In 1966, researchers at the International Foundation for Advanced Study in California gave mescaline to 27 men who were engineers, physicists, mathematicians, architects, furniture designers, and artists.
While on the drug, one came up with a new conceptual model of a photon particle; another envisioned a new approach to the design of a vibratory microtome, a lab instrument that cuts material into small slices; and an architect produced a design for a home that was later approved by his client. The mescaline seemed to help “facilitate creative problem-solving, particularly in the ‘illumination phase,’” the researchers wrote.
These kinds of stories are common in psychedelic folklore, leading to the belief that psychedelic compounds lead to “Aha” or eureka moments, and that answers can be revealed during a trip in one fell swoop. Besides understanding particle physics, people often feel like they receive knowledge about themselves or the nature of the universe.
In his 1902 book, The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James wrote that one feature of a mystical-type experience is this “noetic quality,” or a feeling of deep knowing. “They are illuminations, revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain; and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority,” he wrote.
But how can we tell if the insights received while under psychedelics are true? In a recent talk for the UCL Society for the Application of Psychedelics, Johns Hopkins’ cognitive neuropsychopharmacologist Manoj Doss said it’s likely that psychedelics can evoke illusory insights, or the feeling of a profound insight that is misattributed to ideas that arise during a psychedelic experience.
