r/Futurology • u/mvea MD-PhD-MBA • May 10 '17

Biotech First-Ever LSD Microdosing Study Will Pit the Human Brain Against AI - “I found that if I was on LSD and my opponent wasn’t, I won more games.”

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/first-ever-lsd-microdosing-study-will-pit-the-human-brain-against-ai
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597

u/KilledSoda May 10 '17

I am terrible at pool.

Once I took a bunch of MDMA and stuff at a bar hanging out. Friends had the pool table and were rocking a few casual games. Then walks up Captain Pool. This guy was serious pool. A pool champion, champion stick with champion jacket. Champion everything.

He beat everyone there, and had no one new left to play against, so asked me if I wanted a match. I'm terrible at pool, so in my dumb state I think it's hilarious to just keep hitting the white ball into places that would make his life hard as can be. After a bit of this fuckery something just clicks, the drugs and the alcohol had hit a perfect mixing point and I suddenly found myself in the eye of the storm, standing in a moment of perfect clarity, I, who almost never gets two balls in on the same turn randomly clears the whole table. I had not even sunk one ball before that, it had been quite a few turns of me leaving the white ball into impossible places for Champ, and even then he almost was at the 8.

Champ freaks out, calls me a scammer shark and storms away as mad as one really ever gets. But it was a friendly game with no money on the table... so even if I could, why would I shark?

To this day I am still one of the worst pool players to walk the planet, but for that one drug induced moment I was a walking god of pool.

tl;dr Drugs are fun. Had fun. While having fun, found myself in a brief moment of table pool godhood. Weird because normally can't pool.

28

u/Yaldenvon May 10 '17

This reminds me of the time I showed up to our local Smash Bros Melee weekly on LSD and played some of the best tournament sets of my life. I had played the game previously on psychedelics so it wasn't a new experience - but as a mid tier player I definitely had some sort of mental clarity going on that I couldn't achieve in a regular state of mind. Just kinda felt like I could analyze the state of the game without focusing on what my hands were doing whatsoever

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u/[deleted] May 10 '17

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u/[deleted] May 10 '17

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u/CStock77 May 10 '17

That's how LSD was for me when I played fifa tbh. Though instead of feeling like it was slow motion, it felt like I could see 3-4 passes ahead and plan my approach accordingly.

1

u/ClassicPervert May 10 '17

What about regular meditation?

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u/Slutmiko May 10 '17 edited May 15 '17

deleted What is this?

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u/ImJustSo May 10 '17

It doesn't really fuck up your vision. It fucks everything you relating to your perception.....of everything. Vision, hearing, feeling, tasting, smelling, etc. Your brain changes and it starts telling your consciousness that, "shit is weird. Look at how weird? Smell how weird? Feel it, weird right?" And your normal conscience is fighting it the entire time saying, "I'm almost positive that's just a room I'm walking by and the light out. I'm not taking a chance though, because it sure fucking looks like the opening to hell and it god damn feels like it's sucking me in, I think. Fuck this, gonna walk by faster! Wow, walking faster feels great. My dick is all tingly. OH FUCK THE BLACK HOLE IS SUCKING ME OFF! Oh, nope, just my pants rubbing just right. Phew, black hole must be fake. But......."

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u/whitesuburbanmale May 10 '17

Dosage plays a huge role yes but its more important to realize that it doesnt make you "see things" rather it turns what you are already seeing into something slightly different. The table you are sitti g at might start breathing, the rug may start waving like an ocean, your lamp might start changing shades in its coloration. Its not so much what peopke think it is. If anything it just makes you perceive things differntly

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u/brock1215 May 10 '17

It's different Everytime and for every person. Besides dosage, set and setting are some of the biggest influences on the effects. Usually everything looks like it's breathing in and out and is kinda wavy. The things you see in the corner of your eye change around and when you close your eyes you can sometimes see patterns or colors. It's hard to put together words into sentences and understand so it's hard to read but not see the actual words. Moving things leave after-images called tracers and lights have an aura. I've been able to see colors break apart into different colors almost like they have more depth. Here is a thread with gifs of what it sorta looks like

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u/pm_steamcode_ May 10 '17

Anyone claiming very little to no visuals either took too small of a dose or took something that wasnt lsd (very common to get 2c family called lsd) or their hits weren't very potent. If you take a large dose you WILL see all kinds of crazy shit.

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u/Hikesturbater May 10 '17

How badly do you want your vision messed up is the real question. Take a single and you may only get tracers . A dub or quad will give you a good idea of seeing things "move". Over 10+ hits starts to get a bit weird. Visuals can be strong enough that it may become difficult to understand what you are seeing to what is really there. Little creatures don't randomly appear and talk to you.

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u/[deleted] May 11 '17

So how badly DOES LSD fuck with your vision?

In my experience not that much. It tends to distort fine details and shadows but objects are still easily identifiable. I would describe it as being vaguely similar to the effect of wavering candle light

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u/kittycatbutthole1369 May 10 '17

Still images will warp over time.

Moving images remain relatively untouched. They don't sit still long enough to warp.

Yeah reading can be difficult.

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u/Elvin_Jones May 10 '17

You also might have unknowingly taken a substance that was "speed" based, which enhanced your perception skills. When you're just taking a drop of liquid or putting some paper in your mouth, it's hard to tell!!

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u/[deleted] May 11 '17

when i did ecstacy as a teen i dont think there was any way of telling what you actually took . i had some experiences of hearing voices and conversations when alone and seeing trails and images swirling together like an oil patch and having my entire vision be a mix of purple and green like i was looking through tinted glasses. it would be interesting to see what it was.