VR is as good as psychedelics at helping people reach transcendence

Interesting side note unrelated to the VR part: although I'm all for moderate recreational psychedelic use (or not moderate...you do you), it seems there's a weird rebranding of psychedelics being done by the pharmaceutical industry (who is now repackaging and selling psychedelics, e.g. esketamine).

I think what is happening is (1) they're looking for new growth opportunities, and (2) some drugs like SSRIs have a worse rap now, so pivoting to psychedelics gives this appearance, like "Look we are helping to liberate you. We're on your side. Free love and free drugs, man."

But viewing this in a more cynical way, we could perhaps see it as a way to keep making money while avoiding the fact that these drugs, like SSRIs, do not really treat mental illness (merely induce alternative states of mind that have different symptomology), and that the real causes of mental illness are usually more social/societal.

https://joannamoncrieff.com/2021/09/02/psychedelics-the-new-...