How to Change Your Mind
When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.
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What Hacker News says
- Also, Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind. If you want a preview of the book, there’s a Netflix documentary.
- I just picked up my fifth Michael Pollen book, A World Appears: a Journey into Consciousness
https://www.amazon.com/World-Appears-Journey-into-Consciousn...
Very excited to start turning pages on this one (after his How to Change Your Mind, Botany of Desire, Shedbook, cannot remember fourth rn).
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For the brief period my half braindead mother was conscious, it was interesting to play my own Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat -clinician. Watching videos of corpus-collosum -severed people, interacting with worlds/hemispheres... is quite an interesting take on being-whole-braint.
- You should read / watch Michael Pollan’s “How to change your mind” https://m.imdb.com/title/tt21062540/
- When this topic comes up on HN I'm always sure to mention the book:
"How to Change Your Mind" by Michael Pollan
There's also a Netflix doc series based on the book.
- Confession: have not read the article.
I write in only to say that I’ve taken MDMA under the guidance of a specialist, who had MAPS training and a lot of experience. MDMA is typically not considered to be a psychedelic, but it’s in-family with psychedelic therapy.
Two sessions, separated by about 6 months, helped me to see many relationships in my life in a new way. There was intention setting beforehand, and notes taken during session, and integration afterwards. All that seemed very important to the process.
Interested people could check out Julie Holland’s book on Ecstacy, or Rachel Nuwer’s book I feel love, or of course Michael Pollan’s wonderful book How to change your mind.
- Suggested reading:
"How to Change Your Mind" by Michael Pollan
https://michaelpollan.com/books/how-to-change-your-mind/
There's also a multi-part Netflix series based on the book.
