Towards a crowdsrcd survey on Set/Setting

[Ruse]

Posting this in *Homeless* bc unsure whether to put it in PD or Drug Culture or another subforum - BL is a big place!

Intro
Been lurking here for a long time, in PD exclusively as I marvel at the developments in Lysergamide production these days. Have done *some* self-experimentation with these and other psychedelic substances over the past few decades, but my main tool for enquiry into the nature of self and the universe remains buddhist meditation. I do think spirituality and psychedelics offer complementary paths up the same chain of mountains, and I definitely am a believer in the power of psychedelic substances to show us what we dare not or don't know how to show ourselves.

The need for a survey on Set and Setting
In reading trip reports and drug discussions, I've always been impressed at the lip-service that has been paid to the concepts of set and setting. Yet, what exactly constitutes these concepts in individual cases remains rather murky. Of course, we all know not to drop acid at work right after a huge fight with our boss. Some people err on the side of caution and *only* take PD when they are in an optimal state of mind and the setting is just right. Others have different standards and motives for taking PD. Some mention meditation in passing, but rarely specify what kind, for how long and with which degree of skill.

In addition to the crazy variance of possible effects that PD can have on human experience, this unspecific application of the important concepts of Set and Setting makes the average trip report, dosage and duration of effects hard to generalise. Besides, having a solid point score on the factors that make up the dimension of Set, for example, can tell you about how your mindset quantitatively and qualitatively differs from others and from your former self, thereby giving you extra insights into the ways in which your Set may have influenced specific trip outcomes.

Thirdly, truly examining the ingredients of Set and Setting can perhaps tell us more about to optimise these conditions and thus give us tools to better understand and further optimise our lives.

But first: Making things more difficult
We can all see how useful a well thought-out and balanced survey method of what a person brings to the psychedelic experience could be to quantify somewhat of the immense mystery inherent in it.

In order to fully understand what an individual brings to a drug experience, it is slightly strange that we consistently overlook the body. It is, after all, the chief delivery mechanism for the psychoactive compound. Of course, we don't completely overlook it, as BL'ers do tend to emphasise counterindications, harm reduction. Some mention fasting whereas others say for them it's better to eat.

Practically no-one talks about the frequency of sex leading up to the experience, or - conversely - abstinence. This is odd, as in most "spiritual" traditions, sex is regarded as a powerful way to enter or be barred from non-ordinary states. Sleep quality or quantity before embarking on the journey is also infrequently mentioned.

So, I'd propose that a survey on Set and Setting also include a part on the Body, and perhaps as well a number of questions borrowed from Personality research - ie what type of personality are you? I'd propose something along the lines of the Big 5 personality questionnaire but if someone has a better solution, jump right in!

An outline of a survey measure
Along these lines, I would propose a four-fold survey mechanism, measuring the dimensions of Personality, Set, Body and Setting. Factors that make up each dimension have yet to be determined of course, for which - among other things - I will need your help.

This is where the crowdsourcing part comes in. Feel free to add to and shoot holes in the current structure. I've spent all of a day thinking it up, so it's pretty raw and most definitely hugely incomplete. And, whereas I may have thought of the idea, perhaps something like this already exists (I spent 30 mins looking for it, so I can't rule it out , in which case this post is a huge waste of time, both yours and mine. I definitely would not want ownership of any resulting end-product, so everyone can get as involved as they'd like and for all I care whoever wants to use it would be free to do so in perpetuity. A donation to BL would seem appropriate, if any money was to change hands.

That said, we would have need for some skills in factor analysis, survey composition, testing and validity. (I'm sure I'm forgetting tons of other stuff we need.) But then, this forum is chock full of potential, so I'm certain that we'd be able to get the job done, however difficult it may get.

My preliminary idea is to have 5, 7 or 9 point Likert scales on questions that measure (parts) of the following factors

• personality - big 5
  • b5: openness to experience
  • b5: extraversion
  • b5: neuroticism
  • b5: conscientiousness
  • b5: agreeableness
• set
  • trip planned of spontaneous?
  • personal psychedelic experience level (first time vs 100s of experiences with a wide range of substances)
  • Trip Goal (TG): Spiritual/Transcendent experience
  • TG: Recreation
  • TG: Psychological insights
  • TG: Running from something, forgetting about something
  • TG: Curiosity
  • Life Satisfaction (LS): Work/Study
  • LS: Social
  • LS: Love (SO) Relationships
  • LS: Spirituality / meaning / belonging
  • LS: Physical needs / illness
  • Presence of conflict in your life (several factors?)
  • how do you generally cope with difficulties/trauma?
  • Any particular themes at play in your life right now? (way too open, needs to be specified, but that goes for most of this list)
  • ...
• body
  • sleep
  • health - obesity, diabetes, illness
  • sports
  • sex
  • digestion and food, what do you eat, when do you eat it, how do you eat it and with whom?
  • alcohol and other drugs - be they psychoactive or not - what gets into your system?
  • water
  • happy with your body?
  • ...
• setting
  • safety
  • nature
  • trip sitter(s)?
  • who else is tripping? (aren't we all, always?!)
  • how supportive and tolerant is your environment on this specific trip? Does it change during?
  • ... (haven't thought about setting that much so this one really is wide open still)

So, is anyone interested to help me get this project off to a good start?

