• Members of the previous forum can retrieve their temporary password here, (login and check your PM).

Notes on Psychedelic Nihilism (Ed Prideaux)

CommonConduit

CommonConduit

🎨 ‘Los Amantes’ by Remedios Varo
“Part of the psychedelic idol is the mythology of its own cultural story. Putting aside the pseudo-history and bad theology that have littered psychedelic dialogue, millions have tried these substances, but nothing has fundamentally changed. Many of the world's most powerful people have experienced them, and here we are.”

Here we are!
Engaging treatise this, I find:

Inbox | Substack

open.substack.com open.substack.com
 
The question is whether the reduction of transcendence to technique serves liberation or control.
Click to expand...

Indeed. Nobody knows where this road will lead.

We maybe shown the keys to the Kingdom, but are we using the keys to lock the already open doors, or should we move through the open doors and leave the keys behind.

Who knows.
🦋
 
The main reason things are the way they are is largely due to intergenerational poverty and trauma.

That issue is so significant that even if 5% or fewer of the population use psychedelics, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Psychedelics aren’t widespread, and for people dealing with deep trauma—like some workaholic billionaire who frequently come from extremely abusive families—therapy is far more important than just taking psychedelics. The real question is: how many people are actually combining psychedelics with therapy and doing real inner work, rather than just using them recreationally? Probably a much smaller portion of those who take them.

On another note, the technologists mentioned in the article are still creating a lot of value for society and, in my opinion, continuing to push things in a positive direction in many ways (e.g. AI and EV).

So I disagree with a lot of assumptions made in the Substack post: that technologists are 100% evil, that psychedelics are ubiquitous, that taking psychedelics should solve society's problems.
 
Last edited:
Jungleheart said:
On another note, the technologists mentioned in the article are still creating a lot of value for society and, in my opinion, continuing to push things in a positive direction in many ways (e.g. AI and EV).
Click to expand...

Those technologies can't really be attributed to those figureheads at the top, right? They're just a bit proficient in hawking the product to people. AI and EVs by themselves don't mean THAT much, other than that they add an enormous extra amount of energy consumption?
 
CommonConduit said:
Those technologies can't really be attributed to those figureheads at the top, right? They're just a bit proficient in hawking the product to people. AI and EVs by themselves don't mean THAT much, other than that they add an enormous extra amount of energy consumption?
Click to expand...
I don't really want to get into a debate on economics, but I believe AI/EV adoption is pushing society forward in some significant ways.
 
bluedot.jpeg

Until we come in terms with the reality of our situation, nothing will save us.
We are so into our own little worlds that the bigger picture is out of the picture.

We're flying on a living rock through the enormous space.
AI, economics or politics are just little games that human apes created.
I say Be Humble and maybe look at the stars. How many had a good starry night recently?

All the talk about progress, civilization and development are total bs, imo.
We are in the same situation as our ancestors. We don't know much, and in our fear try to come up with solutions.
The subtle art of just being escapes us. Most would rather argue and complicate things, so here we are…
🙏
 
Two patients in a mental asylum having a conversation:
1: Are you sane?
2: I'm as sane as you are!

I think only us humans find that it's all under control. No other animal is as arrogant.
Our capacity for self awareness is a double-edged sword. That's why buddhists talk about precious human birth.
We are able to create both hell and heaven. Sadly, morals are on a down spiral today.
<3
 
I think humanity is not stuck in an endless loop of self-delusion the progress is real, even if slow and and at times not as palpable as we would like to see. Psychedelics have influenced culture (and continue to do so), I mean the 60 and 70 would not have been the same without them, technology improves lives, and meaning doesn’t seize to exists because we create it.

The world isn't in moral decline, global trends show greater tolerance, ethical awareness, and reduced violence. Should we fear the future or the changing views on psychedelics, I don’t think so. This whole conundrum of psychedelics are for healing and people are changed for the better is just not playing out as some would have hoped. The paradigm shift is in full swing and it’s still unclear what will become of it, will it bring us peace and happiness per transcendence? I highly doubt that I think that it is much more likely to be just another wave of optimism that will settle into something more mundane.

Thanks CommonConduit for the article, a lovely read
 
Voidmatrix said:
In the comedic tragedy, or the tragic comedy, where we only fall for tricks as to what's going on, the only reasonable thing is to be compassionate and understanding, moral virtues, which is why morals fall in line with intelligence for me.
Click to expand...
Agree. I like Sanskrit terms and would translate intelligence as buddhi.
In contrast, wisdom / knowledge sets us free.

From wiki:
Buddhi (Sanskrit: बुद्धि) refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand".
Buddhi is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit root Budh (बुध् ), which literally means "to wake, be awake, observe, heed, attend, learn, become aware of, to know, be conscious again".

Varallo said:
I think humanity is not stuck in an endless loop of self-delusion the progress is real, even if slow and and at times not as palpable as we would like to see. Psychedelics have influenced culture (and continue to do so), I mean the 60 and 70 would not have been the same without them, technology improves lives, and meaning doesn’t seize to exists because we create it.

The world isn't in moral decline, global trends show greater tolerance, ethical awareness, and reduced violence. Should we fear the future or the changing views on psychedelics, I don’t think so. This whole conundrum of psychedelics are for healing and people are changed for the better is just not playing out as some would have hoped. The paradigm shift is in full swing and it’s still unclear what will become of it, will it bring us peace and happiness per transcendence? I highly doubt that I think that it is much more likely to just another wave of optimism that will settle into something more mundane.
Click to expand...

It's a good attitude to life at the very least. I still struggle to remain optimistic given all the events of our time.
In one train of thought, we are at the end of Kali Yuga (dark times). Many American traditions speak of our time as a period of transition and change.
Any change is bloody and chaotic. This loss of ground and direction speaks for itself. I try to remain hopeful.
 
Varallo said:
I think humanity is not stuck in an endless loop of self-delusion the progress is real, even if slow and and at times not as palpable as we would like to see.
Click to expand...

I see the boogeyman in the basic project-mindedness of modernity - this progress narrative that keeps on trucking just fine. Hope can be found in the meeting of minds, sensitive to the moment and environment we are living in. We don't know where we are going, and people who tell you they do know are salesmen, or charlatans. It's okay to pause and assess what may be done in a way that's participatory, practical and psychically sound.

Glad you liked it!
 
CommonConduit said:
I see the boogeyman in the basic project-mindedness of modernity - this progress narrative that keeps on trucking just fine. Hope can be found in the meeting of minds, sensitive to the moment and environment we are living in. We don't know where we are going, and people who tell you they do know are salesmen, or charlatans. It's okay to pause and assess what may be done in a way that's participatory, practical and psychically sound.

Glad you liked it!
Click to expand...
I very much understand that sentiment but it’s really dependent upon your perspective and what you’re doing in life. Sure some developments are not going to be doing us any good, but most innovations are coming from an desire to solve something, or more fundamentally to understand something. Then there’s also the fact that change is somewhat inevitable, so pausing to assess things isn’t really something that is going to happen.

I personally am rather hopeful about the future and I am looking forward to be a part of the solutions for difficult to navigate issues like climate change. And even if we as humans fail to solve some of these issues I still think that the future is not full of doom and gloom. Like my grandmother, who survived World War II, likes to say: It’s better to see your glass as half full than half empty. She means that it’s the perspective what makes us experience reality and not reality itself, however bleak the future may look.
 
Yes, perspective does wonders.
At the same time, circumstances appear to indicate that internal US conflicts and international geopolitics are on the verge of escalating once again.
Let's ground ourselves, and remain optimistic. A moral duty!
 
Back
Top Bottom