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Jim, thanks for posting this. As a longtime advocate of responsible psychedelics use, I love reading this. It's such a clear-cut success story that it sounded almost too good to be true. So I visited the Reddit page of the author to read some of his other posts. Almost all on other subjects...

I'm happy for you Michael! I haven't visited this forum for a while, so I don't know if this is a sudden change of heart for you or a gradual shift, but after our past debates on the value of these medicines, it's wonderful to see you opening to new possibilities. My first ayahuasca journey in...

Eating habits say nothing about relative worth. When a bird eats an insect, does it mean that the bird thinks itself superior to the insect? I doubt it! Well, it's the same for me when, for example, I eat a fish. Here's another way to look at it. I doubt that any of us on this forum would...

Michael said: But you haven't explained to me -- what's even slightly damning about this: "By fostering a deep sense of connection to others and to the earth in all its dimensions, holistic education encourages a sense of responsibility to self to others and to the planet." And when you've...

Michael, I've been staying out of this discussion, but following it with some curiosity because you were presenting a side of environmentalism -- a dark side -- I haven't much considered. So when I saw these quotes today -- some of them pretty damning -- I thought I'd follow up on one or two to...

David wasn't talking about ethics either! Here's his full comment:

I'm surprised you read it that way. In writing that comment, ethics weren't on my mind in the least.

It's a matter of emphasis, KMarantz. David Bailey and I are responding to the fact that, in general, you downplay the role of emotions in experiments of this kind, and in science in general. As when David said: "A good experiment in this context would care greatly about the emotional state of...

OK. So here's a chance to clarify what you mean. If psi is a real human ability, then doesn't it make sense that like other abilities (sports, music, etc) it would manifest most robustly when subjects are highly motivated to perform? And if that's the case, then when designing a psi...

That's complete nonsense. With experiments like Dr. Powell's that involve human subjects, downplaying the role of emotions and motivations is like doing physics without considering the effects of gravity.

Thanks for clarifying this -- I see now that my grasp of the experiment was not entirely accurate. I'm really looking forward to a fuller explanation when she publishes.

JK, one of us must be confused about the nature of this experiment. And I say that without sarcasm, because it could be me. I thought what was being tested here was whether the subject could read the questioner's mind. Am I wrong about that?

I don't understand your point. If the questioner doesn't know the answer, how can the subject reach into the questioner's mind and pull out that answer? And what else would provide evidence for telepathy?

Sharon, it seems to me there are ways to determine basic mathematical competence that would make it difficult or impossible for the subject to use telepathy. For example: written tests, or computer or video "games."

I think Dr. Powell is probably on to something. LIke others here, I've always felt that spectacular savant abilities make no sense at all within a materialist, strictly Darwinian framework. On the other hand, I question whether the phenomenon can be replicated by just any experimenter. Think...

I can't argue with that! Thanks for clarifying your statements.

I love this sentence. Though I would change "thought" to "analytical thought" or something like that, to separate it from the all-embracing kind of thinking or knowing that mystics experience. Probably others here who know you better than I do, know what you're referring to. But you could...

Agreed. :)

I found that online today, Alex, and it surprised me, too. I've long been aware that Ring feels a kinship with psychedelic advocates like Grof and Christopher Bache, but I had no idea that it was his own LSD trip that sparked his career as an NDE researcher! But you dig down, and you find that...

Good answer! I myself don't know a thing about Shah, except for this: when he uses the word "counterfeit" to describe the substance-induced experiences that many people (including myself) consider to be among the most spiritual and sacred events of our lives, he does seem to be revealing a...