Psychedelics in Extreme Sports

[Sonika]

I think this shit's fucking cool. The whole idea of microdosing to just get a small amount of the psychedelia and using it to improve perception and reaction time and such makes sense. I knew about the dude who pitched a no-hitter on two tabs of acid but I didn't know about the whole culture.

http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v21n1/v21n1-25to29.pdf


and, more on the whole idea of microdosing in general:

http://www.highexistence.com/micro-dose ... ychedelic/

goooood shit

[Electric_Head]

Yep, folks ask me why I play top level hockey high.
Because I can.

[OGLemon]

jesus christ

[_ronzlo_]

Cognitive enhancement is a continuum and not a polarized on/off thing. At certain points in the continuum you may wind up trading one ability for another, so it depends on how well you know yourself and can honestly gauge when things are working or going off the rails.

Also think that microdosing certain tryptamines can produce this effect of stabilized heightened awareness with very few drawbacks besides the fact that you're relying on an exterior source instead of mustering it yourself.

[soronery]

The whole idea of microdosing to just get a small amount of the psychedelia and using it to improve perception and reaction time and such makes sense

incorrect. microdosing is to allow a drug to be studied on a cellular level without producing full effects in the subject.

that extreme sport 'dudes' have appropriated this as an excuse to combine drugs with doing dangerous things is stupid. if you want to do drugs and do something ('extreme' or otherwise), then just do it. don't try and misappropriate a term to give a label to whatever retarded activity you're up to that day just to appear like there is some higher purpose behind what you're doing.

Yep, folks ask me why I play top level hockey high.
Because I can.

all you need to know right here. i do something because i can. no need to try and justify it further than that.

[Sonika]

soronery have you actually read the first article that i posted? if you haven't, i would suggest it. it seems like it's just a part of the culture and it actually has a lot of benefits

i know that a lot of terence mckenna stuff is borderline bullshit, but i read his book "food of the gods" and he was theorizing that small amounts of mushrooms were used by our prehistoric ancestors in africa as hunting aids, because of increased cognitive functioning and the ability to prolong endurance and make one impervious to pain, as well as providing energy

this seems to be confirming that ability

i just found the whole extreme sports community's use of this and their connection to the hippies to be really cool

[soronery]

sonika, food of the gods (like most of mckennas work) is mired in speculation and precipitous conclusion jumping. it's no more a valid interpretation of why certain ancient societies took mushrooms than the dead sea scrolls are when they reference rain as god ejaculating on the earth whilst scholars were under the same influence.

[_ronzlo_]

The whole idea of microdosing to just get a small amount of the psychedelia and using it to improve perception and reaction time and such makes sense

incorrect. microdosing is to allow a drug to be studied on a cellular level without producing full effects in the subject.

that extreme sport 'dudes' have appropriated this as an excuse to combine drugs with doing dangerous things is stupid. if you want to do drugs and do something ('extreme' or otherwise), then just do it. don't try and misappropriate a term to give a label to whatever retarded activity you're up to that day just to appear like there is some higher purpose behind what you're doing.

Yep, folks ask me why I play top level hockey high.
Because I can.

all you need to know right here. i do something because i can. no need to try and justify it further than that.

Like anything else, this too is going to be a continuum - not black & white - where the majority fall somewhere in your "stupid" generalization, a handful in the "really stupid" zone, and a small number of people who actually pull it off. Beware of categorical dismissals, even when the ideas appear [to you] to be clearly dismissable.

Just my two rubles.

[hubb]

Not being sarcastic but I can't imagine taking tiny bits of 'random' or simply unknown psychoactives could be a problem. The mind and common bits like stress and depression is much more dynamic than that by itself.
Think of how drastic an effect placebo can have, just as an example.

[magma]

soronery have you actually read the first article that i posted? if you haven't, i would suggest it. it seems like it's just a part of the culture and it actually has a lot of benefits

i know that a lot of terence mckenna stuff is borderline bullshit, but i read his book "food of the gods" and he was theorizing that small amounts of mushrooms were used by our prehistoric ancestors in africa as hunting aids, because of increased cognitive functioning and the ability to prolong endurance and make one impervious to pain, as well as providing energy

this seems to be confirming that ability

i just found the whole extreme sports community's use of this and their connection to the hippies to be really cool

Vikings used to take Fly Agaric mushrooms to put them in "battle mode" too and half of the planet's workforce is dependent on caffeine and nicotine. People like drugs and like to combine them with activities they love and hate to enhance pleasure and minimise pain and boredom whether it's listening to music, skating or swinging a battle-axe. I'm not really convinced this is news, Sonika.

Terence McKenna is a right knob. Don't go accidentally turning yourself into Parson, lad.

[soronery]

_ronzlo_, that is a fair comment. i'm aware there will be a bell curve with anything of this nature in terms of what results people think they get off of it. my stupid comment was more about the need to put a label on whatever people are doing.

i like to smoke a bit of pot and then go kayaking. i do not feel the need to give this a special name or term to make it sound like i'm doing something more meaningful.

it's just me smoking pot and going for a paddle.

