Psychedelic mushrooms put your brain in a “waking dream,” study finds

Agreed. I've yet to have ego death, or the overwhelming feeling of solipsism when sleeping. The only time I've had even a remotely similar experience when sleeping was the time I had a fever that caused me to hallucinate. That's once in my life, you know of entering a dream state every day of my existence.

I've also yet to have a dream that can overwhelmingly shift my perspective and motivation. An LSD trip made me "take the risk" and move continent with no support to be with my girlfriend. I say "take the risk", because I can just walk into any police station and get my ass deported and land right back at my parents house. Everyone thought I was crazy, but LSD made me see the real probability of risk in that it was negligible.

Mushrooms made me motivated to lose weight. I remember standing in my bathroom naked looking at myself and I came to the conclusion I wanted to be in shape for my son.

Another mushroom trip made me reevaluate risk and see that I have to start my own business. In fact, I just registered a business name and got insurance so I can get licensed.

Funny that dreaming did none of this for me.

I like the way calling it a "waking dream" hints that, during a trip, the subconscious (whatever it is concretely) expands its connection with the conscious mind.

The fact that lucid dreaming is a way to explore your mind ("psychonaut" is a name that both psychedelic users and lucid dreamers use) is more evidence of that, for me.

"Calling it a "waking dream" also kind of undermines how insane dreaming actually is and how little we know about it."

-- Absolutely true.

True, but not just medical/scientific use, responsible personal usage should also be accepted.

There is a ton of psychoactive drugs proscribed every year, so I am not really sure what your suggesting?

People also use alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine vary frequently.

If you mean Hallucinogens, they have been studied extensively and don't seem to be that medically useful. There where a few appetite suppressants which where discontinued and Nitrous oxide still sees some use but it's risky.

I was thinking the same, but maybe it's because they're dried?

Yeah the caption is "a man displays dried mushrooms", as if that had anything to do with anything. Their file-photo folks really mailed it in on this one.

I find the use of this picture quite immorel.

That is incredibly dangerous. It is very likely that you were underestimating how impaired you were.

I agree with Carl Sagan on this one. It is more likely that you will attribute any awe or grandeur to something else than a religious construct. This is also why when surveyed a 'religious or spiritual event' is used rather loosely.

I have a scientific + atheistic view of the world, and when I took psilocybes, those views grew stronger and more complex. I do not believe you will have a revelation that makes you believe in God. To the contrary, you'll explore things you think about deeper.

> I wonder if my highly scientific/atheist view of the world

As someone with a highly scientific/religious view of the world, I too wonder how I would be affected. Curiosity isn't enough to make me try them though.

If you are interested in the subject I'd reccommend reading some Carlos Castaneda. It takes an anthropological view of the issues and conveys his psychedelic experiences in reasonable detail. If you find it to be a bunch of bullshit, then you'll be ahead in the game. If it confirms your warm feelings then at least you will engage the risks better informed.

The first time I took mushrooms (over 20 years ago) I was walking home when they kicked in at 2 am on a winter night. Looking around me, I saw the snow, trees, grass, buildings very differently than normal; they were all exactly alike. When looking at grass, it looked, literally, like the same texture pasted all over the field. Same for snow, trees, houses. So I sat down with my friend and started talking how the world must be built up of a much lower resolution substance than we think and our minds add randomness to make it seem as if it's more diverse. Shrooms are great in that you remember everything of the trip and it is like you are awake and dreaming; I apparently am more susceptible to it than others; I actually see things which are not there which is more common with LSD. My friends usually saw only some vibrations on the wall and felt funny (and after that paranoid) while I was seeing the armada falling from the sky while hearing orchestra's play. I would recommend anyone at least trying a few times; it changes things long term, but like others said, I don't think you'll move to religious or something like that; if you're scientific, it is more likely to explain things to totally eradicate that last sliver of paranormal stuff in the world. As in; then you actually know what they ate before they saw the holy spirit descend.

Not necessarily, but it could if you are open to it.

You won't lose the ability to apply the scientific frame of mind when it's appropriate, but you may have a better understanding of its limitations.

I can't speak for mushrooms, but from my experiences with LSD I'd say, "it's complicated." Psychedelics don't turn you into a different person, however they do remove the filters and barriers we've built up in our heads (to what extent depends on the dosage). If, on some level, you aren't sure about your world view it will probably be reassessed.

I, for example, was raised Mormon, but it was never all that convincing to me. By the time I decided that I wanted to start experimenting with psychedelics I had already stopped participating in the religion, though I had my doubts that this was the correct course of action. Taking LSD, and other psychedelics, helped me resolve those conflicts.

The idea that psychedelics tend to put into your head is that everything is connected, everything is one. That concept broke down my loosely held notion that God was some kind of supreme alien who liked telling us what to do, and led me to take on a rather Eastern world view that the universe is at once one thing, nothing, and infinite.

I've definitely shifted a little towards pantheism since the first time I took LSD. The thing is though, my views didn't really change much, it's more that I gained a greater sense of respect for the universe.

Hasn't that always been "known" to be the case among the sane rational users?

Depends on much. I have had an excellent time partying on LSD.

Shrooms, however, no. Some of my friends, but not me. Too intense. Maybe a matter of dosage.

Really depends.

Absolutely not for a first time, you're right. For me though, as I became more comfortable with the altered psychedelic state of mind, being around people became much easier. I wouldn't want to be trapped at a party, but I've stopped in at them for 30-40 minutes, had fun, and then left to move onto the next thing.

The important part for me is to have options, whether that's a ride back home, a nearby park, someone to take a walk, an Ipod and some headphones, etc.

LSD can work for certain types of parties. I can't really see shrooms being fun at any kind of party though.

That's basically what Vice did:

http://www.vice.com/hamiltons-pharmacopeia/hamilton-and-the-...

Almost positive that movie is based on John C. Lilly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Lilly) If you're remotely interested, I highly recommend reading his books. 'Programming the Human Biocomputer' and 'The Scientist' were great.

How about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Lunch

If you like that you'll appreciate this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYga-lJOMbE ;)

I don't even think that there is such a thing. A dream is what you think just happened when you wake up with your brain in an inconsistent state, and it rationalizes how it arrived there. People's subjective experience of their own dreams changes based on cultural expectations:

Why Did We Think We Dreamed in Black and White?

http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/SchwitzAbs/DreamB&W.htm

edit: "In the 1950s, dream researchers commonly thought that dreams were predominantly a black and white phenomenon, although both earlier and later treatments of dreaming assume or assert that dreams have color. The first half of the twentieth century saw the rise of black and white film media, and it is likely that the emergence of the view that dreams are black and white was connected to this change in film technology. If our opinions about basic features of our dreams can change with changes in technology, it seems to follow that our knowledge of the experience of dreaming is much less secure than we might at first have thought it to be."