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Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris - Psychedelics as Medicine | London Real

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AlwaysLookingUp

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Hello Everyone, as promised here is our interview with Robin




Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris of Imperial College London talks about the effects of Psilocybin & MDMA and how they could be used to help with depression and addiction, his controversial colleague Professor David Nutt who claimed Cannabis & Ecstasy were safer & less addictive than Alcohol & Tobacco, and why he refrains from sampling psychedelics in order to remain objective about his research.


Really looking forward to the Q&A session we have booked on Reddit for this Saturday at 6pm GMT

UPDATE Q&A IS NOW LIVE HERE
 
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I just watched it. I'm especially interested in this concept he touched on that there could be clinics for healthy people to experience the phsychedelic state in a controlled manner. It seems like a suggestion that the social institution of shamanism should be reintegrated back into contemporary society.
 
Anon0631 said:
I just watched it. I'm especially interested in this concept he touched on that there could be clinics for healthy people to experience the phsychedelic state in a controlled manner. It seems like a suggestion that the social institution of shamanism should be reintegrated back into contemporary society.
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It's an interesting concept, myself I have been wondering whether it should be reinstated as the right of passage to adulthood, a big ego killing dose somewhere between 14-18yrs of age
 
Hmmm. I would like to see a more elective process than that.

I would like to have seen a question about why he chose 4-PO-DMT over any of the other 4-HO-n substituted tryptamenes discovered by Shulgin et al.
 
Anon0631 said:
Hmmm. I would like to see a more elective process than that.

I would like to have seen a question about why he chose 4-PO-DMT over any of the other 4-HO-n substituted tryptamenes discovered by Shulgin et al.
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make sure you tune in for our Reddit Q&A you can ask him then.

As for the right of passage idea it is just a thought I had :-P
 
He lost me at 8.00 when he said he has never taken the drugs himself, I feel it would be impossible to really comprehend the actual effects in a purely objective non participatory way.

The biggest mystery still lies in the content of the experience IMO.
 
AlwaysLookingUp said:
Hello Everyone, as promised here is our interview with Robin

Really looking forward to the Q&A session we have booked on Reddit for this Saturday at 6pm GMT
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Not looking forward to the questions redditors are going to ask.

"Do you guys ever tsmoke weed? lolol horse sized duck"

He lost me at 8.00 when he said he has never taken the drugs himself, I feel it would be impossible to really comprehend the actual effects in a purely objective non participatory way.
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Do you think he'd still get funded if he publically admitted to getting high on his research supply? Or being a street drug user, for that matter?

The government would love an excuse to shut this research down, we don't need to help them.
 
AlwaysLookingUp said:
It's an interesting concept, myself I have been wondering whether it should be reinstated as the right of passage to adulthood, a big ego killing dose somewhere between 14-18yrs of age
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There is no bigger ego trip than attempting to kill the ego.
 
atara said:
Do you think he'd still get funded if he publically admitted to getting high on his research supply?
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I see you point, but i still feel that any attempt to understand something like the Psilocybin experience is futile unless you actually have the experience at least once in an effective dose. What are your thoughts on that point ?

He says "I do feel that it's a more primitive form of thinking that has been SURPASSED by modern thinking" IMO that's totally wrong and illustrates my point that he hasn't come close to really touching the essence of the compound.
 
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Whilst I respect the notion of non-participation to remain objective, I think the conlcusions must be limited to his scientific measurements. In other words he has no business commenting on the spiritual and intellectual aspects of the trip simply from numbers onbtained by scanning serotonin receptors and the like.

At some fundamental level in order to know what you are talking about, you must personally know your subject well.

That said, its good that research is being done, and given that he wouldn't have got permission to do it had he been a participant, this is the only way to do this officially for now.

So well done, thanks for your efforts, but dont presume much beyond your numbers :)
 
TryptamineBunny said:
Whilst I respect the notion of non-participation to remain objective, I think the conlcusions must be limited to his scientific measurements. In other words he has no business commenting on the spiritual and intellectual aspects of the trip simply from numbers onbtained by scanning serotonin receptors and the like.

At some fundamental level in order to know what you are talking about, you must personally know your subject well.

That said, its good that research is being done, and given that he wouldn't have got permission to do it had he been a participant, this is the only way to do this officially for now.

So well done, thanks for your efforts, but dont presume much beyond your numbers :)
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Yes, and you managed to say it in a much more cohesive way than I did :) but yes I also respect to him for having the courage to do the research.
 
webbykevin said:
There is no bigger ego trip than attempting to kill the ego.
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Totally agree on that and yet its quite a noble endeavour no? But what I meant was just to ask myself the question:

"If to become legally adult and get the right to vote etc, you had to take a large does of psychedelics in a well cared for ritual, would the word be a better place?"
 
On the topic of whether he has taken it or not I am glad that he told us he didn't , regardless of if its true or not last thing we need is for government research to be banned once again in this field.

I respect him highly either way.
 
atara said:
Not looking forward to the questions redditors are going to ask.

"Do you guys ever tsmoke weed? lolol horse sized duck"



Do you think he'd still get funded if he publically admitted to getting high on his research supply? Or being a street drug user, for that matter?

The government would love an excuse to shut this research down, we don't need to help them.
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Yes it is a danger on reddit.... but I thought our last attempt went really really well

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/199tu8/iam_jake_wood_a_british_army_and_afghan_veteran/
 
I know researchers who claim to be non-participant in the literature but are actually total psychonauts. They recognise that it's a symptom of the moral-panic culture surrounding drugs that their work would be discredited if they were known to partake.

Nichols manages this issue well. He's obviously fascinated by the psychedelic experience and obviously uses himself but is really good at neither confirming or denying in the public domain.
 
Anon0631 said:
I know researchers who claim to be non-participant in the literature but are actually total psychonauts. They recognise that it's a symptom of the moral-panic culture surrounding drugs that their work would be discredited if they were known to partake.

Nichols manages this issue well. He's obviously fascinated by the psychedelic experience and obviously uses himself but is really good at neither confirming or denying in the public domain.
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Agree

As a trained scientist myself it just seems unusual that minds trained in curiosity would not be intrigued enough to try, especially when they seem such strong proponents of the compounds as medicines.

But I am happy that the public face is that of objectivity, we have waited too long for psychs to be accepted, no false moves gentlemen we are getting closer.
 
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