Good post. I always enjoy anecdotal information regarding novel uses of these amazing molecules.
In
THIS article, an individual outlines similar experiments with various substances.
I think the potential benefits of microdosing have been documented fairly well. Though one must consider that every individual and their biochemistry are unique and will react differently to different substances, other factors such as currant mental state, stress levels, appetite, and sleep may also play a role here.
Is microdosing some miracle phenomena? Of coarse not! But there are definantly potential benefits.
Below some interesting points are highlighted:
Quote:A significant instance of problem solving resulted in a Nobel Prize for Kary Mullis. Until the invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a common problem in biology was that biological samples were often too small to analyze, but Mullis solved that and won a Nobel Prize. He described how LSD aided him in doing so.
"PCR's another place where I was down there with the molecules when I discovered it and I wasn't stoned on LSD, but my mind by then had learned how to get down there. I could sit on a DNA molecule and watch the [indistinct] go by. . . . I've learned that partially I would think, and this is again my opinion, through psychedelic drugs . . . if I had not taken LSD ever would I have still been in PCR? I don't know, I doubt it, I seriously doubt it." (Mullis 1998; "Horizon: Psychedelic Science" 1997)
From the point of view of psychedelic cognitive studies, Mullis's example is noteworthy because he did not have his insight while taking psychedelics but instead used psychedelics to increase his ability to visualize, then transferred that cognitive skill back to his ordinary mindbody state. This confirms the idea that some skills learned in one state can be transferred to another. Transference and nontransference between mindbody states is itself a cognitive process that deserves study — learning to remember dreams, for example. Learning to increase this flow, if it is possible, would increase access to stores of information and possibly to new cognitive skills.
Unlike Mullis's experience of transferring a skill back to his ordinary state, most instances of psychedelic problem solving occur while the person's cognitive processes are psychedelically augmented.
This is most clearly illustrated by "Psychedelic Agents in Creative Problem Solving: A Pilot Study," by Willis Harman, a professor of engineering economic systems, and a team of researchers at Stanford Research Institute. Working with twenty-seven men who were "engaged in various professional occupations, i.e., engineers, physicists, mathematicians, architects, a furniture designer, and a commercial artist and had a total of 44 professional problems they wanted to work on," the Stanford Research Institute team divided them into groups of three or four
and gave them 200 milligrams of mescaline, followed by a quiet period of listening to music. Then they had snacks and discussed their problems with their group. Following this they spent three or four hours working alone on their problems. As a result of psychedelic enhancement,
the practical results were impressivehttp://realitysandwich.c...nding_cognitive_studies/ I think mescaline, LSD, and some of the novel substituted phenethylamines in particular, all have great potential as "smart pills" and as agents which can enhance and improve the human mind and quality of existance....
That's not to say that I think one can microdose and profess psychedelic expertise, again, I'll let McKenna articulate:
Quote:There are a lot of wannabe experts running around who didn't take enough, because you have to take a lot -- not a LOT -- but you have to take a frightening amount to get into what it's really about. People who have taken, you know, 50 gamma of LSD or 100 gamma of LSD or two grams of mushrooms or something like that, they are not qualified to hold forth on the nature of the psychedelic experience, because those doses don't deliver it to you. What they deliver is the periphery of the psychedelic experience: accelerated thought processes, a kind of depth and richness to cognition that is unfamiliar, an ability to analyze situations from unusual perspectives, or to reach unexpected conclusions. -terence McKenna
I think that by taking constant small doses of, lets say psilocybin, that you are ultimately building tolerance to the substance, without ever comming close to its true potential, I think you must build a relationship with these substances, you must get to know them at many dose levels under many conditions in many environments in order to gain the full range of what these substances can offer...
Yet, I'm fascinated with improving focus, memory, attention, concentration, productivity, creativity, performance, ability to absorb and understand new information, ability to form novel and abstract concepts and solutions to problems, ability to learn new skills, and so on...and I feel psychedelics hold the most potential for achieving these abilities. Our brain uses endogenous tryptamine and phenethylamine neurotransmitters to facilitate higher brain function, including cognition, memory, creativity, focus, etc...so I feel tryptamine and phenethylamine psychedelics, which could be viewed as "exogenous neurotransmitter homologues" hold the most promise in this area.
However, I think those concerned with microdosing should turn their attention to 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methyl-phenethylamine, and it's ethoxy homologues.
In the publication "
SMART PILLS " By Darrell lemaire, potentials of these compounds are briefly outlined. I feel these compounds deliver all the benefits microdose users are seeking, minus the intoxication states which may hinder nootropic function.
It's a complex issue...
-eg