Hi all,


NO DEMOCRACY

First, I want to make clear that this is MY site where I work very hard to provide a safe platform for you all were we can discuss DMT. The DMT-Nexus has always been a place that is different to other drug related sites and I work hard to keep it that way. I have always been open to any suggestions and many have been implemented on a reasonable basis during the years.

Somehow some people think that this site is a democratic mirror of society, to be blunt: it isn’t! If I would allow this site to be a democracy then within no-time it would degrade into another forum where a lot of non-related and non-trustable posts are made and where it is hard to find any precious and reliable information. So to refrain, this site is not a democracy and will probably never be. If you have an idea of which I think it is a good one, you will see that it gets implemented. If I think it's not a good idea, it will not be implemented, it's that simple.

Sometimes after I make a decision some people, who do not like the outcome, try to keep on debating the issue. You can do that after a reasonable time has passed but NOT directly after the decision is made, it simply makes no sense since we cannot see yet how that decision will affect the DMT-Nexus.


SO WHAT IS THE FOCUS?

The focus of this site is clearly DMT in all it's aspects. Be it scientific or philosophical. We share our experiences and we try to evolve the knowledge we have about this molecule: We teach each other about extracting, share ways to experience DMT, share ways of integrating our experiences and think of ways to enhance about anything about and with DMT.

Since DMT is a psychedelic we also put the focus on other psychedelics though in a lesser extend.

Another important focus for me is advancing forward. With this I mean that we should keep inventing new ideas and work them out. A good example of this is new ways of extracting, both for safety, environment and sources. Without this advancing we will probably see the day that MHRB is prohibited and we still have no grass tek to replace it! I cannot state enough how important it is that we stay ahead of the game and that we should stay focussed!


IMPORTANT WAYS OF COMMUNICATING

Two of the most important things I have always encouraged on the DMT-Nexus are: respect and critical thinking.

With respect I mean that we need healthy debates where none is hurting another member, while at the same time we are able to voice our own ideas and opinions. Respect also means that we should take into account each others ideas and even if we do not accept them, that we respectfully explain why we don't accept those ideas.

One of the important aspects about respect is that we should not talk in absolute truths, certainly not if there is no general consensus about a given subject. Many people on this site have experienced something extraordinary, something that is not hard to imagine with DMT. However, this does not mean that what you have experienced is what we all have experienced and that you now know the absolute truth about it.

Some things are fact, for example: that DMT-freebase will dissolve in naphtha at room temperature. We can test that over an over again and it will give the same result every time. We can use that fact to our advantage, for example when an extract does not dissolve in naphtha we can logically assume that it is not DMT-freebase. So we can clearly state that "DMT-freebase dissolves in naphtha at room temperature" as a fact.

Other things however are not so clear, for example: remote viewing. Some people might have experienced remote viewing but since we cannot verify this we cannot accept this as a fact. This does not mean we cannot talk about remote viewing but it means that we cannot state it as a fact. The best way to handle this would for example be something like this: "I experienced some form of remote viewing, I know we cannot verify this but what IF this is true, what would the implications be?"

Do you see that by NOT mentioning this as a fact we still leave open the possibility that it is true while at the same time we respect the other members by not forcing this as a fact upon them? It's a subtle but very important difference! Forcing an idea upon another member is a very disrespectful thing to do and will not help the debate to progress in a healthy way, it will probably end up as a locked thread.

Then we come to the other thing I see as important: critical thinking! "Critical thinking is the process of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false; sometimes true, or partly true.

Without critical thinking this site would not have had the advancements that it has made over the years. Without critical thinking people would just assume any theory as true and we would not know what the best way to extract DMT would be, this since all theories would be true aint it?

So with critical thinking we question theories. Good theories will pass while bad theories will fail and leave the general consensus of this site. This is a good way to get a healthy population of working or reasonable theories. With critical thinking it is even possible to replace a working theory that was once good with an even better theory!


HOW TO GO FURTHER?

With what I stated before in this post, I would like to make it clear to all what my new policy will be and how that policy will be enforced from now on.

Things that I don't want to see anymore:

• Short posts containing things like "This is nonsense", "this sucks", "what a bull!", etc.
  
• A mind so open that anything will fall into it without questioning
  
• Stating things as facts while that is still highly debatable
  
• Aggressive and/or confrontational posts
  
• Disrespectful behaviour
  
• Dogma "Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers"
  

When I see people post something that I don't want to see anymore, they will get a warning with a link to this post or any other post that is relevant to that post. People will get this one time warning since it is very well possible that people missed this thread. If people continue what they are doing after that warning then they are willingly breaking the rules and they will get suspended for that!


Things that I love to see and that I will encourage:

• Members backing up their ideas with reliable links and/or good reasoning
  
• Respectful posts with any sort of content
  
• Respectful scientific oriented posts
  
• Respectful spiritual oriented posts
  
• Progressive threads
  
• Critical thinking!
  

With this new policy and explanation we should be able to keep a DMT-Nexus where we all respect each other, where we have a place to voice our opinions without hurting or getting hurt and where we can focus on moving forward!


