How to Change Your Mind

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How to Change Your Mind Page 46

by Michael Pollan


  and grand unified theory of mental illness, 385

  and quieting of default mode network, 313–14, 316–20

  and spectrum of cognitive states, 313, 315, 385

  and value of psychedelics, 313–14, 315, 385

  environment, attitudes toward, 315–16, 359

  environment, personal, 372–73

  environment of psychedelic experiences

  and bad trips, 152

  and criticisms of psychedelic therapy, 207–8

  Hubbard’s role in, 164, 169–70, 190

  and Osmond and Hoffer’s research, 151, 152, 163–64

  and “set and setting” concepts, 14, 53, 151, 190, 207–8

  ergot, 22–23, 84

  Esalen Institute, 47–48, 49–51

  European Medicines Agency (EMA), 376–77

  Evergreen State College, 101, 102

  evolution, role of psilocybin in, 115–16

  existential distress, 8, 78–79, 218, 223, 336–37, 353

  expectancy effects

  and Cohen’s ambivalence about LSD, 158

  and expectations of therapist, 347

  and Griffiths’s psilocybin research, 62–63, 64

  and Huxley, 143–44, 161–62

  and LSD therapy for alcoholism, 150

  Exxon Valdez disaster, 88

  Fadiman, James

  and Alpert (later Ram Dass), 177

  and Council on Spiritual Practices, 49

  and creative dose of LSD, 184

  and Hubbard, 172

  at International Foundation for Advanced Study, 177–78, 183, 184

  and Jesse, 43–44, 46, 49

  as pioneer in field, 43–44

  The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide, 229

  and research approval revoked by FDA, 57, 217–18

  on Schuster, 50

  and underground therapists, 228

  Fahey, Todd Brendan, 165, 166, 181

  fasting, 306

  Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 164

  Feilding, Amanda

  background of, 297–99

  and Carhart-Harris, 296, 297, 299

  cerebral circulation theory of, 298, 299, 305n

  and research funding, 299, 300

  Fischer, Roland, 97

  5-HT2A receptors, 292–93, 354n

  5-MeO-DMT (The Toad), 272–90, 291–92

  flashbacks, 3, 209

  Flashbacks (Leary), 139, 187, 190n

  flight instructions

  and cancer patient research at NYU, 338, 341

  and Hopkins’s psilocybin research, 63, 64, 72

  and Pollan’s psychedelic journeys, 246, 259–60

  Fomes fomentarius, 87

  Food of the Gods (McKenna), 115

  forests, mycelial networks in, 91, 91n

  Frankl, Viktor, 352n

  Freud, Sigmund, 155, 294, 297, 307, 312, 314, 389

  fungi

  Claviceps purpurea, 84 (see also LSD)

  Cordyceps, 89, 96–97

  and forests, 91, 91n

  Galerina autumnalis, 94

  mycelial networks of, 84n, 90–91, 118, 122

  and mycoremediation, 88

  Stamets’s advocacy for, 87–90

  See also Psilocybes

  Fungi Perfecti operation of Stamets, 86n, 126

  Gaia hypothesis, 359

  Galerina autumnalis, 94

  Gates, Bill, 175

  Ginsberg, Allen, 193–94, 203, 205

  Gitlin, Todd, 216

  God experiences, 71, 343, 344, 345, 371–72

  Goldsmith, George, 398–99, 400–401

  Good Friday (Marsh Chapel) Experiment, 45–46, 60, 80–81, 191–92

  Gopnik, Alison, 323–28, 329

  Gottlieb, Sidney, 172n

  Grant, Cary, 157

  Graves, Robert, 107

  Grey, Alex, 125

  Griffiths, Roland

  on applications for well people, 404–5

  on authenticity questions, 76, 348–49

  on authority of experiences, 365

  awakening of, 33

  background of, 31–34

  career success of, 78

  commitment to research, 77

  on death, 79–80

  and depression research, 375–76

  and Jesse, 38, 51–52

  on longterm changes in openness, 319–20

  on meaning associated with psychedelic experiences, 75

  mushroom medallions of, 82–83

  mysteries and uncertainties embraced by, 75, 79, 80

  on preparing volunteers for trials, 64

  “Psilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-Type Experiences Having Substantial and Sustained Personal Meaning and Spiritual Significance,” 10–11, 29–30

