Psychedelics are known to make everyday objects and experiences more intense and noticeable – everyday things become something worth commenting on. Part of this is related to the general meaning-enhancing effect of psychedelics. One of these intensifying effects of psychedelics, which I think has been underdiscussed, is the experience of moving from one room (or…
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In The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1912), the sociologist Émile Durkheim argues that religion has its origin in a feeling he calls collective effervescence. This refers to the heightened feeling of energy, euphoria, harmony, and unity that arises when we’re engaged in certain group activities, rituals, and ceremonies. This was a feeling that…
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Consciousness alteration is natural and universal among humans. We have been altering our mental states, through the use of exogenous chemicals, for millennia. As the philosopher David Blacker observes in his latest book Deeper Learning with Psychedelics (2024), “We seem to be creatures for whom unadulterated reality has never been quite fully sufficient.” We are…
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Clifford Sosis interviewed me for the website What Is It Like to Be a Philosopher?, and on the subject of psychedelics, he remarked, “I’m always disappointed by reports of drug fueled insights…merely seems like the effect of…I don’t know…the chemical disorganization of the brain?” I partly agreed (but not with the point about reducing all…
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Part of the appeal of horror films – which is underappreciated, I think – is their capacity to evoke the sublime. This is a curious and complex emotion. It’s a mixture of fear and fascination. It involves feeling simultaneously nervous or threatened by some perceptual phenomenon – because of its vastness or power – and…
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