Hallucinogens and intelligence.

I've just noticed something about this forum. Most of the people who post are articulate and well-spoken (written?).
Having an easy job, i spend a lot of time online, particularly on forums. I regularly visit gaming forums, bodybuilding forums, football forums, and others, and i have to say that the general level of English here is much better than average.
On most forums, a high percentage of posts are from people who don't have a very big vocabulary, can't spell very well, don't know how to use punctuation properly, and generally don't express themselves very well.
Why would a forum which discusses the use of hallucinogens be more literate, and seemingly more intelligent than the average forum?

Well, of course i'm not about to suggest that drugs make you more intelligent, that would be silly! But i have to wonder if the sort of person who is likely to experiment with their consciousness and the powers of their imagination is more likely to have a higher IQ?

Or is this just a load of manure?

 

I think it doesn't matter.

One of my old theories is that certain drugs will bring you to an elevated state of intelligence: Say you drop some acid, you now are seeing things otherwise incomprehensible to man and you are thinking differently. The mind fuck that comes with the acid trip (essentialy the trip) seems to be as if you were using a larger percent of your brain (Einsteins theory: We only use 1/10th of 1% of our brains for concious thought). Take for example the idea of being able to breakdown and analyze every little aspect of every and anything no matter how little it might make sense. So with the idea of being able to comprehend the hallucinations rather than just observing them you have the elevated state of mind which in turn increases your vocabulary.

 

But honestly I do believe that it depends on the person and how the drug is approached. Dumbshit gangsta kids who get into drugs because they mention them in the music they listen to most likely won't increase their vocabulary. But then there's still that chance that it could.

If they approach the drug as something to get fucked up with and to see shit then how their trip goes will determine the after effects: If they trip hella hard and think and talk about insightful/abstract things then most likely something will be "improved." If they can only talk about how fucked up they are and the shit they are seeing, I highly doubt it.

On the other hand you have someone who was intelligent to begin with, they could choose to think abstractly or just about the crazy shit that's happening. Assuming the latter, I doubt they'll lose knowledge, but they probably won't increase any.

ME: Well I pondered knowledge abstract and dug around the idea of "insight" before I got into drugs so all drugs have done for me is increase what my state was before. Also I've grown older and wiser and read a lot more books. (Good read: Universe - The Definitive Visual Guide. It's like a reference book (with no author) from DK books. It's definately worth a look, it is literally insane).

My last point to make is that, in my opinion, people grow far more wise than they do intelligent from drugs, coupled with a loss of common sense (an increase in CS with the idea that you are more aware of how to use it, it's just your ability to use it has been depleted).

 

tripps maked mes stoopid

 

elitism and having better sex partners gets sorted out in more tangible ways when salvia is not involved, and when intelligence is more at a common baseline.

just don't let on (that you are elitist or want to impress a potential sex partner) if they ask,
but if you have something to say, it helps to be able to express it in words.

 

^ what are you talking about?

 

I wouldn't directly relate hallucinogens to intelligence IE psych's make you smarter, however when one explores an altered state and has a genuine profound experience, knowledge gained can be applyed to the real world thus giving the user a wiser view of the world he percieves around himself.

 

agreed completely.

experience is experience, and in the case of an LSD trip, the experience is bound to be one of the most profound that the user will ever experience, especially the first time. nothing that i have done can compare to the feeling(s) of being on LSD.

 

drugs are what you make of them, i guess.

 

Exactly my point.
Dumbshit wannabe gangsta kids aren't the sort who'd be tempted by hallucinogens. They'd go for the mind-befuddling ones like THC and crack. Hallucinogens would force them to analyse themselves.

Or maybe i'm being elitist.....

And i have to say that this whole thread proves my point, to a certain extent. How many forum threads do you read on games/sports/anything else forums, where every one of the answers is articulate and considered? Apart from the post by relayer, who was joking.

 

Naw, lots of idiots like to take hallucinogens just to get fucked up and see shit. You're being elitist.

 

mes to thjem assid skweers fukt i brane up, me's confuzzled

me's has madd sex wif nun a dem slipry beloons on i tool

 

But really, I find a lot of the elitest garbage going on, and wtf are you talking about redgreenvines?

 

I don't think hallucinogens affect intelligence or how articulate one might be. I believe one ultimately achieves the goals originally intended by taking hallucinogens or any mind-altering substance for that matter. In other words, you get out what you put in; if you go into a drug being a complete idiot, you'll come out about the same in general. I don't think that social status, or even whether one is a "wannabe gangsta" ultimately has any effect on the goals of drug consumption, and I tend to disagree with theotherpath, in that THC isn't always a mind-befuddling drug. However; the high of cannabis often does leave a bit to be desired in the "after-analysis" unlike other hallucinogens. I don't think it's a matter of being an elitist. Intelligence is not a gift, it's an aquired and achieved trait. Why is it elitist and inherently wrong to be intelligent? Why should it be wrong to require of others the same basic intelligence expected of you? Why settle for the devolution and dumbing of the human race? When did we all stop striving to be more and more intelligent and insightful beings, and instead allow complete morons to rule nations and hold power? We should still strive for the goals of Plato's Republic, no matter how idealist they may be... Sorry about that bit of a rant, but I do think that the use of perception-altering substances remain artforms in their respective rights; tools for the great thinkers, keys for the doors of perception...

 

I agree well put.

 

Why act like having fun is an invalid reason to take psychedelics?

 

2ceasars,
take 2ceasars and call me in the morning.

 

Its as good a reason as any I suppose, it depends on ones views, however theres a fine line between having fun and stupidity when using. We could also call into account the extreme disrespect many people have towards psychedelics and drugs in general, but thats best saved for another thread.

 

i think the defining line is whether or not you know or care what actually happens when you take a drug.

someone who's doing it just for fun, has absolutely no thoughts about higher consciousness or mind expansion, probably doesn't consider the chemicals and how they're reacting in the brain. they don't really think about smoke in their lungs or coke in their nose or shrooms in their stomach. they just know "you do this this way, you have a good time". i'm being entirely stereotypical, but these are the people who eat hohos and drink pepsi and don't know how to read a nutrition label.

personally... i think almost all enlightenment comes from trying to understand what's really happening, what the truth is, and not caring less about results of actions than how the actions work, and why the results happen. one person will just experience things. another will experience things for the sake of understanding why and how it could be different.

then there are people who don't think about "scientific" things like endorphines and dopamine and neurotransmitters, but see drugs in a more magical, mystical sense. i think they fall into the same category as those who are conscious of exactly what is physically happening, because they concentrate on what is permanent and.... okay, i just realized, i'm getting way too into this.



i'll stop.

nothing makes you smart but yourself. outer experiences are always opportunities for mental growth, but some people aren't open to change.

 

that last line was a goodin. mind expansion required that one open's their mind to all things, literally, every-thing. me, personally, i have come into this addiction to knowlege. i cant get enough of it. looking at things when im trippin is completely different from looking at them sober, or even high for that matter. it kinda like lookin around a corner with a normal mirror, and then looking around the same corner with a funhouse mirror, only the funhouse mirror inspires feeling.

for some reason writing that reminded me of this art exibit i went to the other day. i was trippin on a good dose of 2C-i and i was just staring at this 3D art of a rabbit that had been torn in half, a fake one of course, and the artist had painted blood smires and shit all over a black canvas, i stared at it for like 30 min. it was...