  and psilocybin trials at Hopkins, 60, 62, 65, 79, 360

  on research at Spring Grove, 56

  and Richards, 53

  on Schuster, 50

  spiritual emphasis of, 62

  on “threats” of psychedelics, 59

  Grinker, Roy, 208, 211

  Grob, Charles

  on “applied mysticism,” 207, 334

  on first wave research, 333

  and MDMA trials, 48

  and shamanic paradigm, 208, 334

  Grof, Stanislav

  on American values, 58–59

  on amplification effects of psychedelics, 159

  on birth experiences, 155

  and California Institute of Integral Studies, 232

  at Esalen Institute, 47

  and guides, 225, 230, 240

  Realms of the Human Unconscious, 297

  and Richards, 53

  at Spring Grove, 57, 218

  and terminal patients, 339

  group settings, psychedelics in, 405

  Guatemala, 114–15

  guides

  and bad trips, 405

  code of ethics, 229

  and future of psychedelics, 402–3

  guidelines and protocols of, 226–27, 230, 230n

  and integration of journey, 250–52, 269–71, 282, 364, 402, 405–6

  interviews with, 231–35

  personal experiences with psychedelics, 227

  in Pollan’s psychedelic journeys, 237–41, 242, 254–57, 272–74

  in psychedelic underground, 223–30

  qualifications of, 224

  risks assumed by, 224–25

  role of, 215, 242, 364–65, 405–6

  and second wave of research, 227

  shrines or altars of, 231–32, 245–46, 254–55

  training of, 225, 402

  website for, 228–30

  Guss, Jeffrey, 335, 352, 354, 369

  habits, 360–64. See also smoking cessation

  hacker community, 184

  hallucinations, 310, 317

  hallucinogens (term), 18

  Harman, Willis

  ambitions of, 181

  and Hubbard, 166

  and International Foundation for Advanced Study (IFAS), 177

  and Jesse, 46, 49

  and psychedelics in Silicon Valley, 176–77

  research on creative problem solving, 179

  and reunion of first wave figures, 219

  at Stanford Research Institute, 180–82

  Harvard Psilocybin Project

  controversy surrounding, 194–97

  criticisms of, 46, 76, 195

  misperceptions of, 140

  nature of experiments in, 189

  and research of previous decade, 140, 185

  researchers’ consumption of drugs in, 189, 195<
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  and Weil, 201

