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resonant111
left ∞ right

Registered: 03/02/11
Posts: 1,952
Loc: IL
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alienation & psychedelic philosophy
#22117212 - 08/20/15 03:17 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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do the two go hand in hand? how can we balance the lessons from psychedelics & alternative worldviews with our need to conform, belong and survive in the material/capitalistic world?
are capitalism/society/status in conflict with psychedelic worldview? can this be reconciled?
can we still be part of the herd? and still be individuals?
or is separation and alienation an unavoidable fate of this lifestyle?
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Edited by resonant111 (08/20/15 03:35 PM)
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Hobozen


Registered: 11/03/11
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Re: alienation & psychedelic philosophy [Re: resonant111]
#22117612 - 08/20/15 05:00 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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if you don't put your beliefs and knowledge on a pedestal, i think so. anyone who puts any kind of knowledge on a pedastal is alienating themselves IMO.
but it's not just one "herd" imo, there's lots of little niches/groups of people out there, and relationships can be gained despite differing interests and ways of life.
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resonant111
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Registered: 03/02/11
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Loc: IL
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Re: alienation & psychedelic philosophy [Re: Hobozen]
#22117900 - 08/20/15 06:03 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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I agree. but there seems to be a tendency in the psychedelic culture to put this worldview on a pedestal, perhaps above worldviews like consumerism/materialism. Leary's whole "tune in, turn on, drop out" from the 70's was basically about dropping out of that culture and creating your own, in a way. So the movement, from the beginning, has separated itself from mainstream society.
Yet when it's just YOU separating yourself from society...that's just plain alienation. I don't know...sometimes i wish i had never even entertained these kinds of ideas and just stuck with the "program" if you will...
In alot of ways, investing myself so heavily into psychedelic culture and alternative philosophy almost inflated my ego, more than it softened it (by alienating myself from consumer/status driven society, i believed myself to be above it). Has anyone else been there, or did i just take things too far? i don't know.
Edited by resonant111 (08/20/15 06:24 PM)
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Hobozen


Registered: 11/03/11
Posts: 10,634
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Re: alienation & psychedelic philosophy [Re: resonant111]
#22118014 - 08/20/15 06:29 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
In alot of ways, investing myself so heavily into psychedelic culture and alternative philosophy almost inflated my ego, more than it softened it (by alienating myself from consumer/status driven society, i believed myself to be above it).
it definitely did that to me too, and it took many years to realize how self important i became. don't think i would have got through it to the extent that i did without the help of PS&P (our own little herd?), this place really helped ground me. my head's still pretty far up my ass though, and there's still a lot of alienation, but not nearly as much as there used to be.
Quote:
I don't know...
yeah...
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DividedQuantum
Outer Head


Registered: 12/06/13
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Re: alienation & psychedelic philosophy [Re: resonant111]
#22118052 - 08/20/15 06:41 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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These are very good and interesting questions, to which I would very much like to know the answers as well. As for myself, I don't feel like I belong to anything at all. I have felt alienated at times, and overall am quite nonplussed about the whole affair. Acolytes of Leary have had a hard time -- there is nothing to drop out to.
Aside from that, I have a very hard time answering your questions directly. I don't know how.
-------------------- Vi Veri Universum Vivus Vici
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dourmoose
Grower


Registered: 08/10/15
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Re: alienation & psychedelic philosophy [Re: Hobozen]
#22118097 - 08/20/15 06:52 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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I feel that society/capitalism/whathaveyou realy creates barriers preventing most of us from being our authentic selves... but so do lots of other aspects of reality. I'd really love to be able to fly but damn it, there's gravity and the high cost of hot air balloon rides holding me back. Through psychadelics, I feel like I can examine my assumptions about the world in new ways. When I'm lucky, it makes me feel more connected with others.
In some ways I do feel estranged from my colleagues at work who seem to address life in more conventional ways, but maybe I just dont know them well enough. I can hope that beneath the exterior, they're complex and fascinating people. Since we have little in common on the surface, it's quite possible that we'll never know.
I think that with time, many of us find ways to reconcile a psycadelic world view with the exterior straight world.
Like Blank said, there are lots of interesting subgroups of interesting people out there. It's sometimes just a matter of finding the right folks who can validate your unique world view.
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