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Yeah, so all those astronauts who used to say that they needed politicians to go to space so they could be in awe of the Earth and come back feeling like it's important to protect can be lumped in with all the idiots who say the world would be better if everyone took hallucinogens.
I think this guy and Musk prove both of those things to be fucking fantasies and copium, because for folks like this, nothing can shatter their worldview. They simply don't see the same earth or the same problems we do.
The kind of people for whom a total perspective vortex would have nil effect.
I need a pan galactic gargle blaster.
"everyone should take hallucinogens" is a way more legitimate take, backed by science
Possibly...the counterexample is tech CEOs jetting off to Burning Man, tripping balls for a week, and coming up with app ideas for things nobody actually needs.
Musk has used a lot of drugs, including psychedelics.
Currently I'm in the middle of what's apparently one of his favorite book series....communism, post-scarcity, and frequent gender changing are featured front and center.
The "everybody should take psychedelics" argument maybe carried some weight in the 60s when the "squares" were the ones in the way. (Though I still kinda doubt that because look who so many of those "free love" boomers turned into).
But the Republicans of today are not the same as they were then. They are partying, smoking weed, and doing a whole lot of other drugs including psychedelics. It's possible to eat drugs, realize some profound things, become incredibly self-actualized, and be so addicted to power that it doesn't really matter anyways.
Or just be so narcissistic that you just ignore the things you read in a book or think about on your acid trip and just carry on...
I don't doubt the research into psychedelics, and their power on an individual level to help people work through things in a therapeutic way. I am starting to doubt the idea that "if everyone just tripped one time the world would be a better place".
Not sure how far you are through the Culture books yet, but: Musk thinks he is Zakalwe or something, but he's really Veppers.
I haven't gotten that far yet, currently on Inversions. I think Veppers comes later.
Ah okay, and don't worry that's not a spoiler or anything
Do did Charles Manson.
Anyone who thinks that psychedelics have magic powers to reform humanity is delusional. They can provide useful insight in some people who are already so inclined, they can trigger psychotic episodes in people already at risk, and assholes who take psychedelics almost always revert to being assholes soon after the comedown.
And to declare an interest: psychedelics did me a lot of good. But I've known literally hundreds of people who have taken them, and the end results are all over the map. They'll pick you up, often they'll put you down somewhere else, but in most people, they don't cause lasting change, except perhaps a compulsion to tell everyone about their visit to the clockwork elves.
What's the book series? I'm very curious because it seems like Phony Stark just gets an assistant to give him cliff notes on a lot of sci-fi given how many bad ideas he pitches.
The Culture. Part of me seriously doubts he's actually read it himself, like you're saying.
Musk is not a deep thinker. He's quick to jump to conclusions, but superficial and highly error-prone.
Hallucinogens make people more like they already are. That's not always a good thing.