Altered States

Sunday, March 3, 2019
First Aired:
Sunday, May 22, 2016

What Is It

Aldous Huxley explains his conception of the brain as a "reducing valve" of consciousness in his provocative book,感知之门。His famous experiment with the psychedelic substance mescaline was an attempt to open this valve and expand his capacity for knowledge. However, many drugs and psychedelics today are seen as simply tools for pleasure or the source of bad habits. Do drugs possess the capability to expand our consciousness and provide meaningful insight? Or are they nothing more than a route to empty delirium? Ken and guest co-host Alison Gopnik take a trip with artist, scientist, and founder of the Beckley Foundation, Amanda Feilding.

Listening Notes

Mind expanding drugs that bring about states of consciousness unavailable to our usual modes of perception – can they offer spiritual or intellectual insight, or potentially help aid social ills? We already alter our minds in many ways throughout everyday life with a morning cup of coffee, evening cocktail, or intense session of yoga. Could the more intense alterations achieved through certain controlled substances like LSD or psilocybin offer a privileged view into the inner workings of consciousness itself? Our guests Ken Taylor and Allison Gopnik, standing in for John Perry, attempt to answer this question. While Allison is excited about recent research revealing the expanding effects of psychedelics on brain activity, Ken remains skeptical and concerned about the potential downsides of substance use.

Allison and Ken are joined by Amanda Feilding, founder and director of the Beckley Foundation, a think tank on drug policy and research into psychedelic substances. Amanda begins by explaining how she first became passionate about the study of psychedelics, and how the post-sixties ban on these substances hindered her progress for many years. The recent developments in brain-imaging technology have led to a new rise in research on these altered states. Ken questions how the distortion of our cognitive faculties could in any way give us insight to truths about ourselves or consciousness. Amanda explains how the effects of these substances on specific networks in the brain allow us to perceive more information than under usual circumstances.

Our hosts welcome onto the show several callers to hear their questions. Amanda replies to a caller from San Francisco who questions whether it is possible to reach these psychedelic states of mind without the use of substances. Meanwhile, another caller wonders whether the effects of psychedelic substances can shed light on the nature of the self, which segues into a long conversation amongst our guests. The episode finishes with a discussion on the future role of psychedelic substances in human society.

  • Roving Philosophical Reporter (seek to 6:06):舒卡·卡兰塔利向迷幻药多学科研究协会的本·谢谢讲述了MDMA(俗称摇头丸)的历史。
  • 60-Second Philosopher (Seek to 46:00): Ian Shoales recaps the effects of specific drugs on our culture throughout recent history.

Transcript

Comments(1)

Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Friday, March 1, 2019 -- 11:36 AM

功能的药物。嗯。I

功能的药物。嗯。我从二十世纪六十年代就听说过这种说法，所以是的，我很老了。我做了实验，“在那一天”。不要用刺激性的化学物质，也不要过量。感知是可以改变的;我个人的经历(我被告知)可能不同;——我唯一难忘的经历是明显的时间和运动的暂停:我可以听到我周围的人说话，谈话，完全可以理解。可是谁也不动，连嘴唇也不动。幻觉吗?我想。 No one else reported such an effect; they thought I must be crazy. Or something. The agent under experimentation was black African, opiated hashish. Pretty powerful stuff, for the time.

So, did I experience an altered state? Was MY mind "expanded"? I don't know, nor do I know how I would have known.
我现在涉足我自己的哲学概念，就像我以前说过的。如果我没有尝试过让大脑爆炸的大麻，未来还会出现吗?我也不知道。我的生活就是这样。这也没关系。