Hacker News Reader

Comment by KarimDaghari | Hacker News Reader

Disclaimer: I haven’t taken any psychedelics.

> all the various mental abstractions we have built for ourselves in life and society are not necessarily 'wrong', but definitely questionable.

If I may interject here: The mental models we, both as a society and individuals, operate on are at best incomplete and at worst inaccurate. But then again, humanly-speaking there are no and there will never be a complete or accurate nor true or even correct model — it is by design. And the most obvious (inward) reason is: cognitive biases (and therefore, evolution by extension).

That said, while on a micro scale it might seem imperfect/suboptimal, on a macro scale it’s actually beneficial because that’s (the imperfection) what actually allows us as a group of individuals to evolve and adapt.

View on HN

I didn’t say that I still believed the things I felt on mushrooms, only that they impacted me. I still buy pizzas with money, but I now look at people with lots of money and boring/stressful lives the way people look at animals in the zoo—with a kind of half-hearted interest in watching them but also with a great sadness for them.

(I haven't taken any psychedelics either.)

I think in GP's observations, "collective delusions" is the key phrase. I actually had this realization some time ago - as my mind accepted and internalized that all these mental abstractions are indeed collective delusions. We learn to intuitively expect the world to work in a certain way, but it only happens because almost everyone expects that too. Money is often referred to such a concept: it has value only as long as people believe it has value. That $10 in your pocket is only worth $10 if roughly everyone is willing to accept it in exchange for something, on the expectation that they'll be able to later exchange it with someone else. Rule of law is similar - it prevents people from seeking justice through violence, but only as long as everyone believes the law mostly works.

(This is why I consider attacks on public trust as an existential threat to society.)

I'm guessing shrooms let GP have this realization on overdrive, hitting directly and viscerally. I conclude that while not strictly necessary, psychedelics may be a fast track for one to do mental leaps, if somewhat at random.

My man I hear what you’re saying but take some mushrooms and then come back around to this topic again

Reply on news.ycombinator.com