> One example of this can be seen in the attitude of worship of some Native American societies towards peyote or psychedelic mushrooms.
Yes, rituals. When something is important, powerful, dangerous, but it's not wise to ban it, a society creates a ritual around that, to signal importance and danger. Western societies have rituals too. Not much to do with the truth.
> Even if they are "just chemicals" that doesn't necessarily mean that they can't show you truth.
That may be, but in this case it does mean exactly that. There is Charles Manson or the odd baby-killing ayahuasca cult brainwashing its disciples with psychedelics and propaganda to prove this.
> That itself does not diminish the possibility of finding truth in it or through it.
Or maybe it does... :)
But that's pretty far from the original point I was trying to make.
Yes, rituals. When something is important, powerful, dangerous, but it's not wise to ban it, a society creates a ritual around that, to signal importance and danger. Western societies have rituals too. Not much to do with the truth.
> Even if they are "just chemicals" that doesn't necessarily mean that they can't show you truth.
That may be, but in this case it does mean exactly that. There is Charles Manson or the odd baby-killing ayahuasca cult brainwashing its disciples with psychedelics and propaganda to prove this.
> That itself does not diminish the possibility of finding truth in it or through it.
Or maybe it does... :) But that's pretty far from the original point I was trying to make.