journey that has moments of incredible beauty and lucidity, but also has dark moments, moments of contemplating death.

“I think there are doses where that might apply — low dose, so-called recreational dose, when people take some mushrooms and go to a concert, and they’re high essentially. But the kind of experience I’m describing is a lot more — I won’t use the word profound because we’ve charged that one — that is a very internal and difficult journey that has moments of incredible beauty and lucidity, but also has dark moments, moments of contemplating death.”
Speaker
Michael Pollan
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

20 / prediction

I think the real risks are to people who are at risk of psychosis, whether they have schizophrenia in their genes, in their family background, or personality disorders of various kinds, bipolar.

“I think the real risks are to people who are at risk of psychosis, whether they have schizophrenia in their genes, in their family background, or personality disorders of various kinds, bipolar.”
Speaker
Michael Pollan
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

21 / evaluation

The so-called classic psychedelics, like psilocybin, DMT, LSD, have remarkably low toxicity compared to drugs we take routinely, compared to over-the-counter drugs, compared to Tylenol.

“The so-called classic psychedelics, like psilocybin, DMT, LSD, have remarkably low toxicity compared to drugs we take routinely, compared to over-the-counter drugs, compared to Tylenol.”
Speaker
Michael Pollan
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

22 / prediction

Psychedelics, the experience of it, the anecdotal reports of it, and some of this light science about it suggest that they address both those things, which I think is interesting and may explain why there is such interest in it right now.

“Psychedelics, the experience of it, the anecdotal reports of it, and some of this light science about it suggest that they address both those things, which I think is interesting and may explain why there is such interest in it right now.”
Speaker
Michael Pollan
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler
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