Reminder that one experience with hallucinogenic substances can give you a lifetime of visual or mental abnormalities.
Personally I've had visual snow for over a decade from a 5 minute Salvia trip. This means that instead of looking at the color white or black and seeing a clean color, I see a static cloud all over it. I'm one of the lucky ones - most of the people I've known over the years who messed with these substances ended up dead, with persistent mental illness, or brain fog that took years to clear up.
You roll the dice on your mental and physical well being every time you ingest a hallucinogen. The characterization of these substances as ones which induce visual hallucinations without mentioning the lifetime of mental health issues they leave people with is dangerous.
> most of the people I've known over the years who messed with these substances ended up dead, with persistent mental illness, or brain fog that took years to clear up.
Before we do anything in life, we should know ourselves, evaluate ourselves and the risks associated with these drugs that you note and make educated decisions as to our level of acceptable risk.
I for instance knowing the risks you point out, and how broken my brain is will not be trying any of these, despite all of the only positive interactions from those I know who have who now pressure me to follow in their footsteps. I know that I would be one of the people you note. I still find people’s reports interesting despite this.
Sadly I too know people who fit your description, only they consumed copious amounts of alcohol or meth and entered a slow road to destruction from which they were never able to divert themselves.
edit
I would entertain trying micro dosing of a compound in this family with the guidance of a medical health professional as further data comes to light. These are about the only circumstances in which I would entertain it.
LSD showed good efficacy in anxiety with no signals of "lifetime of mental health issues" or other safety concerns, so isn't it possible that the problems you describe are really caused by contamination or adulteration of substances purchased on the black market rather than the drug itself?
Perhaps, rather than casting aspersions based on anecdotes on an entire category of potentially useful drugs, we should credit actual data generated in the clinic. Or maybe your warning should be about the fact that extra-legally obtained substances might contain almost anything regardless of what they're sold as.
Much subtler, but I had some slight visual effects for a couple of months after trying LSD + weed (this was like 10 years ago).
Everytime I looked at the icons in the app list in my phone, it would look like they were dancing just a tiny bit, like they were not completely still.
It seems likely that HPPD, if it doesn't go away by itself, can be cured by 50-200 hours of practicing focusing on the noise and then trying to consciously move it, changing its colors etc.
I wish tech people would stop using the term "FUD". "Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt", or "FUD", is how you don't ruin your life in one shot: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=shipscode
> I tried salvia after years of reading about people's experiences with it.
No, it really is about everyone else and not forfeiting their chance to experience something new by dissuading them with misinformation or some cautionary tale about an isolated fate that possibly was not at all about salvia.
I didn't bumble into salvia with no information on hand. I went there after reading about it, its effects, potential risks, chemistry, first-hand experiences etc. for years. A lifetime of side effects is not something associated with salvia.
1point3acres is massacring tech interviews right now. Having to pay $80/month to some China based website where NDA-protected interview questions are posted regularly, then being asked the same questions in the interview, seems insane.
It also feels like interviewers know this and assume you studied the questions, they seem incapable of giving hints, etc if you don't have the questions memorized.
Not like a cable, but it's gotten really bad. I had constant drops on my iPhone 14 Pro. Eventually they shipped me a new one that had the same issue, but the recent software update fixed it almost 100%, like 1 drop/month instead of 10 daily.
Then I bought an iPhone 16 Pro and it was even worse than my iPhone 14 Pro... so I returned it even though I wanted a new phone.
HN (or users?) seem to allow these kind of stories when they swing one way. Hence why they let the DOGE kid article and suppressed the A16z Daniel Penny story.
I would say that a private firm hiring a private individual doesn't make the cut for news unless they are hired for a public facing role.
The DOGE kid is working in government, doing (controversial)things that are affected a substantial portion of the U.S. population.
Should we follow those who we don't like through their lives and report on who has hired them and into what positions? Perhaps we should make them wear a large red A?
The moral arguments against what the left or right do are exactly the same.
Suddenly the left is all concerned about doxxing or unelected bureaucrats in government.
Truthfully politics in America is not about any moral compass - it’s about individual preference to see certain political ideas win or lose.
Instead of pretending politics is based on a set of moral issues, just accept that it’s a set of opinions. Some simply like certain causes, people, or businesses more than others do.
Personally I've had visual snow for over a decade from a 5 minute Salvia trip. This means that instead of looking at the color white or black and seeing a clean color, I see a static cloud all over it. I'm one of the lucky ones - most of the people I've known over the years who messed with these substances ended up dead, with persistent mental illness, or brain fog that took years to clear up.
You roll the dice on your mental and physical well being every time you ingest a hallucinogen. The characterization of these substances as ones which induce visual hallucinations without mentioning the lifetime of mental health issues they leave people with is dangerous.