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<p>Nick -</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>I think the "overclocking" analogy is not entirely fitting to the
larger discussion of "altered states" because it merely invokes a
quantitative increase, but might be a good starting point to
continue the discussion. I *don't* find the appeal of a 30%
faster CPU very compelling, so am not inclined to overclock my own
systems nor invoke the extra maintenance of liquid-cooling, etc.
Neither do I feel compelled to open up the aspiration of my car
engines with tuned headers, custom cranks/cams, supercharging
compressors to get a similar expansion of performance from them
either. I believe it can be done, I respect those (to some
extent) who do it, and by extension I have some appreciation for
those who experiment (responsibly) with boosting their minds and
bodies biochemically. Our former "friend of SFx/FriAM" Stephen
Kotler has made a very dynamic career of such things, including
elaborate documentation of same: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.stevenkotler.com/">https://www.stevenkotler.com/</a> .
<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>My own roots/origins might be described as having "Puritanical"
roots, though I'm more inclined to use the term "Calvanist" which
I suppose is very related. I also have avoided significant
excursions into drug experimentation. My own avoidance is
roughly fourfold: 1) Puritanical/Calvinist upbringing/embedding;
2) Criminal embedding of drug-culture; 3) Legal implications (esp.
security clearance); 4) Conflicted trust in "experts" in the
domain.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>In spite of above I have been strongly drawn to a larger domain
of "altered states" of which mood/perception-altering drugs are
most commonly considered. Starting with mood/perception altering
drugs, the socially acceptable/legal subset we all know (and many
indulge in) of alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and the less
acknowledged carbohydrates and fats. Many of us are at least
strongly habituated to one or more of the above if not literally
biochemically dependent. Nicotine is perhaps the most overtly
addictive, but alcoholism demonstrates the risk of alcohol, while
many suffer significantly over the lack of or delay in caffeine
consumption. <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>I am not acutely sensitive to blood-sugar levels myself but know
many who become quite difficult if they don't get a hit of carbs
regularly. I have experimented with ketogenic (ultra-low-carb)
diets and thereby came to appreciate more of how my own body
responds to carbs (and fats) over different time scales. One
thing that ketogenic states are suggested to effect is brain
function. The basic argument is that neural tissue predominately
uses the ketone energy cycle rather than glucose and that a
ketogenic diet can have significant implications for mental
function. There are therapeutic applications of ketogenesis for
things like childhood epilepsy and investigations into relief of
the symptoms of dementia. I can't claim to observe any
significant difference in my mental function while my metabolism
is ketogenic with the exception that during the transition *into*
that metabolic mode, what many call "carb flu" or "carb-induced
brain fog" is familiar. My experience is less acute than others
report but I can unequivocally report that for a short while
(days) my mental function feels "disturbed"... it is very
difficult to decide if *after* this period that my mental function
is enhanced beyond baseline in any way. I have not done any
controlled experiments. I can also report that when I *return* to
carbs, that I don't feel any specific mental changes. I DO feel
(during ketogenesis) a nearly complete loss of desire/hunger for
carbs/sugar which returns in spades when I return to carbs, but
much of this is obscured by simply enjoying some of my favorite
foods with carbs (beer, popcorn, tortillas).</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Having always been somewhat identified with my
rational/intellectual self as well as an intuitive self (but not
as much my emotional self), I have been tempted by various claims
of mental enhancement through chemistry. I (from a distance)
appreciate the draw of strong mood/energy enhancers (e.g. a suite
of uppers) and the draw of mind expanders. Not having a
significant attachment to religious modes, I have traditionally
been less interested in (or put off by) entheogenic substances.
This has somewhat changed as I move toward my twilight years,
having been close to two men who slipped into (and ultimately died
from) alzheimers-dementia, I find myself more aware of my own
mental state/acuity/memory function. I am not one to be easily
entranced by other's personal testimonies about the experience of
"altered states" since it seems so very subjective. I *was*
however, somewhat swayed by the work of Strassman while at UNM...
his subsequent work seems a lot more hyperbolic and somewhat of
the flavor that has turned me off with other Psy researchers.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Orthogonally to the question of chemically induced altered
states, I also share your avoidance of extreme physical inducement
of altered states. I *have* been exhausted and sleep-deprived in
my life, but do not find either particularly appealing, though I
*do* have some experiences of altered mental/emotional states in
those conditions. More aptly, I am a vivid dreamer and go
through phases of strong lucid dreaming starting as early as my
late childhood. I can't be sure that lucid dreaming wasn't part
of my early childhood experience as well, I suspect I held less
distinction between my waking and sleeping awareness at that
time. My professional arc which started out in investigations of
objective reality (science/engineering) began to yield to
investigations into human understanding in the context of
objective observations... in particular in the area of first
computer graphics, then scientific visualization, visual analytics
and ultimately virtual reality. I have also been very
interested in collective consciousness, both from a technological
(global brain) and a mythopoetic (e.g. Jung/Campbell) perspective
albeit without overt or strong "spiritual" perspectives. I DO
think there is an emergent phenomena in the individual and the
group which can be called "spirituality" which is somewhat
different than the more common idea that there is some kind of
objective spiritual realm which humans are more or less aware
of. <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Carry on!</p>
<p> - Steve<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/21/19 9:16 AM, Marcus Daniels
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:MWHPR11MB188796335365CFA265E4DA3FC54E0@MWHPR11MB1887.namprd11.prod.outlook.com">
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Nick writes:</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
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<br>
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<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
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< <span style="color:#1F497D; font-size:11pt;
font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Can somebody explain
“overclocking”</span> ></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
A computer's processor (CPU) runs at a certain clock rate.
