pechenek said:
Hyperspace Fool said:
This thread was too silly to jump into before... yet another person stating Kent's assertions as their own "theory."
I can assure you I did not borrow this theory from James Kent, I only used some of his quotes because perhaps he has more credibility, and expereince with DMT than me. Besides, all this theory is just the complete opposite of the "hyperspace is real" crowd. It's not hard to come by.
What you are describing is not a "theory" but an opinion that challenges the theories of others and supports the theories and opinions of a few people who tend to have bad reputations in the entheogen using community.
To come to a place where people are actually working on theories about hyperspace, and tout an opinion formed on no actual personal experience or knowledge, which differs in no way from the half-dozen other inexperienced people who either come here touting it, or are quoted on these threads as believing something very similar... is not worthy of being dubbed a theory. IMO
A theory with your name on it would require you breaking new ground or coming up with something that is not so "dime a dozen." I would be ashamed to start a thread titled "My Theory On String and M-branes" where all I did was agree with and quote someone else. If on that thread, I basically restated someone like Witten... I would indeed be borrowing his theory, even if I was only recently familiar with it.
pechenek said:
Hyperspace Fool said:
1) Having a strong opinion about something you have never experienced is generally not a wise thing.
So I'm not allowed to inquire about it just because I've never done it?
Inquire away amigo. I only said in my post that you are entitled to have and express an opinion and that skepticism is a healthy place to start from. But you, my friend, have not come here with an "inquiring minds want to know" attitude. You may be coming around to that in the last page, but as a whole this thread has you coming off as someone who has never had sex trying to explain away orgasms. I think most would agree that such a conjecture (esp from a virgin) would barely be worth replying to.
Children have opinions about how televisions work... but they are almost always wrong. It is through years of inquiry that they might one day actually come to understand how they really work.
No one calls themself a researcher if all they are doing is reading the reports of others. One must do some personal experimentation and come up with something that adds to the existing debate or you are just a spectator and not a theorist.
You railed against semantics, but many of us here find that defining these words properly is paramount to even attempt communication on things that are slippery enough to begin with. This is a key to logical debate.
You have said that it is your keen logical facility alone that enables you to know fairly well what those of us here somehow missed in our years of study and practical experience. And yet, you do not demonstrate any logic... but rather resort to a number of obvious logical fallacies to support your argument. It is rather too bad that logic is no longer a required course, as it is a very useful subject... one which many science minded youngsters assume that they have mastered despite never studying it.
Stating things you learn in your hard sciences classes as the foundation of logic is simply untrue. According to logic and epistemology, all science is flawed and can produce no true knowledge whatsoever due to the problem of induction.
Scientist tend to ignore this as well as a good many other things that interfere with their sense that they are part of some grand understanding of the Universe that any day now will explain all phenomenon and replace the superstitions of the unenlightened masses... pointedly bashing philosophers, mystics, theism in general and a host of other hoary and honored fields of inquiry. Alas, despite asserting this stuff for generations, they are no closer to explaining any of the fundamental mysteries and have not managed to even prove that the Universe is actually material. In fact, the more brilliant among them have begun to restate mysticism into their language and are coming up with holographic universe theories and other such things that basically agree with what mystics have been saying for millenia.
Hyperspace Fool said:
5) Why is the OP so intent on studying DMT if he/she has no intention of trying it? If the OP is prone to psychosis (as indicated) then perhaps being obsessed with an hallucinogen is not the best use of your time.
Another quick witted assumption.
I do have the intention of trying DMT, in the form of Ayhuasca. It would be safer for my psyche because it's more gradual and less intense.
As far as I can tell, this is the first time you said this on this thread.
As a longtime fan of Aya, as well as a leader of many a medicine circle... and someone who has trained with ayahuasceros, and experimented with dozens of combinations of ayahuaca analogues... I have to tell you that while it
is more gradual and less of a sledgehammer in its effects, it is in
no way safer for your psyche. Being in that space for 6 hours can lead to very profound and prolonged assaults on your worldview. While you may be able to brace yourself and be astounded for 5 minutes, a full aya journey will get under your skin and seep deeply into your being.
