You don't actually ever "come down" from a psychedelic trip

Because I believe it's a drug that has a temporary effect that wears off after about 8 hours.


It's possible to come out of it a new person, but I believe the physiological effect is over when it's over. If it were true, I don't think everyone would "get used to it" at about the same time...for one empirical reason.

(remember, you kind of asked for a long answer...)

I remember about the same time we were considering this idea, we also entertained the idea that the ultimate trip would be dying. We didn't consider it at all, but we thought of the idea of us opening our veins and leaving forever on the ultimate journey instead of dropping LSD (me and two early tripping buddies, one who I recently tripped with.)

It was when I first started taking strong doses of LSD, and we had some extremely strong blotter. I don't know how to explain how strong they were. The visuals were so strong, for example, we couldn't tell ashes from weed after spending a lot of time trying, even touching it...tapping the book that the weed was on turned it into thin spaghetti dancing around. I remember thinking I could see through pool balls. Sound was amazing too. I remember someone crumbling a candy wrapper and it sounded like the entire room was breaking apart. We just naturally drifted from interacting, to just being in our own heads, and back.

During these three weekends with this acid, our concept of reality was magical. Our old concept seemed limited and mundane. Anything could be true.

It changed me forever, but as time went on after those initial LSD trips, that magical reality and the old limited reality combined to create a new, broader reality, which wasn't quite as magical. I don't think I got used to the magical reality, but that the drug and the immediate psychological impact of it faded.

What does this have to do with the original idea in the post? My believe system has a big scepticism aspect. So, when I think of reasons that I might start to believe something, which aren't necessarily based on fact, it makes me doubt that belief. Kind of like how I'm pretty doubtful of most concrete religious beliefs, because I can understand why humans would want to make that up.

Other than it just being a neat thought, I have no reason to believe that we never come down. And I see that it's an interesting concept to entertain. So, it makes me less likely to believe it without some kind of evidence, and I don't see any.

 

i get what you're (someone is) saying...that we never come down.
we never come down and go back to the same person as before.

but if that is true, then you never come down from a science lecture either.

but i would say that you do come down. or at least you can.

not everyone learns a major lesson, or changes in any noticeable way after taking LSD. not everyone retains useful information from a science lecture. but some people do. (i do both hahahaha *insert smug smiley*)

if you DO learn from psychedelics, not every trip gives you the same amount of insight or personal changes. certain trips teach you life long lessons (maybe), and certain trips are just mostly a fun time. unless maybe you have never had a recreational trip. sure you always learn "something" but...i digress.


i say - you come down from the effects of the drug. that is quite obvious.

you can learn from the experience, and not "come down." but you have to work to hold onto those lessons. after you go a long time without tripping, the lessons start to fade a bit. but they don't have to.

 

Lolol ”hood thugs on acid”. Dude, I've been around that, nobody wants to get philosophical, they just want to trip sack visually. And they're highly emotional, sad angry happy lol, and most hate it.

 

I mean to say that, consciously or subconsciously, you seem to have taken the idea of getting high, and turned it into actually ascending a "level"

There is no level, there are many little bits that can be arranged many ways, it's much more complex, and much more humble, than simple levels...

Taking drugs changes you. You would have changed even if you never took them, even if it would have been different. Things change, period, including you as a person. This does not mean you never come down.

 

or it means you never come down from anything

 

Some newb is going to read this thread while tripping and gonna Freak the fuck out.

 

There are worse threads...

 

legit LOL right there

 

I know, it's a construction. But isn't this akin to saying there is no molecule? It's just a complex arrangement of particles, which don't really exist either.

But yeah you're right, everything is change. I just thought it was a cool idea and way to look at it, though flawed.

 

Ha ha ha right. And they say "this little piece of paper? that's not gonna do nothing." then when it does something they almost cease talking altogether, when they do talk its awkward.

 

i think most people who have never done LSD before, doubt the potential of that first, tiny piece of paper

 

i see what you're saying, tripping can permanently leave an imprint on your consciousness... but i feel like this can be true of any experience. i feel like its a bit like saying you never really stop tasting a banana. I physically haven't eaten a banana in a while.. but an imprint of that taste is forever in my mind and i can access it anytime. but the experience is definitely over. tripping has done the same thing but do a much greater extent. tripping has provided a unique state of consciousness which i can partially access and relive to a certain extent at all times... but i've definitely come down. to say i never really came down to me seems to weaken the intensity of the word tripping.

now i've certainly had intense afterglows from trips where i thought i had reached a higher level.. and i think i did. but it faded away. i may even still have after effects from acid which i don't really mind.. but to say im still trippin now doesn't do justice to the experience id have if i ate a ten strip tomorrow.

 

I searched for what I think was an Albert Hoffman quote, but can't find it. Something along the lines of: "If only we could live two lives, one where we experienced LSD and one where we didn't. That would be the only way to know how much it impacted us, but we can't do that."