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Politics: Threat to Society |
Posted by
Geist on Saturday, March 29, 2003 - 04:02 AM PST
It is noteworthy that probably the vast majority of society's innovators and benefactors were drug users. There is all too many we simply do not have the data on, and in the current political climate it is highly unlikely any studies will be done on this. In much of human history, drugs have been so much the norm as to not warrent mention regarding this or that personage.
Has this held humans back? Is it not oppressive governments and laws which have impeded progress, rather than the selection of human pastimes? In some cases, drug use has been far more than a pastime. To many of these people, their drug use has been an integral part of their work. Could Lewis Carrol create Alice, if he did not use mushrooms? Could Picasso paint Picasso without opium? Would Paracelcus have learned to refine drugs, were he not an addict? Could the Rolling Stones have become "the greatest Rock-and-Roll band in the world", if they did not get stoned?
I once ran accross a study saying that geniuses, on the average, have done their best work in their twenties, and taper off thereafter. Physiologically, however, the human brain does not begin to atrophy until the mid-thirties. Even then, the growth of new dendrites can compensate for as long as the body is reasonably healthy. Clearly, the problem of continued genial creation is not physiological, but conceptual.
How do you evoke a paradigm shift in a mind that has gone rigid?
What better than a drug, to jog your mind into a new perspective?
This average is not a hard-and-fast rule. There have been many who went on to do their best
work late in life. The indication is there that drugs have been a factor in this continued productivity. Even some apparent exceptions are telling. I have found no indication of drug use on the part of William Blake, Baruch Spinoza, or Immanuel Swedenborg, but Blake, Spinoza and Swedenborg were among those of history's great geniuses who found other ways of altering their state of consciousness, and used that alteration to view reality from different perspectives.
"Threats to Society":
Isaac Abrams,artist LSD
Lewis Daniel Armstrong, musician ("Satchmo") marijuana
Marcus Aurelius, philosopher, emperor of Rome opium
Marion Barry, mayor of Washington, D.C. cocaine, alcohol
Charles Baudelaire, poet absinthe
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet opium
William S. Burroughs, historian, author: "Naked Lunch", "I, Claudius" cocaine, opium
Lewis Carrol, mathematician, photographer, author: "Alice in Wonderland" mushrooms
Winston Churchill, British prime minister alcohol
Grover Cleveland, U.S. president cocaine
Jean Cocteau, playwrite: "Orpheus" opium
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet: "The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner" opium (laudanum)
Wilkie Collins, author: "The Moonstone" opium
Salivor Dali, painter "Everyone should eat hashish, but only once." hashish
Thomas DeQuincy, author: "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" opium (laudanum)
Charles Dickens, author: "A Christmas Carol", "Oliver Twist" opium
Arthur Conan Doyle, logican, author "Sherlock Holmes" cocaine, opium
Thomas Alva Edison, inventor, industrialist cocaine, alcohol
Havelock Ellis, physician, author: "Psychology of Sex", essay: "Mezcal: A New Artificial Paradise" peyote
Ben Franklin, inventor, publisher, scientist, American statesman opium, marijuana
Sigmund Freud, physician, "Father of Psychoanalysis" cocaine
Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. president cocaine, alcohol
Albert Hoffman, chemist, discovered LSD and became a proponant LSD
Aldous Huxley, author: "Brave New World", "Island", "Doors of Perception" mescaline
William James, physician, philosopher nitrous oxide, ether, peyote
Thomas Jefferson, U.S. president, inventor, architect, marijuana farmer marijuana
Jesus the Nazerite, Carpenter, Rabbi, "Christ" * Amanita muscaria, also known as fly agaric. Evidence available from R. Gordon Wasson, ("Soma, The Divine Mushroom of Immortality") mushroom expert and executive to J.P. Morgan. Another case was made by John M. Allegro, noted Bible scholar and linguist, who presented evidence in "The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross" that the story of Jesus was actually an
allegory on the properties of the amanita. alcohol, mushrooms*
Steve Jobs, co-creator of the Apple computer, the NeXt computer, and former head of Apple Computers, Inc. marijuana, LSD
John Keats, poet opium
Ken Kesey, author: "One Flew Over the Coo-Coo's Nest", "Once a Great Notion"
Timothy Leary, psychologist, Father of Transactional Analysis, software author: "Mindwheel"."Turn on, tune in, drop out." LSD, marijuana
