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Ask HN: Have you ever tried certain psychedelics to solve complex problems?

23 points by tby ↗ HN
Those of you in to things like cryptography, AI, compilers, complex algorithms and similar topics: Have psychedelics ever helped you to solve complex problems? And if so, would you care to elaborate?

I can't speak of those kinds of things because my lack of very complex problems. At times though they definitely gave me a better understanding of mathematics, physics, linguistics and other certain things that can be hard to wrap your head around.

Even though my favorite psychedelic substance is probably psilocybin, regarding problem solving I have found LSD, 2C-B and DXM to be the most interesting candidates.

Very interested in your opinions.

Resources: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelics_in_problem-solving_experiment

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtL5fafpRKc

* http://www.themorningnews.org/article/the-heretic

21 comments

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eip
DXM? Seriously? That isn't going to help you solve anything.

Stick with psilocin and LSD.

tby
Have you ever tried DXM on lower/moderate doses? If so, have you had a clear intention set about a particular issue that you wanted to address? That makes a big difference.

Only because DXM is being abused a lot and the fact that you can only get it in the form of cough syrup in the US doesn't mean that there is no way to use it more responsibly/purposefully. Also: Effects very much differ from person to person. In fact: most people don't seem to like it / have negative (side) effects.

anotherangrydev
What kind of problems have you tried to solve while high?

I, personally, prefer to have a clear mind when approaching things that require a heavy cognitive load, but that's just me.

black_knight
I sometimes solve mathematical problems while dreaming — not usually a very clear minded state. Also, how clear the mind is has a lot do with setting. I don't drink alcohol, so I've often been in party places sober. However, while I in that setting my head is as foggy as a sauna. I can easily imagine the opposite, being 'high' in a setting which allows focussing on a difficult problem.
tby
Well, as I said, I didn't really have had any problems yet that I wasn't able to solve sober. But I definitely did experience a shift in the understanding for complex topics, an improvement in the ability to visualize abstract subjects and creativity in general.

If you are very focused on something and really willing to solve a problem it can even give you a better inner clarity.

By the way: We are talking low/moderate doses here ;)

anotherangrydev
Sure, can you give examples of those complex topics?
tby
* Better understanding of concepts like four-dimensional space or spacetime

* Innovative ideas when designing interfaces

* Easier visualisation of tiny/huge scales (time and space - cosmology/biology/physics)

* Deeper understanding of art/music/literature/philosophy

* Being able to look at things from a more neutral perspective and thus better seeing changes that occur over a long period of time or that I'm very closely involved with (society/nature/politics/health)

Those are not your typical complex problems that we're looking for here but for me it still feels as if there could lie some potential. In my case it seems to come down to helping with creativity and the ability to visualize in a more detailed and at the same time neutral way.

black_knight
For me psilocybin is too much of an emotional experience to focus on any abstract problems. I could imagine using cannabis for problem solving — it allows for concentration and focus.
tby
I can relate to that. Microdosing psilocybin could be of interest here though.
entropie
Yeah, that actually really works. It depends of the kind of weed and of course the amount.

The problem is you can get to easy to focused on smaller tasks that are not really important.

I coded this while I was pretty high. https://github.com/entropie/rmp/blob/master/rmp.rb

black_knight
I don't have much time for my self, so my sessions have to be carefully planned — and I think planning helps not getting distracted with minutiae. The times I have been drawing high were well planned, and very productive.
qmalxp
Psychedelics have never helped me solve a complex mathematical problem, but they did help me solve some complex social problems.
weland
I have written code while high, which has convinced me that the expression "Man, the dude who wrote this must have been high" is worth its derogatory tone.
sz4kerto
Yeah, sometimes I coded after a few beers and I felt smarter. Next morning the disappointment came :)
danbmil99
a nameless colleague once claimed all his most critical code was written while high on LSD. A self-taught physicist turned programmer who first learned Pascal, his C files included a header file that #define(d) "Begin" as "{" and "End" as "}".
philtar
Could you explain the last part? Are we talking about the inception of braces in programming?
danbmil99
He was porting his Pascal code to C, but wanted to keep writing things like

    helloWorld()
    Begin
        printf("hello world!");
    End
so he added these preprocessor lines:

    #define Begin {
    #define End }
kevingoslar
In my experience the by far best state to do any sort of work is being sober, clear minded, and in the zone. What psychedelics help with is expanding perspectives, looking at things from a different angle, getting the big picture, semantically over-exaggerating problematic details like a microscope, breaking away barriers, and shuffling things up.

When done responsibly, with enough processing and digestion after a psychedelic experience, this can lead to trying new approaches, which, combined with hard work over long periods of time, can indeed lead to extraordinary results.

tby
Nicely summarized, thanks!
grogen
As a data point on the topic, Kery Mullis, who won the Nobel Prize for PCR, claimed that LSD was a source of inspiration for that work.