2952: Psychedelics w/ Shane Mauss

[Michael's Servant]

Behavioral science; JUUL vape pens; psychedelics and the psychiatric ward

Guest:
Shane Mauss



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[FingerLakes]

Guys guys guys

I figured it out

Keith is the one who is actually tricking everyone else

[Sakugenken]

Great show! I am sorry but Keith's frustration at a transition from hallucinogenics inducing paranoia to the horrors of sugar made me laugh out loud. It reminded me of Jim Florentine comparing a visit to Costco to a threesome. Years ago I was hanging out with a progressive musician who was known to have given his toddlers acid to "open their minds". We were back stage at a beach side concert and my asthma was really acting up so I was spraying some medication. He looked at me sadly and shook his head, "That shit is so bad for you!" he told me. I was speechless.

[jcro21]

Appreciate the realness on this episode. Shane seems like he's recovered from his break about as well as anyone could. I'm shocked he kept his girlfriend through all that.

Chemda, I think they're looking out for you, but I get your frustration on this episode. If you get picked on more for using whatever you're using, it's because you're super honest about it with your audience and your friends. I enjoyed the openness that you treated this story with, as I think it helped Shane describe his experience better. A lot of the shit he described was super cool to hear about, I was super engrossed and emotionally affected by it.

[Rexan]

Amazing episode, great story and great passion from everybody. I think part of the disconnect was Keith goes off when the analysis of psychedelics segues into salt and sugar, and then later as a throwaway goes to Andrea, "hey Chemda's "don't see anything wrong" was crazy right?". and Chemda maybe hears the same frustration and invalidation of the salt and sugar comparison argument directed at her. The don't see anything wrong line struck me as strange too, but when Chemda explains fine within a trip it makes sense, though it think he was sober for the break. I don't think Keith's anger was a caution to psychedelic one, but more, let's not go from psychotic breaks to sugar and salt all of a sudden. The "remove all psychedelics or everyone takes them" line would've had me on edge too, and then sugar and salt was the match to the powder keg. It's not anti drug so much as it is anti ridiculous statements. Either way the misunderstanding was funny as fuck, especially the ice cream line holy shit that had me howling how wide the disconnect got as Keith's frustration hits peak.
Oh btw this ep could not be a more perfect illustration of the agent's call on the good cop bad cop dynamic.

[DJ Trashy]

I totally get Chemda's questions about unfair treatment. I was a bit puzzled at one point though. When she talked about Keith's casual drug use I thought for sure she was talking about the alcohol, but she only referred to Molly specifically. Maybe poppers, I don't remember. But it does bring up an interesting point.

The brain is an extremely complex bio-electrical organ. You can induce malfunction in many different ways. Any chemical imbalance which breaches the blood-brain barrier can introduce aberrations. Some reactions are well understood, but even then the reaction is slightly different for everyone. Sometimes an altered state is induced (like extra alertness, or hallucinations, paranoia, or unconsciousness) and sometimes an altered state is corrected (schizophrenia, depression, etc.). The fact is that there is always a slight risk when you introduce chemicals to the brain.

My own experience with salvia quickly dissuaded me from ever trying psychedelics again. It took much longer for me to also realize that in certain situations I lacked sufficient self-control for the consumption of high-alcohol content beverages. I'm happy with the occasional beer, but wouldn't be too sad if I never had another one. It's all chemical brain adjustment.

Maybe Chemda gets more flack because society normalizes recreational brain/mood alteration as a way to distract us from shitty jobs, crappy health care and bleak socio-economic status. In that sort of world, someone who takes drugs for enlightenment is an outlier.

[EndangeredMouse.]

I was surprised when Chemda talked about Keith's drug use. The only time I remember Keith taking drugs was when he jerked off that hooker in the middle of Times Square for Crack.

[LoopyLou79]

When I was on a field trip to Peru 18 years ago I took Ayahuasca with a bunch of indians in the rainforest. I’d never heard of it before but I was young so I chugged it back. I had a great experience. I don’t really remember seeing it as a tourist attraction advertised anywhere when I went into a town and I’m not sure really how I ended up doing it but I’ve got no regrets.

As a rule of thumb if you think you’ve got secret knowledge only you can fully understand or interpret its time someone takes you to the doctor.

[astrokahn]

I love Shane! Something about his voice just makes me smile every time, and I love how much he loves how much Keith loves his jumping thing.

[monarch]

But sad it could have been more informative and fascinating if Shane was not interrupted. Why invite a guest if the host can’t control emotions? Let the guest speak. Chemda tried to save the show after Keith’s hysterics.

Listeners were learning and enjoying up until. Further, most listeners don’t do psychedelics, weed, molly, coke, crack, or alcohol to black out. Not all listeners know DMT / psychedelics can put you into a psych ward and permanently impair. Shane's story is remarkable. But we never got to hear his full story and the potential negative impacts of taking psychedelics.