Should discomfort be a requirement for important experiences ?
A while ago I was discussing with a friend maligning about the fact that there doesn’t exist some sort of sublingual DMT, with an absorption profile similar to smoking DMT, but without the rancid taste.
(Side note, there are some ways to get sublingual DMT: https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=10240 , but you probably won’t find it for sale at your local drug dealer and effects will differ a lot from smoking. In most experiences I’ve read about I’m not even convinced that the people are experiencing sublingual absorption rather than just slowly swallowing DMT with MAOIs and seeing the effects that way)
My point where something along the way of:
I wish there was a way to get high on DMT without going through the unpleasant experience of smoking it, I’m pretty sure that experience serves to “prime” your mind to some extent and leads to a worst trip.
My friend’s point was:
We are talking about one of the most reality-shattering experiences ever possible to a human brain that doesn’t involve death or permanent damage, surely having a small cost of entry for that in terms of the unpleasant taste is actually a desirable side-effect.
I kind of ended up agreeing with my friend and I think most people would find that viewpoint appealing
But
You could make the same argument for something like knee surgery (or any life-changing surgery, which is most of them).
You are electing to do something that will alter your life forever and will result in you experiencing severe side-effects for years to come… but the step between “decide to do it” and “support major consequences” has 0 discomfort associate to it.
That’s not to say knee surgery is good, much like a DMT trip, I have a lot of prior of it being good for people (well, in this case assuming that doctor recommends you to do it).
But I do find it a bit strange that this is the case with most surgery, even if it’s life altering, when I think of it in light of the DMT example.
But
If you’ve visited South Korea and seen the progressive note mutilation going on in their society (I’m pretty sure this has a fancier name… see some term they use in the study of super-stimuli, seagulls sitting on gigantic painted balls kinda king), I’m pretty sure the surgery example can become blurrier.
As in, I think it’s pretty easy to argue people are doing a lot of unnecessary plastic surgery, and I’m pretty sure some cost of entry (e.g. you must feel mild discomfort for 3 hours to get this done… equivalent to say, getting a tattoo on your arm), would reduce that number a lot and intuitively that seem like a good thing.
It’s not like you could do that though, as in, in practice you can’t really do “anesthesia with controlled pain level” it’s either zero or operating within a huge error range (see people’s subjective reports of pain after dental anesthesia with similar quantities of lidocaine).
Should discomfort be a requirement for important experiences ?
A while ago I was discussing with a friend maligning about the fact that there doesn’t exist some sort of sublingual DMT, with an absorption profile similar to smoking DMT, but without the rancid taste.
(Side note, there are some ways to get sublingual DMT: https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=10240 , but you probably won’t find it for sale at your local drug dealer and effects will differ a lot from smoking. In most experiences I’ve read about I’m not even convinced that the people are experiencing sublingual absorption rather than just slowly swallowing DMT with MAOIs and seeing the effects that way)
My point where something along the way of:
I wish there was a way to get high on DMT without going through the unpleasant experience of smoking it, I’m pretty sure that experience serves to “prime” your mind to some extent and leads to a worst trip.
My friend’s point was:
We are talking about one of the most reality-shattering experiences ever possible to a human brain that doesn’t involve death or permanent damage, surely having a small cost of entry for that in terms of the unpleasant taste is actually a desirable side-effect.
I kind of ended up agreeing with my friend and I think most people would find that viewpoint appealing
But
You could make the same argument for something like knee surgery (or any life-changing surgery, which is most of them).
You are electing to do something that will alter your life forever and will result in you experiencing severe side-effects for years to come… but the step between “decide to do it” and “support major consequences” has 0 discomfort associate to it.
That’s not to say knee surgery is good, much like a DMT trip, I have a lot of prior of it being good for people (well, in this case assuming that doctor recommends you to do it).
But I do find it a bit strange that this is the case with most surgery, even if it’s life altering, when I think of it in light of the DMT example.
But
If you’ve visited South Korea and seen the progressive note mutilation going on in their society (I’m pretty sure this has a fancier name… see some term they use in the study of super-stimuli, seagulls sitting on gigantic painted balls kinda king), I’m pretty sure the surgery example can become blurrier.
As in, I think it’s pretty easy to argue people are doing a lot of unnecessary plastic surgery, and I’m pretty sure some cost of entry (e.g. you must feel mild discomfort for 3 hours to get this done… equivalent to say, getting a tattoo on your arm), would reduce that number a lot and intuitively that seem like a good thing.
It’s not like you could do that though, as in, in practice you can’t really do “anesthesia with controlled pain level” it’s either zero or operating within a huge error range (see people’s subjective reports of pain after dental anesthesia with similar quantities of lidocaine).