The problem with sciencism...
Person A: I had this experience..
Person B: "What can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence".
This is what this entire post is about.
You cannot dismiss experience because of lack of evidence.
And sciencism goes further in that, if scienceism can't explain it, then it was obviously not real. And you are obviously a crackpot, and don't know what you are talking about.
So, instead of science learning from these experiences, sciencism ignores them and belittles them.
I tend to agree. I think this hasn't been tested enough to even begin to assert that Person A's claims are or aren't valid. There may be a lack of evidence, but, as this point in time, it's only for lack of experiments on them.
IMO, the most intellectually honest answer from the "scientific community" right now on this topic is "we don't have sufficient evidence either way (for or against)". We have plenty of anecdotal evidence that drugs can work great wonders for human psychology and just as many that it causes great harm. Maybe both are true and using these drugs requires following a specific procedure to receive the intended benefits.
We may never have a definitive answer, especially since this deals with consciousness -- something that we'd like to believe we understand but don't know the first thing about.
There are people who smoke pot to get high, and there are people who use cannabis to open their minds. That is basically the difference between those it helps and those it harms.
Playing with your mind; going down the rabbit hole... but then you got to get back out.
And if you haven't developed your brain muscle, then it is usually a losing battle.
There are huge piles of similar experiences. Some consider that proof enough. But, since we are talking about personal experiences, it is not something that you can just give to someone who hasn't trod the path. I wish it was as easy as, "here, take this drug," because it really is more about the preparation than the drug.
Wish i could whale up vote this so we can knock all those other comments out.
We actually have evidence explaining the experience. In the same way you can google "visual illusions" and you get a few mind hacks. You cannot claim that the screen is magical because simply we have evidence that is your mind playing tricks on you.
I understand where you are coming from.
I have been there. I studied all of the science.
However, you do not know where I am coming from.
And there is no way for me to explain it to you.
You cannot describe color to a blind person.
So, when you start having these experiences, then you to will throw out all the works such as you have just written. It has happened before, it will happen again.
And when you do, I hope there is someone there to help you while your entire sciencism world crumbles around you.
Sorry, I do not want to be enigmatic, but you have to experience it for yourself. And the idea of it just being the mind playing tricks on you is laughable in face of the piles of shared experiences. There really, truly is more out there.
I have done plenty of drugs. Probably more than you ever have. So really. This saying doesn't really apply here.
This is not a matter of sciencism. There is nothing out there other than death and decay. Whatever you believe is just that. Belief. There is no evidence for anything else. I would like to believe that there is but really, there isn't.
Plenty. Good. probably too much drugs that messed up your mind until you forgot what is the spiritual benefits it may have to individuals. I psycedelicls has helped alot of street drugs users like meth and such to turn over a new leaf.
drugs can't help you get away from drugs
No evidence? LOL Yes there is.
If people spoke about their drug trips the same way they speak about dreams, I don't think anyone would care. It's only when fantasy becomes confused with objective reality that it becomes a problem. There's nothing wrong with having hallucinations or dreams but we can't run around telling people that these imaginary events actually occurred outside of our own brains.
If you were in Tibet, the common parlayance, would be
"but we can't run around telling people that physical manifestations are outside of our brains."
There is more evidence that our dreams are real, and that the 3D world is an illusion. But, we were raised in a country were people don't even listen to their dreams.
I do understand where you are coming from. I was raised in that environment. But I can no longer believe it, as evidence has shown otherwise.
Yes, some cultures are vastly less intelligent than others. If Tibet has a problem with separating reality from fantasy, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. I myself was raised in a christian household and so couldn't tell the difference until around the time I turned twenty. It's an extremely common mental disorder and you're representing it perfectly.