DoseNation 40: Radical Mycology

I'm seconding Greg's 2nd, 3rd and 4th questions.

What's the tune that plays at the beginning of this cast?

Thanks & thanks.

I've got some questions bouncing around my head after this podcast, and I'm just dying to know what your views are.

1) What are your thoughts on MAPS' Zendo project of psychedelic harm reduction and their philosophy that bad trips can be steered into a positive and productive direction?

2) I feel it was implied in the discussion that psychotic breaks during psilocybin or other psychedelic experiences are random and unpredictable events, which runs counter to the more optimistic credo of set and setting that implies that there are predictive factors. Reality, of course, isn't black and white, but do you feel there are certain personality traits, particular settings, or even particular dosages of particular drugs that might indicate a greater likelihood of psychotic break or a difficult trip? By the same token, are there personality traits that might indicate a more positive experience with psychedelics? And would you ever recommend a psychedelic trip to someone?

3) "Set and setting" is an extremely vague phrase that most people assume they understand when they hear it; although to some degree, I think many do understand in an intuitive way, or else we'd hear about a lot more bad trips. That said, the majority of discussions I've heard about what qualities actually constitute a bad set and setting revolve around theories based on anecdotes. Do you feel this is something that can be studied and better understood, or are there too many variables (not that too many variables ever stopped economists or sociologists)?

4) As discussed in the podcast, many people feel that integration is just as important as set and setting in terms of long term positive or negative effect of a psychedelic experience. Jake mentioned various religions as means for creating context, but neo-Jungian and transpersonal psychologists and the holotropic breathwork crowd talk about creating a space for the individual to interpret their experiences in their own way rather than relying on an available framework. Given the nature of people's minds, this is likely to involve a hodge podge of different images, metaphors, ideas, and symbols drawn from the full spectrum of a person's experience. But it seems that you both associate that What is your take on this approach to psychological integration, psychedelic or otherwise? Although I think I already have an idea, which leads me to...

5) You both implied that the hodge podge approach leads to some kind of misguided new age ego trip, but did not explain how and I was unable to make the causal leap from one to the other. I've certainly encountered far too many irritating new agers attempting to patent a cosmology and sell healing trinkets to saps, but I've also encountered individuals with strong stable minds who use elements of religions, myths, stories, and philosophies from all over the world to explain and integrate their experiences. I do not see how narrowing one's scope is automatically superior to taking in data from broad sources. They seem to me like two different approaches useful depending on the individual and their situation. Can you explain to me what is so unappealing to you about the hodge podge approach?

6) The drug war climate pushes a lot of people to speak in extremes about drugs, one way or the other. I think in many ways the discussion gets downright silly, with people feeling the need to claim that psychedelics are safe (for example), as though personal safety is the deciding factor in the scheduling of the drug. That said, I'm curious what James in particular feels are the benefits of psychedelics and where they would best be used. After all, the name of the site and the podcast is Dosenation.

And that looks like a fucking high school exam. Ugh. But I'm still very interested in any responses you feel like giving.