That said, I think ayahuasca may indeed be good for you when you are ready for it. Make sure not to combine it with any pharmaceutical medication. These days where 70% of Americans are on scripts, it is rather hard to give anyone the brew. Most people have to get off their antidepressants, their ADHD medication, their anti-anxiety pills and what not before even thinking about the magic of ayahuasca. This is further exacerbated because people who are on such drugs tend to have mental problems of some sort that they have not been facing or dealing with... which will come up in spades when they are off their meds and on an entheogen.
I turn away most such people and recommend that they begin a practice of yoga and meditation for a few years and then come back to the idea once they have developed their introspective abilities a bit. I tend to catch flack for this, but I believe that people who can not control their own psyche enough to not need pills from psychiatrists really have no business attempting to be psychonauts. Just like people who are morbidly obese and out of shape have no business trying to be astronauts.
Hyperspace Fool said:
Insisting that your theory explains DMT or that OBEs are all illusions simply because they can be triggered by stimulating the brain a certain way is a classic rush to judgement fallacy.
I believe you are mistaking me with another poster. Though I know of Dr.Persingers "god helmet", I did not mention anything of the sort on this thread.
I have recently acquired a SHAKTI set up which is directly based on Persinger's so-called "god helmet."
If it wasn't you who was talking about NDEs and OBEs as "fully explained as illusion" simply because they can sometimes be induced by stimulating the TPL, then excuse me, and that poster can consider that part of my post as directed towards them. Your "theory" that DMT is purely neurochemical and thus not capable of generating objectively real experiences is still very close to this, and my comments still apply, though.
Hyperspace Fool said:
I really think that the current wave of interest in DMT by young, inexperienced, non-psychonaut materialists is a bit disheartening. Most of these kids are not really cut out for DMT. If someone has a hard time with weed and hasn't even done LSD... they should probably put off doing DMT until they learn to doggy paddle in the shallow end of the pool.
HF
I can't help but think this is somehow directed at me. Unfortunately it is not my fault that I am having problems with weed, it is genetic.... For this reason I am very hesitant to take a dive into hyperspace, I don't want to end up in a straight jacket speaking gibberish. I'm a very down to earth person and I think this experience would leave me in a complete mind-fuck. Especially with my habit of having to rationalize and explain everything.
I am not sure this current wave of propoganda about marijuana psychosis is any more founded in reality than the marijuana psychosis talk of the 30's, 50's, 70's or any other time. It is possible that people like you are genetically predisposed to losing your minds... but anecdotal evidence is against the idea that any significant number of weed smokers are going crazy from weed. Given the incredibly large number of people of every genetic disposition that are successfully using cannabis, and the long history of the anti-drug crowd pulling such studies completely out of their poop shoot only to have their assertions shot down time and time again by actual studies... I would not rush to judgement about this.
That said, weed is very strong today and most people only need a half a hit to get properly stoned if their tolerance is low. Now that weed quality in the heartlands is finally catching up to places like California and The Netherlands... people are starting to realize how profoundly mind altering cannabis actually is. But having a psychedelic experience on cannabis does not make you psychotic. Psychedelics are not actually psychotomimetic... despite decades of propoganda to the contrary.
If anything, entheogens might actually be the only safe treatments for mental disorders. Though, I stress, that such unstable people should not attempt to use psychedelics unguided. A proper shaman or at the very least a good friend with plenty of experience who is willing to go through some difficult stuff with you is a good idea.
Anyway, good luck to you. I have said that someone prone to psychosis should probably not be obsessing over an hallucinogen... or anything for that matter... but if you feel very called to DMT, there is probably a reason. Perhaps you are being guided to this most miraculous of chemicals because you actually
do need to have this experience. In this case, keep doing your research, and when you are ready... try the sacred spice. Feel free to come back then and tell us what your new thoughts on the matter are.
Namaste
HF