 

[SirTophamHat]

Thats a mountain of complexity you are proposing to inventory and catalogue.

First, the personality aspect seems a bit similar to the myers briggs personality index, so that may be a shortcut to accomplishing that perspective on set. All of the key points listed under set are noted by thorough reporters, ignored wholly by poor ones, and selected by preference and relevance by prudent and pragmatic authors. in other words, it may be more work than it is worth to develop a template for something that comes naturally to a good trip report author. insisting on one may discourage people new to reporting experiences. the best way to get better at writing is to read good writing, in my opinion. forcing the skill into a rubric seems ... authoritative, perhaps.

as for body, i dont see how specific sports experience or detailed dietary information would be compulsory to a satisfactory report. if i played tennis in middle school or eat t bone steak on tuesday and thursday; i think going into that amount of detail would do the opposite of encouraging a reader to continue. these minutiae dont have bearing on my reaction to lsd, mushroms, et. cetera

and the setting, again i would trust a good author to develop this organically rather than point by point.

i dont want to flat out dismiss your idea as it is good natured and i believe that it could be worked into a productive template in the right place. my intitial reaction would be that you may inadvertently turn away people who are looking to accomplish simpler goals than a complete self psycho analysis with a trip report, as well as those who operate best without boundaries.

a lot of trip reports do suck donkey balls. erowid had the star system for good reports. its not perfect though, as even my reports get stars on that site and my reports suck

in the end i think someone who reads a lot will be able to discern a bad, good, and stellar report from one another withn the first few paragraphs, or even sentences. writing a report is writing a story, and thus is art. while there is a bit of cognitive// behavioral science behind the results of both trip and the resulting story, focusing too much on it takes the reader into an analysis on the person moreso than the substance's effects. balance is key, and the weight or importance of personal affectation and history matters differently between tales. if you have schizophrenia, mention it, if you have a peanut allergy, i dont care.

your intention is good. i only think that for great reporters, they wouldnt need checkboxes, and the bad ones wouldnt care or notice.

if you want help with your project it would be my recommendation to continue distilling the core information you are looking for.

 

[Ruse]

Thank you for your helpful and thorough reply. Sorry it's taken me so long to respond, I've had family obligations to attend to.

Thats a mountain of complexity you are proposing to inventory and catalogue.

First, the personality aspect seems a bit similar to the myers briggs personality index, so that may be a shortcut to accomplishing that perspective on set. All of the key points listed under set are noted by thorough reporters, ignored wholly by poor ones, and selected by preference and relevance by prudent and pragmatic authors. in other words, it may be more work than it is worth to develop a template for something that comes naturally to a good trip report author. insisting on one may discourage people new to reporting experiences. the best way to get better at writing is to read good writing, in my opinion. forcing the skill into a rubric seems ... authoritative, perhaps.

I def agree. A mountain of complexity. Which might also be used as an argument in its favour though, but first, I would like to eliminate the idea that this would be a mandatory step in the creation of a trip report. Of course, that would be a terrible idea and would put 95% of reporters off the whole idea of doing a trip report in the first place.

The general idea was to devise a measure to quantify set and setting (and perhaps a few adjacent variables) in order to allow people to gauge their own experiences (and personal growth) through time, and to perhaps better be able to compare their experiences to those of others.

as for body, i dont see how specific sports experience or detailed dietary information would be compulsory to a satisfactory report. if i played tennis in middle school or eat t bone steak on tuesday and thursday; i think going into that amount of detail would do the opposite of encouraging a reader to continue. these minutiae dont have bearing on my reaction to lsd, mushroms, et. cetera

and the setting, again i would trust a good author to develop this organically rather than point by point.

In body, I did not mean specific sports experience, but rather general level of fitness or sedentariness. Dietary information could be useful to get a better handle on how soon a substance might become felt, and the expected effect strength. Obviously, even with perfect knowledge of bodily data, this remains an artful criterion, but knowing more can hardly be worse than knowing less.

i dont want to flat out dismiss your idea as it is good natured and i believe that it could be worked into a productive template in the right place. my intitial reaction would be that you may inadvertently turn away people who are looking to accomplish simpler goals than a complete self psycho analysis with a trip report, as well as those who operate best without boundaries.

a lot of trip reports do suck donkey balls. erowid had the star system for good reports. its not perfect though, as even my reports get stars on that site and my reports suck

in the end i think someone who reads a lot will be able to discern a bad, good, and stellar report from one another withn the first few paragraphs, or even sentences. writing a report is writing a story, and thus is art. while there is a bit of cognitive// behavioral science behind the results of both trip and the resulting story, focusing too much on it takes the reader into an analysis on the person moreso than the substance's effects. balance is key, and the weight or importance of personal affectation and history matters differently between tales. if you have schizophrenia, mention it, if you have a peanut allergy, i dont care.

your intention is good. i only think that for great reporters, they wouldnt need checkboxes, and the bad ones wouldnt care or notice.

if you want help with your project it would be my recommendation to continue distilling the core information you are looking for.

I think the real gravy of this measure would lie in the crowdsourced knowledge on what would constitute a passable, good or even excellent set and setting, and a way to operationalise them. Ideally, the survey would be brief, and would invite a person to reflect briefly on their answers.

Distilling might be a good idea. Perhaps set is the best place to start, as it seems to be the most fundamental of the lot.