Pope Leo XIII cocaine
John Cunningham Lilly, physician, scientist (electronics, dolphin communication, sensory deprivation), philosopher, author: "Mind of the Dolphin", "Center of the Cyclone" LSD, ketamine
Bela Lugosi, actress opium, morphine
Bob Marley, musician "The Father of Reggae Music" marijuana
Judge Marquat, Arizona Supreme Court Justice, involved in Miranda ruling. marijuana
Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator opium
Mohammed, spiritual leader hashish
Marcia Moore, Sheraton Hotel heiress, author: "Hypersentience", Journeys into the Bright
World" LSD marijuana, ketamine
Jack Nicholson, actor marijuana, LSD
Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus, Father of Modern Medicine opium
Pablo Picasso, painter, "The smell of opium is the least stupid smell in the world." opium
Plotinus, Roman philosopher, 205-270 AD opium
Edgar Allen Poe, poet, author: "The Raven", "The Fall of the House of Usher" opium
Jackson Pollack, painter (His work sold for up to $8,000,000 a piece.) alcohol
Cole Porter, composer cocaine
Elvis Presley, singer, actor prescription drugs
Richard Pryor, actor, comedian cocaine
Cardinal Duc de Richelieu, leading minister to king Louis XIII opium
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, U.S. president alcohol
Sir Walter Scott, poet, author opium
Shelly, poet opium
Arlene Sklar-Weinstein, artist LSD
Robert Louis Stevenson, author cocaine, morphine
The Rolling Stones (reputed to be the greatest rock-and-roll band in the world) marijuana, LSD
Desmond Taylor, film director cocaine
Vincent Van Gogh, painter absinthe, camphor
Jules Verne, author: "The Time Machine", "War of the Worlds", "2,000 Leagues Under the Sea" cocaine
George Washington, U.S. president, marijuana farmer marijuana (sensimilla)
Andrew Wiel, physician,psychopharmicologist, anthropologist, fire-walker, alternative
health expert, author: "The Natural Mind", "Spontaneous Healing", "8 Weeks to Optimum Health" marijuana, peyote, yage (S. American hallucinagin)
William Wilberforce, almost singlehandedly got slavery abolished throughout the British Empire opium
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Average Rating : 3.5
Total ratings : 2
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Threat to Society | Login/Create an account | 22 Comments |
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They lied to me!
by Rogue (Rogue@skew.org)
on Mar 29, 2003 - 07:29 AM
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Some evil persons told me the following things in my life, and they have now been exposed as lies:
Satchmo's name is Louis Armstrong, when it's actually Lewis.
Dali's name was Salvador (saviour?), when it's actually Salivor (one who drools?). (This is amusing considering the Jesus of Nazareth reference, because some consider him a saviour and he may have drooled while on Amanita Muscaria.)
Doyle was a logician, when he was actually a logican.
Ken Kesey wrote "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", even my copy of this book has this erroneous spelling over the correct "Coo-Coo".
Bela Lugosi was actually a woman, an actress, when I have been told she was a man and an actor.
Jackson Pollock was apparently an impostor to the famous real painter Jackson Pollack.
I dated Shelly in high school, and people said she was "most likely to go into real estate."
Jules Verne, I was told, wrote "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", and even Saturday Night Live is in on this lie (with a skit) that has now been revealed to be "2,000 Leagues Under the Sea". This makes more sense, since no oceans are 20,000 leagues deep or even 2,000, and league is a measurement of length anyway. Maybe it was some sort of underwater baseball team or something. That would explain "water sports".
I am eternally grateful to you for exposing these lies and the vast right-wing conspiracy that has been at work during my entire life and studies. I will now forget everything I know and start over from the beginning to verify everything so that this does not happen again. This time I'll do it with a bit more Amanita Muscaria and Psilocybe Cubensis.
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Re: Threat to Society
by Cashmere on Mar 29, 2003 - 09:44 AM
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Salvador Dalí was named after his dead brother. His parents planned him as a replacement for the child they already lost, and he spent the rest of his life overdeclaring his own individuality. He was obsessed with what his parents tried to do with him, and this pursuit took over his entire life. Note "portrait of my Dead Brother." There was also much alcohol involved.