[hubb]

I don't even know who this mckenna fella is but it's quite obvious that distancing yourselves from him is most of what you people focus on in this thread

[Electric_Head]

To add to that; Just because they took these substances and went hunting does not mean they microdosed to achieve a higher perception.
They merely knew that some of the substances they took helped to lessen their need for fluids, food, etc.

It's like Sceletium tortuosum, the bushmen chewed it en mass for it's abilities but it was never a microdose, it was used in large quantities to quell hunger and thirst when hunting, it also allowed them to hunt for extended periods without sleep.

Psychedelics however have always been used spiritually and not to enable us to perform better.
Chances are the individual taking the substance is actually justifying as soronery has said.
You are generally going to find that one ability takes a back seat to another when dealing with these mind sets.
Like when you loose your hearing and your sight improves.

I don't for a second believe the drug has actually helped, it's just a mindset that could have been achieved without inducing a psychedelic state.
If that makes any sense?

[magma]

i like to smoke a bit of pot and then go kayaking. i do not feel the need to give this a special name or term to make it sound like i'm doing something more meaningful.

it's just me smoking pot and going for a paddle.

This is a great post; especially the last sentence.

[hubb]

so you guys are opposing just the wording, like if it becomes a buzz word?

that's fair.

[hubb]

Also say what you want, but I'm sure Tyson had the munchies that one time.

Maradona lol

[_ronzlo_]

It's fashionable to dismiss McKenna because man was highly, highly speculative in his many theories on everything (I mean, he was trained as an ethnobotanist but had theories on evolution, culture, cognition, physics, aliens, etc. etc.) - smart guy with a taste for the juicy "what if" that had nothing to do with his academic vocation. And people who like that speculative weird shit ran with it, because a guy with a PhD said so. However, I don't think he ever meant for some of this stuff to get treated like gospel - it was never anything more than a juicy "what if" designed to start a conversation.

That being said, there is absolutely a connection between drugs and human spirituality that goes back a loooooong time and has given us a lot more than most realize. But it's also a shadowy, elusive connection that's almost impossible to pin down with any certainty; it's a gaping chasm littered with the minds and bodies of the broken.

Oh, for those who don't know what Sonika is talking about in the first post:

[magma]

so you guys are opposing just the wording, like if it becomes a buzz word?

that's fair.

No, not the wording, the whole concept.

Taking recreational drugs in order to increase the fun, reduce the pain/fatigue etc is all well and good, but packaging it up as some noble pursuit to maximise human performance and allow our species to reach its 'full potential' is just some arch bullshit that could lead to gullible people putting psychs into their body that they're not equipped or prepared to deal with. That's how you get casualties.

A lot of these sorts of writers, or maybe their readers, strike me as people who already like taking drugs (of which I'm included) desperately trying to avoid admitting that they did it to have a good time. It's got to be seen as "worthy" or "constructive". There are wonderfully constructive, medical and psychological things that can surely be done with psychedelic drugs by trained professionals or centuries ago perhaps led by experienced shamens or priests, but that doesn't really cover Brad hanging ten riding a gnarly tube off Big Sur. Brad's just having a laugh and needs to be honest with himself about that.

I can honestly say that the time I took ecstasy and snowboarded off-piste down Mont Blanc I did it for the fucking hell of it. I wasn't any better, in fact I was fucking awful and the snow was BLINDINGLY bright. I had a great time.

[Riddles]

so you guys are opposing just the wording, like if it becomes a buzz word?

that's fair.

No, not the wording, the whole concept.

Taking recreational drugs in order to increase the fun, reduce the pain/fatigue etc is all well and good, but packaging it up as some noble pursuit to maximise human performance and allow our species to reach its 'full potential' is just some arch bullshit that could lead to gullible people putting psychs into their body that they're not equipped or prepared to deal with. That's how you get casualties.

A lot of these sorts of writers, or maybe their readers, strike me as people who already like taking drugs (of which I'm included) desperately trying to avoid admitting that they did it to have a good time. It's got to be seen as "worthy" or "constructive". There are wonderfully constructive, medical and psychological things that can surely be done with psychedelic drugs by trained professionals or centuries ago perhaps led by experienced shamens or priests, but that doesn't really cover Brad hanging ten riding a gnarly tube off Big Sur. Brad's just having a laugh and needs to be honest with himself about that.

I can honestly say that the time I took ecstasy and snowboarded off-piste down Mont Blanc I did it for the fucking hell of it. I wasn't any better, in fact I was fucking awful and the snow was BLINDINGLY bright. I had a great time.

rah, when lights come on in the dance it's too much. Fuck a blindingly white snowy mountain

[m8son666]

lol i have skateboarded on pretty much every drug and as other people have said i was just on drugs while skateboarding

some made me better but it wasn't some huge profound world changing effect

also people have been using stimulants and other drugs in sports for ages, why now psychedelics may be being used is it suddenly a big deal?