The Traveler wrote:entheogenic-gnosis wrote:hug46 wrote:entheogenic-gnosis wrote:
When Leary says "you are not like them" he is referring to non-psychedelic people, or even in a more broad sense, "those who are walking in their sleep", and Leary then continues by contrasting "normal people" to psychedelic people.
I think that if that is the case then Leary's (and Mckenna's) view on this is outdated. According to him we are differeent because "we know" even though we live like the "normal asleep" people and mimic their automated actions and responses to an "oppressive" society. A society i might add that had a major part in producing these icons of psychedelic culture. I would take a punt that most of the icons were quite well educated before they discovered drugs.
Who is really asleep if those that "know" feel that they are different but carry on watching shit tv? And what do we do when we "find the others" apart from discuss how different we are and how normal everyday people are sheeple. At best it seems like snobbery to me and encourages separatism. Us and them.....it happens in religion, race, sport etc. We should be getting over it if we are to move forward.
And the thing about alienation. Everyone feels alienated at times. It's an essential part of growing up and being human.
I wish respect to all here and am just having a rant.
Quote:And what do we do when we "find the others" apart from discuss how different we are and how normal everyday people are sheeple. At best it seems like snobbery to me and encourages separatism.
According to mckenna we need to: "We all need to create affinity groups which are subsets of the much larger community that we’re part of. Then using this technology, which was designed to keep track of us, to pick our pockets and to sell us junk we don’t want, use this technology to produce art. We must produce massive amounts of subversive art.
Quote:At best it seems like snobbery to me and encourages separatism. Us and them.....it happens in religion, race, sport etc. We should be getting over it if we are to move forward.
It's not at all, it's a valid observation...
Quote:STEVE JOBS, co-founder of Apple, "told a reporter that taking LSD was one of the two or three most important things he had done in his life. He said there were things about him that people who had not tried psychedelics — even people who knew him well, including his wife — could never understand." (The New York Times, 10/5/11)
Now, jobs said "He said there were things about him that people who had not tried psychedelics — even people who knew him well, including his wife — could never understand."
There are many of these "things" which are only understandable to psychedelic individuals...
Crick is another example
Quote:
Francis Crick, who died , aged 88, later told a fellow scientist that he often used small doses of LSD, then an experimental drug used in psychotherapy, to boost his powers of thought. He said it was LSD, not the Eagle's warm beer, that helped him to unravel the structure of DNA, the discovery that won him the Nobel Prize
-eg
You seem to quote others a lot, which makes me think about what your own thoughts are.
Kind regards,
The Traveeer
I find it aides in demonstrating my points when I can use quotes of those who hold similar views, or have influenced me, or from those who I have learned from...
Like when it was said "At best it seems like snobbery to me and encourages separatism."
I wanted to explain It's not a stance of superiority, it's a separation born of alienation, you want to reach out to others in hopes they will understand and in turn find frustration as your attempts fail...you don't want to be separated from others, but there's something's they either can't understand or will refuse to even make the effort, and there is relief in finding the others.
I think "finding the others" is why most people are here.
Now, jobs said "there were things about him that people who had not tried psychedelics — even people who knew him well, including his wife — could never understand.
Think about having things that you could not share with someone as close to you as your wife, but which would be fully understood by someone familiar with psychedelic experiences.
So I felt quoting jobs was essential to elucidating my point.
I think simply by reviewing the quotes which I choose you can get a fairly good idea of what I generally think (though I have also written pages worth of my own thoughts throughout many different threads on this site ), I pick out the quotes which relate to my personal views, or demonstrate my points or relate to my situation, I don't buy into to everything mckenna or Leary said, but I do feel some of the things that they said coincide with my personal views, and its those quotes which I select.... if I could not relate to these people in such a way I doubt I would have been drawn to them to begin with, you hear them speak and you feel "finally! Someone who sees things in a way similar to myself!"
in some cases someone will say something and I will think "I know a quote or transcription that fits this perfectly" in which case it may not represent my views, but may just relate fairly well to the situation...
In this case I feel the quotes used applied very well to the topic at hand, many people were saying they were alone in psychedelics, hence the Leary and mckenna quotes regarding "finding the others"
I'm always happy to elaborate on my views, though I'm also not opposed to introducing others to the work of people in the psychedelic field, a good deal of intelligent people have also had their try at these very same topics, sometimes there perspective can be just as valuable as mine, sometimes more.
-eg