Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. Founded by Mark Kleiman (1951-2019)
There exists an experience you can (probably) have, in a single day, that may lastingly improve your outlook on life, even if you’re in fear because the end of your life is near. Â Researchers are once again using psilocybin to occasion such experiences in patients facing life-threatening illness. Steve Ross, a psychiatrist at NYU, has … Continue reading “Psilocybin at the End of Life: A Doorway to Peace”
My colleagues at Johns Hopkins have a new paper out, reporting that psilocybin, the “magic mushroom” chemical, can bring about significant and lasting changes in the key personality domain called “Openness.”
In an ABC news article, an expert implies that psilocybin use, over the long run, “can and will’ lead to character deterioration. If there’s any real evidence for that, please let us know. Otherwise, can we back off on the prejudice, please?
That some hallucinogen experiences are trivial does not mean that none is profound.
Last month’s report on a Johns Hopkins study of psilocybin and spirituality, of which I’m a co-author, has drawn numerous comments on blogs and on-line news articles. A fraction of those comments have raised questions or criticisms which I’d like to try to address. (On the RBC, see Mark’s posts and Andy’s critique.) For those … Continue reading “Mushroom Myth-conceptions”
What’s an electrical engineer and former Oracle VP doing studying mystical experience?
The Hopkins team zeroes in on the Goldilocks dose of psilocybin.
John Tierney has a good summary in today’s New York Times. This line of research, shut down in the 1960s, is coming back, and a good thing, too.
Fourteen months later, participants in the Hopkins study of psilocybin and spiritual experience are still reporting benefits.
There’s now good scientific support for the claim that psilocybin, the active agent in “magic” mushrooms, has a better-than-even chance of generating a full-blown mystical experience in properly selected and prepared subjects.
Now what?