[FRIAM] Everything she knows...

[Steven A Smith]

Dave/Glen -

What I'm hearing about some European youth cultures seems very
promising.  I can't begin to know what to attribute it to, and I feel
mildly superstitious about trying to describe it as a "new precedent"
that might presage a fundamental cultural shift following that demographic.

References to Molly and other consciousness-expanding drugs seem to
often come up in this context.  As an outsider (but nearby observer) to
the culture of mind expanding drugs, I don't have very informed
opinions.   Since terms like "worship" and "spiritual" have come up in
the text of our contemporary threads a few times, I thought I might zoom
in on this contrast as found in the Psychedelic Times
<https://psychedelictimes.com/2015/12/16/what-is-the-meaning-of-psychedelic-the-difference-between-psychedelics-hallucinogens-and-entheogens/>
website:

    *What’s in a Name? Choosing Between Psychedelic, Hallucinogen, and
    Entheogen*

    The names that we have attached to consciousness-expanding
    substances like psychedelic, hallucinogen, and entheogen are
    important in what they say about our understanding of their value
    and proper use. When people use the term hallucinogen, there is
    little to no recognition in that word for the therapeutic and
    beneficial applications for these substances. On the other hand,
    those in line with the mystical traditions of the world may prefer
    to use the term entheogen because of its specific denotation about
    their inherent sacredness. And for those who are somewhere in the
    middle and want to describe these substances in a more clinical way
    but still honor their efficacy at bringing forth powerful personal
    transformation, the term psychedelic offers the best of both worlds.

It seems to me that some of this is about "what unites us?"  It seems
that independent of the Entheogenic aspect of these drugs, some of them
(MDMA and DMT based in particular?) seem to lower the ego-boundaries
(while the others "expand"? the ego?)   I'm sure there are more than a
few here who are much more familiar and informed on these topics than I
will likely ever be.   The topic appears to be one of those which is
much too subjective to ever be very objective about.  "you had to be there"?

I have two young (30-something)close friends/colleagues from UK/Spain
who visit semi-regularly and introduce me to a wide variety of their own
euro-crowd (e.g. Poland, E. Germany, Ukraine, Wales, Spain, etc.).  What
they have in common includes being very technologically savvy but
working in highly creative/artistic domains, and being well traveled.  
Many of them do not own personal vehicles, and several do not even have
drivers licenses.   They seem to have very fluid boundaries between
their personal, professional, and creative lives.   To my awareness,
their social fluidity is intrinsic to their culture, but may be
lubricated by their fairly pervasive use of Nicotine, THC, Alcohol, and
Caffeine... fairly standard fair among a broader group (though Nicotine
seems in severe decline among baby boomers).

Responding to Dave's reference to Heinlein's _Stranger_ and the
"CAW"...   I read _Stranger_  a bit too young for the material (perhaps
age 12?) about 8 years after it was published.   I had hit my stride as
an "unbeliever" in all of the conventional religions I had been offered
(directly or by exposure), and while my older sister (14) was busy
seeking even harder for a religion she could sink her ego into, I was
coming to the belief that such embedding was maybe a false path and was
looking for ways to dance lightly on the surface of as many of them as I
felt were relevant to me and my trajectory in life.   The substance of
_Stranger_ was very compelling to me at the time (as was most if not all
of RAH's material) but the CAW was no more compelling than the varied
Protestant churches, Catholics, and LDS I was surrounded by.   Judaism,
Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Animism, etc.   were all terms I was
aware of but had very little understanding of.   They all (except maybe
the last two?) seemed to be arcane and archaic systems of "conveyed
mystery" more than a self-evident system for navigating contemporary
experience.

I had already become mildly aware of what was mostly derisively called
"Secular Humanism" at the time and it seemed like a "darn good
foundation" for living a thoughtful, ethical life.  It seemed to me that
to whatever extent the "reserved wisdom" of any particular religion was
useful, it could be overlayed onto such a "secular" approach living a
thoughtful, ethical life.    The vehemence which I saw many of the
churches *against* secular humanism respond, suggested to me that it
held something a lot more powerful than I realized.  

The recent (20 years?) fascination among my near-peers with entheogens,
and in particular DMT variants, and more generally with the likes of
Michael Pollan in his  recent  _How to Change your Mind_ and
not-so-recent Oliver Sack's _Hallucinations_ , have lead me to have a
more curious (if not open?) mind on the topic.

While it seems conceivable that there is a significant modern
progressive youth culture that might imply a powerful paradigm shift
which *depends* on MDMA (or similar) cognitive/social
lubricants/solvents to achieve this level of social fluidity, it seems a
shame if that is *necessary*.   I'm willing to acknowledge that
sometimes one must take various "shortcuts" while exploring new
territory, but once the new territory is known to exist,  other more
"conventional" routes might be found.  

In my never-ending quest for handholds for my scrambling optimism for a
future for life, our species, our culture, I am grasping...

- Steve
> Glen,
>
> Your comments about your Swedish friend's kids reminded me of a ethnographic expedition I once led. Four undergraduate cultural anthropology students followed me to San Francisco to do a study of "cyber culture." We started in Silicon Valley with Jared Lanier and multiple VR pioneers, which led to the electronic music culture, which led to the Castro district leather gay community, which led to Raves, and eventually to the Church of All Worlds convention north of The City.
>
> Quite an eye opener for affluent Catholic suburbanites that attended the University of St. Thomas. Molly was on the horizon then, but Acid and Mushrooms and Cacti were in abundance.
>
> For those not SciFi fans, CAW is the second American religion deriving from a science fiction novel; after Dianetics which orginated in Hubbard's "Battleship Earth." CAW was founded by Michael Valentine Smith in Robert Heinlein's novel "Stranger in a Strange Land." CAW remains a small but vibrant religion.
>
> davew
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 17, 2019, at 3:54 PM, glen∈ℂ wrote:
>> On 4/16/19 11:52 PM, David West wrote:
>>> I am currently in Amsterdam - probably moving here for several years as two colleagues and I are starting a software development business.
>> I'm jealous! A friend of mine in Utrecht suggested we start an 
>> organization together.  But until Renee' finished school we were rooted 
>> here.
>>
>>> While abandoning the institution of religion, the Dutch (who I am coming to know) remain religious in the sense that they still have a belief system. It is a syncretic 'religion' that seamlessly blends humanism, (mostly) Protestantism, and "sciencism." This religion has no dogma, no dictats, no fatwas. An anthropomorphized/personified God is far closer to metaphor than literal assertion. What remains is a shared 'sense' of how to interpret all that is about you and how to interact with each other.
>> This sounds similar to the way my Swedish client's 20-something kids 
>> and their crowd believe(d).  It felt much more like an ethical system 
>> than a religion. As usual, I spent more time with the kids than with 
>> the adults ... maybe because I'm so immature ... or maybe I'm a social 
>> vampire. But by the nature of my skeptical questioning, some of the 
>> kids reacted (defensively) as if some of the ideas were religious 
>> belief. But not very different from some of the near-religious beliefs 
>> in some technical circles (e.g. the Singularity and strong AI).  I also 
>> can't help but associate their blended philosophy with the free flow of 
>> Molly in their crowd.  That group flowed smoothly between art and tech, 
>> equally enthusiastic about microcontrollers and VR as they were about 
>> music and art installations. The drug seemed to facilitate the blending.
>>
>> As I've watched them age and settle into life paths, the frenetic 
>> activity has waned, but the philosophy remains.
>>
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> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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