These days it is around 3 billion cycles per second on
average. A higher clock rate will generate more heat and
increase the risk of a malfunction (or a meltdown). To mitigate
this, manufacturers or enthusiasts will add cooling systems.
That could be anything from a large heatsink to liquid
nitrogen. My main computer has a closed-loop water-based
system. The pump breaks down about once a year, and then I have
to buy a new one. The cooling system is more useful to
mitigate temperature variations in the ambient environment than
it is to increase the clock rate. The degree to which a
processor can be overclocked varies by processor design.
Typically it isn't very much, but with a good cooling system a
30% increase in performance can be possible.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
To really get high clock rates, there is the possibility of
using superconductors. This engineering work is in its
infancy.
<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
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<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Marcus<br>
</div>
<hr style="display:inline-block;width:98%" tabindex="-1">
<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font style="font-size:11pt"
face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000"><b>From:</b> Friam
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com"><friam-bounces@redfish.com></a> on behalf of Nick Thompson
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:nickthompson@earthlink.net"><nickthompson@earthlink.net></a><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, November 21, 2019 9:06 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee
Group' <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:friam@redfish.com"><friam@redfish.com></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [FRIAM] post you seem to have missed from
FRIAM</font>
<div> </div>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:#1F497D">Can
somebody explain “overclocking”</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:#1F497D"> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:#1F497D">That’s
a new one for me.
</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:#1F497D"> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:#1F497D">Nick</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:#1F497D"> </span></p>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:#1F497D">Nicholas S. Thompson</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:#1F497D">Emeritus Professor of Psychology and
Biology</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:#1F497D">Clark University</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:#1F497D"><a
href="http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span style="color:#0563C1">http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/</span></a></span></p>
</div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:#1F497D"> </span></p>
<div>
<div style="border:none; border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;
padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Friam
[<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com">mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Prof David West<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, November 21, 2019 5:09 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:friam@redfish.com">friam@redfish.com</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [FRIAM] post you seem to have
missed from FRIAM</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Marcus,</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">"puritanism"
was mentioned only because Nick, and indirectly Frank,
used the term as a self-descriptor. Obviously there are
other reasons for self imposed limits other than
puritanism.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">You
might not pour gasoline on your computer to improve it,
but you might overclock it. For me, hallucinogens are
closer to overclocking the brain/mind while cocaine,
morphine, oxycodone, etc. are akin to gasoline. The
latter are (bad) habit inducing but not the former.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Interestingly,
most hallucinogens also have a side effect like
overclocking — of generating excess heat.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">davew</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal">On Wed, Nov 20, 2019, at 7:07 PM,
Marcus Daniels wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote id="x_qt" style="margin-top:5.0pt;
margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<p class="x_qt-msonormal1"><span class="x_font"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Dave
writes:</span></span></p>
<p class="x_qt-msonormal1"><span class="x_font"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="x_qt-msonormal1"><span class="x_font"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><
Puritanism is one of those things that IS relative,
in the sense that most everyone has a line that is
not to be crossed, for no objective, rational,
reason but just because "I don't want to." I won't
use recreational drugs (e.g. cocaine), drink to
excess, or read (well I have, but don't anymore)
romance novels. We are all puritans sometimes. ></span></span></p>
<div>
<p class="x_qt-msonormal1"><span class="x_font"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="x_qt-msonormal1">Puritanism? <span
class="x_font"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Among
the reasons I don’t take cocaine is that I
held/hold a security clearance and I would have
been caught within a few months if I had done
that. For example, I also would not think of
improving my computer by pouring gasoline on it.
Why would I expect some ham-handed intervention
like that to work on my brain? Why should I go
out of my way to find more bad habits within
unknown consequences?</span></span></p>
<p class="x_qt-msonormal1"> </p>
<p class="x_qt-msonormal1">Marcus</p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal">============================================================</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal">FRIAM Applied Complexity Group
listserv</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal">Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at
St. John's College</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal">to unsubscribe <a
href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">
http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal">archives back to 2003: <a
href="http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/"
moz-do-not-send="true">
http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal">FRIAM-COMIC <a
href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a>
by Dr. Strangelove</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
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style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a>
archives back to 2003: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/">http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/</a>
FRIAM-COMIC <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a> by Dr. Strangelove
</pre>
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