  Harvard University

  and Concord Prison Experiment, 46, 190–91, 190n, 195

  and Good Friday (Marsh Chapel) Experiment, 45–46, 60, 191–92

  and James, 188, 196

  Leary’s employment at, 140, 186–87, 201–3

  and Leary’s psychedelic seminar, 188–89

  and Schultes, 107

  Hayes, John, 70, 72–73

  Heard, Gerald, 174, 176

  Heffter Research Institute, 48–49, 228

  Helms, Richard, 172n

  Hendricks, Peter, 373

  hierarchies, psychedelics’ ability to overturn, 315

  High Priest (Leary), 187–88

  Hinduism, 16

  hippies of the sixties, 203–4, 315

  history, personal, 372–73

  Hitchcock, Billy, 203

  Hoffer, Abram

  and Commission for the Study of Creative Imagination, 174

  and Hubbard, 168, 170, 174

  and Leary, 198

  and LSD therapy for alcoholism, 147–52, 170

  and psychotomimetic model, 159–60

  and role of environment, 151

  Hofmann, Albert

  birthday celebration for, 21–22

  creation of LSD-25, 1–2, 22–23

  and Hubbard, 167

  isolation of psilocybin and psilocin, 113

  and mushroom conferences, 103

  psychedelic experiences of, 23–25, 113, 142

  on reconnection with nature, 25–26

  and Stamets, 97, 103

  and synthetic psilocybin, 83, 113

  Holland, Julie, 402

  Hollywood celebrities, 156–57, 171

  holotropic breathwork, 242–44, 245, 245n, 306

  honeybees and colony collapse disorder, 89, 128

  Hoover, J. Edgar, 168

  hospice, psychedelic, 401

  Huautla de Jiménez in southern Mexico, 2, 108, 110, 112, 113–14

  Hubbard, Al

  advocacy for psychedelics, 167–68

  ambitions of, 167–68, 173, 181, 194, 198n

  background of, 164–67

  and Bay Area community, 171, 175–78, 180–83

  Captain Trips nickname, 171

  and CIA, 166, 171–72

  and Commission for the Study of Creative Imagination, 174–75

  contradictions in life of, 164, 169

  and counterculture, 181, 181n, 200

  and environment of psychedelic experiences, 164

  and guides, 225, 230

  and Huxley, 172–74

  and leading researchers, 170–71

  and Leary, 199–200, 219, 220

  LSD experiences of, 167

  and mescaline, 169, 173

  and Osmond, 168–69, 200

  and Osmond/Hoffer’s research, 170

  and psychedelic therapy paradigm, 160, 164, 169–70, 171, 207

  and reunion of first wave figures, 219, 220

  and Sandoz LSD, 167, 170

  at Stanford Research Institute, 180–82

  on therapeutic value of psychedelics, 169

  and Wasson, 170

  Human Be-In in San Francisco, 203–4

  Humboldt, Alexander von, 126–27, 128, 134

  Huxley, Aldous

  ambitions of, 194, 198n

  Brave New World, 160

  and Commission for the Study of Creative Imagination, 174

  death of, 338

  The Doors of Perception, 25, 143, 160, 162, 201, 253

  on ego, 253, 289

  and expectancy effects, 143–44, 161–62

  and Hubbard, 172–74

  imprint on modern psychedelic experiences, 111, 143–44, 162

  and Leary, 198

  LSD experiences of, 173–74

  mescaline experience of, 144, 151, 160–62

  and “Mind at Large” state, 264, 315, 389

  and Osmond, 160, 174

  Perennial Philosophy concept of, 162, 232

  and psychedelic therapy paradigm, 160, 207

  and “psychedelics” term, 160, 162–63

  “reducing valve” concept of, 161–62, 289, 307, 313, 322, 353

  and terminal patients, 338

  Huxley, Laura, 172

  Hyams, Joe, 157

  hypnagogic consciousness, 252

  ibogaine, 369n

  imagination, 308

  Imperial College London’s Centre for Psychiatry, 295–96. See also Carhart-Harris, Robin

  industrial waste, mycoremediation of, 88

  ineffability of mystical experiences, 40, 54, 69, 251, 270, 285

  Insel, Tom, 335, 383, 388n, 398, 401

  interconnectedness

  and addiction treatment, 362–63

  Alcoholics Anonymous’s emphasis on, 370

  and cancer patient research, 351

  and default mode network (DMN), 305

  and depression pilot study, 379

  in mystical experiences, 285, 305

  and overview effect, 359

  and Pollan’s Psilocybes experience, 134

  Stamets on, 125

  International Federation for Internal Freedom (IFIF), 197, 198, 199, 203

  International Foundation for Advanced Study (IFAS)