Picasso was a misogynist and a womanizer for the entirety of his life. He was basically forced to be an artist from a young age: his father was an artist and he was labeled as a child prodigy. He could only respect men when he was older, and was abusive towards his many mistresses.
Jackson Pollock was born strangled by his umbilical cord, and he had mild motor and learning disabilities. The brain damage he suffered is believed to make him more vulnerable to alcohol abuse. And he despised his addiction, he fought with it his entire life and sold more paintings when he was sober. he was also plagued with bouts of depression until he was killed in a car crash.
Vincent Van Gogh was certifiable insane. He would go out and paint during hurricanes. He committed himself in 1889 after he mutilated his own ear. He only sold one work in his lifetime and died after a botched suicide attempt.
You also could have added Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, who was quite known for his absinthe intake. he was even popularised in movies such as Lautrec and Moulin Rouge. He was also a dwarf who hated women because they were not attracted to him because of his obvious deformities. If you look at his paintings, he is usually depicted as a shadowed figure in a top hat.
While they were innovators, there is more to a person than the few things that they do, and there are often many more causes for them than just drug use. In the case of Jackson Pollack, alcohol was the bane of his work. Think about the ways the drugs were used, not just the fact that they were.
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Re: Threat to Society
by Meranda_Jade (Meranda@mymind.com)
on Mar 29, 2003 - 10:01 AM
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Um... H.G. Wells wrote "The Time Machine" and "War of the Worlds". Jules Verne wrote "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Around the World in 80 Days".
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Dave's Not Here
by Monolycus on Mar 29, 2003 - 02:31 PM
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There's a couple of weensy problems with your thesis, Geist. In the 1700's, opiates were used medicinally and hemp was grown as a textile. There's no reason to believe that Washington, Jefferson or Franklin ever used these substances recreationally.
Also, People like Elvis Aaron Presley did not begin their addictions with drugs (prescription or otherwise) until after the artistic breakthroughs they are credited with and the drugs have, in most of these cases, been implicated in initialising the downsides of their careers.
Also, I have no idea what Senator Joseph McCarthy is doing on this list unless paranoid, xenophobic hate-mongering is a form of creative expression. If this is the case, he was the undisputed master.
I have heard theses similar to this, but rarely has P been shown to imply Q in a laboratory. One of my favourites is that so very many creative genii in the Italian Renaissance and at other periods of history were homosexual, and that therefore, homosexuals are more creative or artistic than heterosexuals. I can see where a superficial examination of events might lead one to that presumption, but it doesn't hold up after detailed analysis. Still... best of luck! I am, I was, I will
your faithful servant,
~Monolycus.
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Re: Threat to Society
by bettie_x (strangersangel@hotmail.com)
on Mar 29, 2003 - 02:56 PM
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You forgot Hunter S Thompson - everything eidble and thensome under the sun.
I don't think so much that the drugs were what inspired their creativity, as I've seen all sorts of people under the influence and it just makes them either crazy or stupid. Some people granted, it does sort of "kick start" their thinking process, but that's about it. "recreational" drug use as we know it today is a RELATIVELY "new" phenomena (in the miniscule scope of human existence compared to the age of the world..bleh) and when compared to the use of them today vs the use of them even 100 years before is massively different. As mono pointed out, most of the "recreational" drugs used today were once medicinal (and for good reason) or for spiritual reasons. And most "creative" types or musicians began their journey down narcotic lane AFTER their careers took off, as most people in that situation have enormous demands place upon them (everything from partying their asses off to the demands of touring and fans etc) and it's either a way to deal with the strain or to increase their insane fucking life which they've grown to depend on so they don't feel worthless. Most of them have a grand old time, for a while, then spend the rest of their career trying to SAVE their career and their life from the thing that once brought so much joy. Kinda sad.
Should people be able to cram in their bodies whatever they want? Ya shure, no skin off my ass. But is it necessarily GOOD for them? Probably not.
I've had people look at my art before and wonder to me what kind of drugs I was on when I thought them up. They're suprised when I say that I haven't even so much as touched pot in my life. I'm less creative when I'm drunk, and more so when I'm sleep deprived. Someday perhaps my name will be on someone else's list:
Bettie X- painter. Cigarettes and sleep deprivation. How booring.
