Hi everyone!

I've got a question for all who would like to play with it:

Why is it so common to see fractals when tripping on drugs like LSD, mushrooms, etc?

My answer: I believe these drugs, when used in the right ways, allow us to peer directly at the non-physical underpinnings of the physical world. That is, I take there to be a universe which is physical, and a larger cosmos which is non-physical, and that cosmos somehow provides the basis for this universe here, in which we exist. And using psychedelics can enable our perception to transcend merely this universe to observe the cosmos itself.

It's a trope in some circles that things are above as they are below. I think something quite like that is happening with psychedelics -- somehow, the very same natural reason for Romanesco broccoli to look how it does, and for trees to look how they do, can be found in the very fabric of the universe. And it's this that we glimpse while tripping.

Why suppose these drugs allow us to do this? Well, my reasoning stems from the fact that I've done a bunch of drugs, and seen a bunch of crazy shit. But that's pretty unsatisfying reasoning for anyone who's never tried these things. If you're one of those majority of people who've not tried these weirdo substances, consider this study: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press_releases/2006/griffithspsilocybin.pdf

This study comes from 2006, and is one of the first contemporary studies looking at the effects of psilocybin, the active molecule in so-called "magic mushrooms." What they found is astonishing -- under the right conditions, the majority of participants report undergoing what's only describable as a "mystical" experience. In this mind state, they perceive the dropping away of the individualized, subjective self-identity and view the world from a perspective that's completely disconnected from their personality. In other studies, such an experience has been demonstrated to assist one in quitting alcohol, cigarettes, as well as in alleviating suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety.

That's all quite profound, and I think fractals, somehow, are related.

What do y'all think?

Linkback: https://fractalforums.org/fractal-philosophy/23/psychedelics/3308/

Interesting stuff. I saw fractals when I took LSD long ago. Similar to a zoomed in section of the Mandelbrot set but it was all moving and changing, unwinding and zooming about. My question is whether it was because I was already mystified by computer generated fractal images that this is what I saw, or whether this could be the experience of anyone taking the drug even if they'd never seen such images before? Maybe rather than something spiritual or a deeper connection to an underlying universe, this simply connects the visual cortex to some highly mathematical part of the brain where any number of complex formulae are being randomly calculated for no apparent reason.