  and Brand, 183

  closure of, 180

  Fadiman’s work at, 43–44

  and Leary, 198

  research approval revoked by FDA, 44, 217–18

  research conducted at, 177–79

  Inuit people, 13n

  Jagger, Mick, 114

  James, William

  on consciousness, 16–17, 136, 137, 244, 407

  on four hallmarks of mystical experiences, 69–72

  on judging mystical experiences, 347

  and mystical experience survey, 282

  on noetic quality of mystical experiences, 41, 69–70, 275

  and questions of veracity, 76–77

  research at Harvard, 188, 196

  and reunion of first wave figures, 219

  The Varieties of Religious Experience, 69

  Janiger, Oscar

  and celebrities in LSD therapy, 156–57

  and Hubbard, 171, 172

  and LSD therapy, 156

  and West Coast research hub, 153

  Jesse, Bob

  background of, 38–40, 42–43

  behind-the-scenes work of, 37

  and betterment of well people, 45, 51, 401–2, 404

  cabin of, 37–38

  and Council on Spiritual Practices, 43, 49–51, 228

  and Doblin’s ambitions, 36

  early psychedelic experiences of, 39–40

  and elders of psychedelic community, 43–44

  and Esalen Institute, 48, 49

  and first-wave of psychedelic research, 44–45, 46–47

  and Griffiths, 38, 51–52

  and John Hopkins experiment, 81

  and MDMA, 51

  and “medicalization” concerns, 51, 400

  and psilocybin trials at Hopkins, 10, 60

  on “recreational use” term, 38, 400

  and Richards, 52

  role of, in second-wave research, 34–35

  spiritual emphasis of, 51

  Jobs, Steve, 175

  Johanson, Chris-Ellyn, 50

  John Hopkins’s psychedelic research

  and astronaut/ground control metaphor, 65

  with cancer patients, 8, 10–11, 332–33, 349

  controlling for expectancy effects in, 62, 64

  and hallmarks of mystical states, 69–72 />
  landmark psilocybin paper, 10–11, 29–30

  launch of trial, 60–61

  preparing volunteers in, 63–65, 67

  recruitment of volunteers for, 61

  replication of Good Friday experiment, 192

  and sitters, 63–64, 74

  and Stamets, 92

  on therapeutic applications, 78–79

  volunteers’ accounts of, 63, 65–69, 70–71, 72–75

  Johnson, Matthew

  background of, 360

  on banal insights, 364

  and ego’s control, 388

  and “mental reboot,” 366, 384

  and personal history/environment, 372–73

  on reactions to powerful experiences, 406

  and smoking cessation study, 360, 364

  on value of psychedelics, 366–68

  Jung, Carl, 7, 73, 232, 389

  Kaelen, Mendel, 384–85

  Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, 186

  Kalliontzi, Krystallia, 338, 340, 342

  Katz, Sidney, 148, 154

  Kelly, Kevin, 183

  Kelman, Herbert, 187, 195–96

  Keltner, Dacher, 373–74, 375

  Kennedy, Robert F., 217

  Kerouac, Jack, 193

  Kesey, Ken, 102, 184, 206–7

  Kessler, David, 383

  Kleber, Herbert D., 29–30

  Kleiman, Mark, 49

  Kubrick, Stanley, 156

  Kurland, Albert, 218

  Laing, R. D., 223

  League for Spiritual Discovery, 203

  Leary, Timothy

  arrests and sentences of, 138, 204

  candor of, 213–14

  and concerns of research community, 198–201

  and Concord Prison Experiment, 46, 190–91, 190n

  and congressional hearings, 217

  on consciousness-expansion, 322

  and counterculture, 203–4, 205

  criticisms of research, 46, 191, 194–97

  and cultural upheaval of the sixties, 205–7

  deemed “most dangerous man in America,” 58

  desire to effect social changes, 173, 192, 194, 198n, 199, 213

  do-it-yourself approach of, 200, 215

  and Eastern influences, 143–44

  exuberance of, 187–88, 192

  Flashbacks, 139, 187, 190n

  and Ginsberg, 193–94, 205

  and Good Friday (Marsh Chapel) Experiment, 191–92

  government’s pursuit of, 204

  and guides, 225, 230

  at Harvard, 140, 186–87, 201–3

  High Priest, 187–88

  and Hubbard, 199–200, 219, 220

  impact on psychedelic research, 9, 185–86, 190, 198–99, 212, 219–20, 403

  and International Federation for Internal Freedom, 197, 198, 199, 203

  and moral panic provoked by psychedelics, 185, 205

  and Osmond, 198–99

  post-Harvard life of, 203–6

 

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