Silicon Valley professionals are taking LSD at work to increase productivity
Silicon Valley professionals are taking LSD at work to
increase productivity
An increasing number of twenty-somethings are reportedly
'micro-dosing' on psychedelic drugs - and they say it's making them better
workers
By Adam Boult 3:35PM GMT 26 Nov 2015
Could taking LSD at work make your more productive?
It seems unlikely, but that’s apparently what some
Silicon Valley professionals have been doing - and reporting great results.
According to Rolling Stone, a growing number of people
are experimenting with "microdoses" of psychedelics to help them
work.
A microdose of LSD is around 10-15 micrograms,
approximately a tenth of a “normal” dose.
At that dosage, Rolling Stone describes the drug’s
effects as “subperceptual”: " 'Enough, says Rick Doblin, founder and
executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic
Studies, ‘to feel a little bit of energy lift, a little bit of insight, but not
so much that you are tripping.’”
Psychedelics researcher Dr James Fadiman discussed
microdosing with Vice, saying: ‘People do it and they’re eating better,
sleeping better, they’re often returning to exercise or yoga or meditation.
It’s as if messages are passing through their body more easily.”
“But what many people are reporting is, at the end of the
day, they say, ‘That was a really good day.’ You know, that kind of day when
things kind of work.”
“You’re doing a task you normally couldn’t stand for two
hours, but you do it for three or four. You eat properly. Maybe you do one more
set of reps. Just a good day. That seems to be what we’re discovering.”
At a conference in New York last month, Canadian
documentarian John Andrew discussed his experiences with microdoses of
psilocybin mushrooms, which he took every day for six months: “I experienced
this clarity that is almost indescribable …. I felt a homeostasis, a feeling
that despite what's going on, bad or good, everything was OK." After six
months he felt he was "maximizing [his] potential."
However, not all reports about microdosing on
hallucinogens are positive. On a recent episode of the Reply All podcast host
PJ Vogt described having mixed experiences with microdosing at work, with
colleagues describing his behaviour as “manic and weird”.
Earlier this year 15-year-old Arthur Cave, son of
musician Nick Cave, fell to his death from a cliff after taking LSD. At the
inquest into his death, clinical scientist Amber Crampton said there was
evidence that LSD had seen a resurgence in popularity.
"It used to be popular in the 60s and 70s,” she told
the court. “It's more popular now than many people are aware."
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