Proved to me how different hallucinogens can affect different people

[BenzosBudOrBooty]

When I took lsd, since the start, it has put holes in my ego, made me less shallow, less materialistic, non conforming in some ways. But in other ways I've conformed by giving me a better understanding of how society works.

But my friend is a very shallow egotistical person. He recently took 2 tabs of acid and claimed he tripped SO hard that he doubts most people could handle the amount he took. Well a couple days after his trip he finally unveiled his "revelations " to me. To name the main ones...they all had to do with how...he "realized" money is more important than he originally thought...and this kid has a big time money addiction to start. He realized stuff like "money buys sex". And how that's the ultimate goal. To get money so he could get laid... this kids never had sex and he's 25. He called himself a loser because he has no job other than the money he makes from gambling. He said that was a scary thought. And how he has to clean up his act so he could accumulate more money. Now I don't think money is bad to have but to have thoughts like I need to work on money making rather than work on the rest of myself...is very un-acid like. He's also been a douche big time and even more narcissistic than usual since taking acid. And yes I believe he's not faking taking acid. It's an online friend btw. This guy is real sick. I've known this. And I'm not the one who recommended acid to him. And I doubt he sees my contentment in simple things and says "I wanna be like that" and decide to copy me and take acid. He took it once before he knew me and decided to wait till he's 25 to take it more consistently. That's his story. But man this kid has the opposite effect on his ego that lsd usually does.

Tldr. Friend took acid. Became more shallow and egotistical than ever before. Proved to me not everyone takes acid and becomes more enlightened right away... and I wonder if he'll ever reap the benefits of the drug for what it has done for me in any way...

 

[Kaleida]

Very un-acid-like? Obviously not if literally all he was doing was describing his acid trip....

Yes, psychedelics are not enlightenment in pill form, they're just drugs. LSD in particular is a very strong psychological stimulant and confidence booster, and if something believes something very strongly before taking, it's decently likely that they're going to have an even stronger opinion about it afterwards.

What you get out of drugs is about what you put into them, not just about what drugs you take, and even putting the same things into the same drugs can have very different results for two different people just based on their individual physical and chemical makeups. The bottom line is: drugs don't just make people behave one way, every reaction is unique, and finding what makes you happier as a person is an entirely unique journey for each and every individual.

I just hope that your friend can find what he needs for that, because it does seem like he's going down a questionable path....

 

[BenzosBudOrBooty]

Yeah he really is. He drinks like 50 beers a week. Has never missed a day smoking weed in ten years and that's not healthy. Gambles a lot. Never gives me credit for anything but expects me to praise him when he talks about himself. He's very passive aggressive. I wonder if the fact that I read this forum before I ever took hallucinogens and read how it impacts with ego loss and can help aid in enlightenment...which has been a long process to get to where I am today. And I definitely started off with little clue what I was doing. And just thought "get rid if ego" and "enlightenment" are the ultimate goals not truly understanding what they meant. But I wonder if thinking about those terms a lot is by far the main factor in me being a more humble, fulfilled individual...and the drug was just a tool to channel those goals. I'm thinking yes. But I've had a really bad trip before which definitely turned my world upside down. There wasn't much guilt but there was a lot of "oh I've never realized that before!" Kind of euphoric like you say, but at the same time questioning myself. Wonder how much it was the drug and how much what I was seeking... but yeah I really hope he finds his way. He's been lucky at this point not to ever end up in a treatment program. Sells weed, drives drunk. But I think it'd be a good wake up call for him even though he'd think it's the worst thing that ever happened to himself. Just hope he doesn't get hurt in other ways or hurt someone else. Hard to give this guy advice. Doesn't listen at all.

 

[cor!]

Ask him to try something like mushrooms. Mushrooms don't fuck around.

 

[Inzo]

Have him breakthrough on DMT. I always liked to think egotistical people should get bombarded with DMT so it shatters their ego. I would love to see an egomaniac get scared shittless on DMT.

 

[Solipsis]

Maybe he's right that most people at his level of self-development would have a rough time with such a trip, and he is confusing this with people in general being able to handle it... Would be typically a case of someone being probably partially right in their outrageous claims if you consider their ability to differentiate beyond their own perspective.
I'm not saying I can easily divine beyond my own perspective, but it very well depends on where your perspective even registers. Note that what I am saying is not about one's rating above another's but about the idea that we overestimate how well we can even glance beyond a certain scope.

Also there is more than one ruler to even put this on... self-development is not one-dimensional... it depends on many different realizations on different aspects and I guess that just like with types of intelligence it is very well possible to have had realizations on one aspect but to still fail to realize similar insights on other facets.

Everyone is going through life on their own pace, and nobody knows the sequence of what a person realizes. Many things may be incredibly hard to teach a person, and not at all like a single fact, but much bigger and more about how things piece together...
IMO this is also why some insights cause a paradigm shift but they don't happen during a factoid quiz...

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

Like others have said everyone has different reactions to different drugs and psychedelics can take you in a lot of different mental directions. Im curious as to whether he has had total ego loss on a psychedelic because that would certainly shake his world to its foundation and make him look at the broader picture.

 

[Volsam]

Have him breakthrough on DMT. I always liked to think egotistical people should get bombarded with DMT so it shatters their ego.

^^^ Radical, but I agree that it's the way with some people.

I would love to see an egomaniac get scared shittless on DMT.

^^^ Right on! :D
I find watching someone breaking their ego on DMT as a very "critical" information to obtain, it feels like you're learning something very important and vital during that process.

As others have mentioned, LSD is 'merely' a powerful tool for self-exploration that might cause ego suppression in high enough dose. If the person has a strong ego to begin with and his life is fear driven (think gamble, addictions, etc), than it's possible and I personally have seen people "fight" the LSD trip with their egos (even on two tabs and higher), win it and feel overconfident, disbalanced and mislead afterwards.

I'll say it simply - you have to let go when taking psychedelics (and that is one of the lessons they teach), let go of what you thought you are or you were at this point. In cases with smoked DMT (or other strong enough stuff), the psychedelic will make you do so forcefully.

 

[MSK]

Psychedelics made me more humble, less egocentric and less materialistic but I never was selfish, egocentric or materialistic to start, so psychedelics just made myself to reassure my own values stronger.

I can easily see how LSD would made a douchebag just more douchebag.

 

[Clocktower]

Yes, drugs always affect different people differently, this is one of the most important HR facts to remember.