Kind regards,

The Traveler

That was a good reminder, thanks to put it up.
I feel we can't stress enough how important it is to stay on what we do, and stop being distracted.
Let's hope each site keep it's very essence. Each one is free to navigate the web and do what is in line with each place/site.

Wonderfully articulated, The Traveler.
Thank you very much for taking the time to write this out for us, and also enforcing this policy so that we can keep this place up to the higher standard it deserves.

Thank you rOm and House.

I hope that it is also fully clear to all that I know that the content of the DMT-Nexus is made by it's members and that I highly appreciate that content. The only thing I try very hard to do is keeping that content added by our members to such a level where I feel we can be proud off it.


Kind regards,

The Traveler

And the whole wide world as well.

This is fair.

It should work out fine.

bravo Traveler.

Respect....yes respect is what makes this place special.

this policy is definately for the best interest of this site. everything you put in this thread is the reason why I love this site and I would hate for it to go away. thank you.

I think this site is not just great, but also in many ways an important site. I don´t know of any other site that offers both as much scientific information on entheogens (in such a way that any non-scientist can understand it), as well as all these experience reports.

If you want information on DMT, then this is the place to go to.

If you want information on how to safely use many other psychedelic substances, then this is also the place to go to.

This site shows, as much as is technically possible to anybody who´s inexperienced with psychedelic´s, what the psychedelic experience is all about...from a scientific, a philosophical, a spiritual, a personal and a social point of view. That´s very valuable and very unique.

Maintaining it´s level of quality is crucial. Not just for all the nexus-members, but also for everybody who would want to inform himself about the safe use of DMT and other psychedelic´s.

Perfectly put, The Traveler.

Thank you for all you do with this site.

And on that note: Thank you to everyone who posts anything here! This site and its many wonderful threads have impacted my life in a lot of ways. All very positive.

I will do my best to continue with a positive, open-minded (but not to the extent that I forget to think) approach that hopefully will help to elevate this site even more so... even if it's just a bit.

Much love to everyone.

Thank you for the simple and coherent policy, Traveler. The Nexus is the only place I find reliable information on the web on DMT and other entheogens I use / am interested in trying out. Despite considering myself more of a spiritually inclined person, scientifically backed up information is what I’m looking for, as far as psychedelics are concerned. Thanks to the minutely explained extraction teks, I’ve gained enough courage to do it myself soon. Glad to be part of a community where there is so much to learn, to find support and proactive attitude.

Stick it to 'em, Trav! However you want things, that's how it'll be!

Thanks for this Trav,
I hope people can start following this policy and respect each other and stay away from the extremes on either side of the debate.

Well put. And while enforcing this might be highly demanding, it's a step in the right direction. This community is unique, and this policy will contribute to this uniqueness.

If there's anything I want to ask for in a community evolving around a psychedelic is, even more than respect and openness, reliability. So thank you, Traveler, for contributing coherently to that.

To further add some value to this thread I want to explain another thing:


Let me first quote Rising Spirit from this thread:


With this I see that I was not clear enough about a few things. First let me quote pieces from my reply to rising spirit:


As an extra addition to make things even more clear: The limit set in the new policy is that theories/ideas should not be presented as fact when they are clearly not. Not only is this meant for 'new age' and 'esoteric' topics but also for EVERY other topic that simply is not a fact! A good example of this is that it still is not clear if extra DMT is released during sleep, getting born and at the time of death, we cannot state if this is true or false, we just know that it's an unproven and maybe even unlikely theory.

So please, don't think this is only for 'spiritual' topics!


Kind regards,

The Traveler

I think when someone states a belief as a fact it should be challenged and the readers of the post in question can decide for themselves if a strong enough case is made to sway them over. I think its easy to write 'imo' before you say something questionable and then people wont rip on you and this problem will disappear. its only 3 characters to type and not much to ask imo.

Personally I like reading the comments from the science crowd in the new age threads and I don't think and learn as much if those members don't post in them. I think its gracious of the traveler to make a special spot where people can post whatever they want unchallenged but the more I think about it the more I see it as unnecessary as long as people write IMO before making a questionable post and the science guys don't make rude remarks like calling people 'wacky'

thats really all that needs to be done but thank you traveler for trying to please everyone.

Trav

Thank you for laying out this new policy so clearly, it is fair and concise... Perfect.


Much Peace and Compassion

Good to see you pulled out the stick to keep it nice and clean here.

Maybe reading and agreeing to all the guidelines should be a membership requirement to make it easier for the mods?

It is...but people just check the "Accept" box without reading...there's no reasonable way to compel people to actually read the guidelines. We nudge those that appear to have ignored them to read them and if that fails, other methods are employed

..thank you Traveler for making this all clearer, in particular how information is presented..

as a keen reader of Rising Spirit, Hyperspace Fool's and others Through The Looking Glass posts, i am truly heartened they are staying around..well written spiritual discussions is another of the Nexus' strengths to me..

..also, i have seen scientific-types make refuting statements in Through The Looking Glass threads, and then when asked for references not reply (i'm referring to one senior member here) so this Policy announcement should make things clearer to them to..

keep up the great scientific and spiritual work everyone,
respect..