
First study to explore language and LSD since the 1960s - eplanit
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160818090035.htm
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nnq
Isn't it quite obvious that in any "coldwar type" scenario it's advantageous
to ban _civilian_ research on anything you don't want you enemies to also get
their hands on? At least if: (a) you're arrogant enough to believe civilian
researches will not outsmart military ones, or (b) you believe that what you
got so far is "good enough" for military applications, or (c) you think that
this might be helpful forcing scientists passionate about the banned fields to
work for the military.

Dunno which of do above is actually true about this topic, but for anything
"banned in the '60s" it's important to think about the perspective of things
in the 60s. Asides from the hippies and new age, this was the era when US
military planners contemplated an unprovoked first nuclear strike on USSR
simply because they knew the Russians where behind on ICBM tech but not for
long. And on the other side the Russians where desperate developing bio and
other unconventional weapons because they knew they were behind on nukes and
needed _something_ to fill the damn "gap". Psycho-chemical weapons combined
with a new level of psychological warfare could've been seen as a pretty
enticing "gap filler" material.

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zensavona
It's bizarre that LSD (among other things) have been banned from researchers
for this long. Recently as research has been starting to happen again we've
seen such interesting and successful applications for MDMA and Ketamine.

I can't wait to find out what these drugs can do over the next few decades.

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blytz
"This can lead to a loss of boundaries between the self and the environment,
as might occur in certain psychiatric illnesses."

It still rings clear that altered consciousness is something seen as illness
or being deficit in som way by the scientific community.

This points out a deeper ignorance within the collective human psyche and is
an attitude has to go before any real study can be done.

~~~
jjbiotech
I agree with you completely. Francis Crick was using LSD during the days when
he discovered DNA's double helix geometry. To me, this means psychedelics are
for more than just manic, unhinged thoughts, or illusions of grandeur. It can
actually provide intelligent people with valuable perspective, insight, and
creativity.

Considering societies current state, a change in perspective wouldn't be
harmful. But people are afraid of change...

"Drop acid, not bombs!"

~~~
groovy2shoes
> _It can actually provide intelligent people with valuable perspective,
> insight, and creativity._

Legend has it that Bill Atkins was inspired to create HyperCard by an LSD
trip.

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SnacksOnAPlane
How can I sign up for a study on LSD effects? I really just want to do acid
legally, and further human knowledge on psychedelics.

~~~
bordercases
Yeah, the latter is definitely a plus, isn't it.

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dang
Url changed from [http://time.com/4463136/lsd-research-creativity-
depression/](http://time.com/4463136/lsd-research-creativity-depression/),
which points to this.

Submitters: HN prefers original sources. When an article is mostly a pointer
to another one, please submit that one instead.

~~~
iso-8859-1
Why not link
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2016.1217030](http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2016.1217030)
directly then?

~~~
dang
For stories about specialist research, we've found that HN works better with
the most substantive popular article, plus a link to the paper in the
comments. It's true that the 'most substantive' popular article is often still
rather weak, making more out of the paper than there is, etc., but HN readers
tend to point this out in the thread, and the alternative (linking to the
paper first) doesn't seem to work as well for discussion–the barrier feels too
sheer.

It's different with papers in fields where the HN audience tends to have a lot
of specialists, such as computing.

Edit: contradicting what I said above, here's a counterexample:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12361666](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12361666).
There are always exceptions.

