
Ask HN: Have you ever tried certain psychedelics to solve complex problems? - tby
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?<p>I can&#x27;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.<p>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.<p>Very interested in your opinions.<p>Resources:
* https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Psychedelics_in_problem-solving_experiment<p>* https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=KtL5fafpRKc<p>* http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.themorningnews.org&#x2F;article&#x2F;the-heretic
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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!

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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.

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qmalxp
Psychedelics have never helped me solve a complex mathematical problem, but
they did help me solve some complex social problems.

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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.

~~~
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](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.

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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.

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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 }

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sz4kerto
Yeah, sometimes I coded after a few beers and I felt smarter. Next morning the
disappointment came :)

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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.

~~~
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.

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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.

