>>18335i've done psychedelics, and personally i never got the one-with-everything experience. I know people who have, I guess. But from what people report it seems like it's not there all the time. I
have however had those experiences just contemplating the world, and nature, and reading shit that just contains the idea, and contemplating on that. I think it would be way more direct and fruitful to just try to nudge people overtly and with language into seeing the interconnectedness of things, and shifting their perspective around and out of their own situation, so they can imagine the situation of others. This doesnt need drugs, and also doesnt point to a single political direction. It's really just good for individual human development, psychologically.
That said I think people should try psychedelics. They definitely give you novel experiences. Honestly I encourage everyone to take psychedelics during normal daily life at least once. They can best be described as consciousness enhancers (not that they don't modify things a ton also though), and it will get you to really feel what you feel, and think what you think. There's no running away and skimming on the surface with them. Or at least its harder.
Another part that makes things less straight forward is that people use psychedelics in different ways. Some people
only candy flip, or trip during a weekend in nature, so every trip basically is free from critique of the world, and is mentally and emotionally kind of compartmentalized. It's pure recreation.
Then there's people who go into it looking for the secrets to the universe. They will usually find those secrets. And they'll be wrong and stupid, because psychedelics don't give you anything new that wasnt already known to you (at some time at least) or able to be known to you. If you come away thinking you saw god and god loves you and wants you to pick up litter and tell everyone you love them…. not much harm, but also that's a huge problem in your thinking and these substances shouldnt be approached that way imo.
Another way is just trying to see how the substance can change your perception, and use that to inform you…. how your perception can be changed. Which is super valuable! We learn a lot by what we lose, e.g. objective vision of reality.
The last way though is maybe the most difficult because it requires letting go and just experiencing the experience, and dealing with it basically exactly as you would any experience in life. And honestly I usually come away from psychedelics going "wow normal reality is way more psychedelic than I thought". You begin to understand how frail your sense of reality is, how important memory is and just random senses that you have no control over, like sense of time or your vision or train of thought. And in these experiences, its not really much different from hardcore meditation, where your past might be brought up, or your present, and this is the best use, as a consciousness expander, linking things together and bringing things out. All these ideas need to be re-checked for validity when you're sober, but anyways this is my personal opinion of where psychedelics shine. All uses are fine, some uses (too often for too long)
will fry your brain. And some will delude you.
Also on a sort of ethical note, isnt there something kind of too easy in the idea of everyone consuming a certain thing in order to bring about social change? This is basically the ideology of Starbucks, for example. The best and worst thing about communism is that it's the dream of a world where people wake up, and stand up, and come together to fight for a common goal, for their own dignity and ability to live a good life. This is hard, and thats why its valuable. People need to really understand what they're doing and why. But maybe psychedelics could give them a push. Just maybe though, I've also seen people say that e.g. giving nazis psychedelics, they can just become more adamant about their beliefs… It's not fundamentally change inducing. I think in people with a sharp mind, and who know how to think well, it could cause your thought to progress rapidly or in a novel way. But for people who's whole thought process is fucked up, it might just take them around their own fucked up thought process. The biggest realization I got on my first trip was "you get out what you put in", wrt to thoughts. When you start with some idea, you generally end with it, no matter how much you look at it. Psychedelics take you to a place of pure thought for lots of the time. You arent really integrating new information. And new information is whats needed for development in thoughts. So if you already think something, chances are you'll confirm that.