Addendum: Drugs and the Process of Becoming Whole

I operate on a theory of drugs and the psyche which I have developed through my own experimentation with them, and which has no basis in any received scientific knowledge or philosophical wisdom.

I am of the opinion that consciousness is a spotlight which illuminates a body of material.

That spotlight is your perspective, and the experience of self-awareness is the movement of portions of your mind into that spotlight. The body of material illuminated by that spotlight consists of all of the contents of your mind, including the physical sensations which make up your experience of the external universe.

Drugs operate upon this spotlight in various ways:

• Psychedelics like LSD and Psilocybin Mushrooms widen the aperture of the spotlight, so that it subsumes more of the content of your mind.
• Empathogens like MDMA warm the color of the spotlight so that everything in your mind looks good and pleasant
• Stimulants like Adderall and Cocaine shrink the spotlight, so you can focus on precisely what you want to.
• Dissociatives like Ketamine aim the spotlight off of your mind, so that your mind is still functioning but you’re not watching it.
• Marijuana is in this context a combination of a psychedelic, an empathogen, and a dissociative; the proportions depending on what strain you’re smoking.

With this framework of drug action in mind, the effects of drugs on the Framework Process is straightforward enough to derive— though it is worth noticing that I have tested each of these substances out in order to understand their effects on solve and unio, and that this practical data has more bearing on where I position them in relation to the Framework Process than my theory of how they work. My understanding of both their merits and their drawbacks is ultimately sourced from hard-won experience.

• LSD and other pure psychedelics are an incredibly potent vehicle for solve. One real acid trip is enough to permanently teach you how to perform solve at an enhanced degree, and the habitual, introspective use of psychedelics will multiply the rate at which you can proceed through solve.
  • A pitfall of LSD use is that overuse can damage your ability to take reality for given, and can depress your executive functions.
• MDMA is a potent agent of unio because it makes it much easier to forgive yourself for the things you’ve previously forbidden yourself
  • MDMA shouldn’t be employed lightly; at high doses, it can make your experience of joy feel fake. This lasted for a few days for me, and while I was able to work through it, the notion of the change lasting longer than that was profoundly upsetting.
• Adderall and other stimulants can also be helpful agents of unio, because they heighten the division between upper and lower minds and make internal conversation more visceral.  They can also offset some of the negative effects of executive dysfunction.
  • Adderall separates you from your lower mind, essentially cutting off communication. In response, your lower mind will shout more and more loudly to try to get through it. When you take days off from the pills, your executive function will get worse; the longer you stay on them, the more risk you face of undergoing psychosis and beginning to believe things which aren’t true.

This is the key trifecta of substances that have a significant effect on the Framework Process; however, I cannot emphasize enough that these drugs are not necessary to the process. All that these drugs do is facilitate modes of thought that you already possess and are capable of; they are force multipliers and nothing more. They are no substitute for willingness to engage with the process— you can do acid ten times and never have any insights about yourself— and they cannot force you to put in the effort or do the thinking, for better or for worse.

If you do intend to employ substances in your pursuit of the Framework Process, I have two notes.

1. LSD is the most useful of the three substances because it immediately teaches you a mode of critical thought which takes a lot of effort to apply to yourself in a 3c culture which is hostile to impartial self-understanding^[1]. A single introspective acid trip will probably make a bigger contribution than any other substances to your journey.
2. Antidepressants— which I’ve been on briefly— come in a huge variety of formats with differing mechanisms of action. I’m not certain whether all antidepressants hamper your ability to perform solve, but most do. Obviously talk to your doctor if you’re thinking about quitting them. It will make solve easier, but introspection is still possible while on them, so don’t feel compelled to give them up to attempt the process. If necessary, LSD use can drive you through solve if your antidepressants make that kind of thinking hard to achieve in your everyday life.

Of course, drug use is dangerous and you’re doing it entirely on your own recognizance. I won’t be held responsible for what happens if you decide to meddle with them, and I would encourage you to attempt the Framework Process sober if you have substance abuse issues or simply aren’t in the habit of recreational drug use already.