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People who use the things on a regular basis think they bring back profound insights, because the drugs make looking at a flower feel profound. Yet, the actual insights brought back by people on their “trips” tend to be the type of thing a bit of self reflection would take care of, like “I’m mean to my family sometimes, and that’s kind of shitty.”That’s already something valuable and potentially life-altering. People pay analysts to get there – often with less success.
But who said you need to “bring back” the insights for them to be valuable? Reaching different insights (or just another state of experience) can still be valuable, even if you can’t bring it back.
First, because you might have a change in you, even if you can’t articulate it/bring it back (can people really articulate the changes in their thoughts/personality from seing a deep movie or hearing a deep classical music work? Do they not exist?)
Second, on its own. Like a glimpse of something you can’t bring back. “You had to be there” stories might be boring and useless to others, but they’re still good for those who experienced them.
>I’ve yet to hear of any sort of improvement in creativity or even a single interesting idea anyone has ever brought back from psychedelics.
Really? How about half of 60s’-70s rock masterpieces?