But to your credit, creative types (especially the excentric ones at that) are more prone to drug use as they usually have SOME form of a mental imbalance and drugs are a way of self medication and an escape. You do have that on the money :)
Oh, and Doyle also was a heroine addict, as back then (and they edited the line of "watson! the needle!" from the Holmes series for politically correct reasons) heorine was thought to be some wonder brain drug.
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Re: Threat to Society
by callei on Mar 29, 2003 - 05:51 PM
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Its noteworthy that the vast majority of people use drugs, of some kind. Sometimes on doctors orders, sometimes not, but the need to self-medicate is a huge one. At least in western cultures.
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Re: Threat to Society
by Geist (tattooedslacker@yahoo.com)
on Mar 29, 2003 - 10:16 PM
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Ugggg..... will you all please hang me. Or do something really horrible... this is the LAST time I write drunk. Which prolly means its the last time I'll write... ok, so I fucked up. This was mainly a reply to a conversation I had with someone about drugs who said even if you try anything once your life is fucked.... just shoot me in the head.
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Re: Threat to Society
by Anonymous-Coward on Mar 30, 2003 - 08:36 PM
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Ok... I promised that I would not responde in an absynthe induced haze... Now that my head is clear (if throbbing a bit) I think it is time to responde...
Now... I have a question... is something that is commonly used as a medicine considered drug use for these purposes? I mean, honestly, if one is seeking to expand ones horrizons, wouldn't sticking to doctor's orders seem to be a long stretch from this ideal? Laudinum, cocaine,
Please refer to The history of cocaine
Now we move into the actual effects of some of these substances... Heroine, opium, etc... If you've ever done it... or been exposed to medical grade morphine, you will realise that this drug really is not a motivator for political and intellectual change... after you use it... there is a rush, warmth in the extremities... almost immediately followed by heaviness and slowed mental processes... still later... the user is drowsy for several hours and mental clarity and function are clouded. Cardiac and respitory functions slow, sometimes to the point of death.
alcohol: Alcohol is a "downer" (depressant) that reduces activity in the central nervous system. At intoxicating doses, alcohol can decrease heart rate, lower blood pressure and respiration rate, and result in decreased reflex responses and slower reaction times.
Special Case: Absynthe... contains an extra ingredient... wormwood. Used as a muscle relaxer that is occasionally added to liniments. the known side effects are listed as "Depresses the central nervous system. Thujone causes mind-altering changes and may lead to psychosis. (Dictionary.com defines psychosis as "A severe mental disorder, with or without organic damage, characterized by derangement of personality and loss of contact with reality and causing deterioration of normal social functioning.") I can see how this would free thought, but psychosis rarely, in my experience, leads to innovation...
the effects of Marijuana: Sleepiness, Difficulty keeping track of time, impaired or reduced short-term memory, Reduced ability to perform tasks requiring concentration and coordination, such as driving a car, Impaired or reduced comprehension, Altered motivation and cognition, making the acquisition of new information difficult, Impairments in learning, memory, perception, and judgment - difficulty speaking, listening effectively, thinking, retaining knowledge, problem solving, and forming concepts, Intense anxiety or panic attacks...
Side Note: Jefferson was a HEMP farmer... cannabis sativa - LITERALLY "useful (sativa)" hemp... while the THC content of this plant is there... it is commonly referred to as ditchweed, and is not nearly as useful for this as the other common form off cannabis... which at this time, I cannot seemt o locate the name or my sources on it
camphor: has been used for the following purposes Analgesic, Anesthetic, Antinflammatory, Antiseptic, Back Pain, Bile Stimulant, Bone and Joint Conditions, Breathing Disorders, Bronchial Congestion, Bronchitis, Cellular Regeneration, Chest Rub, Circulation Stimulant, Coughs, Digestive Disorders, Expectorant, Fatigue, Flatulence(treatment of), Indigestion, Insecticide, Insect Repellent, Moth Repellent, Muscle Pain, Nasal Congestion, Stomachache, Vascular Disorders. Never seen one use this for mental stimulation...
Now... there are two there I cannot dispute the mental stimulation effects of... LSD and Ketamine... but I refuse to believe that all great innovators were under their influence... All of the other drugs listed tend to have a mental depressive effect...
I will agree with part of your conclusion, but not your reasoning for it to be so. The people in question were innovators before they had their encounters with the substances in question. People of that metnal capacity and ment
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