Laurens
New Member
I've been reading about various plants and such that contain psychoactive compounds, and people's experiences with them.
One thing that strikes me is that with certain substances people report experiences that are markedly similar to other users. This is often taken by New Age types as evidence that psychedelics are not a subjective experience but some kind of key to an objective reality.
Consider Ibogaine for example. Many users report visions of tribal African people during their trip. And DMT, which causes people to feel like they have been sucked out of this dimension into a strange realm inhabited by unimaginably strange beings.
As a sceptic, I do not buy that these substances do actually send a person's consciousness to another dimension, but I do find the commonality of these experiences interesting. I think the experiences people report on Ibogaine may simply be related to the fact that most people who use the drug are aware that its origins lie in African tribes, and thus this influences the visions they experience. DMT seems a little harder to fathom, but I would love to hear a neurological explanation for why people report such common experiences with it.
Any thoughts?
My main thought on this subject is this; I wish science were allowed to research these compounds more freely. I am sure interesting insights into consciousness and neurology could be gained if this were to happen.
One thing that strikes me is that with certain substances people report experiences that are markedly similar to other users. This is often taken by New Age types as evidence that psychedelics are not a subjective experience but some kind of key to an objective reality.
Consider Ibogaine for example. Many users report visions of tribal African people during their trip. And DMT, which causes people to feel like they have been sucked out of this dimension into a strange realm inhabited by unimaginably strange beings.
As a sceptic, I do not buy that these substances do actually send a person's consciousness to another dimension, but I do find the commonality of these experiences interesting. I think the experiences people report on Ibogaine may simply be related to the fact that most people who use the drug are aware that its origins lie in African tribes, and thus this influences the visions they experience. DMT seems a little harder to fathom, but I would love to hear a neurological explanation for why people report such common experiences with it.
Any thoughts?
My main thought on this subject is this; I wish science were allowed to research these compounds more freely. I am sure interesting insights into consciousness and neurology could be gained if this were to happen.