(this post originally appeared on Neurohacker Collective)
In a previous post, we discussed the value of nootropics as a tool in the neurohacker’s toolbox. They can help get us dialed in with laser focus and get things done. They can aid with concentration, learning, and memory. But productivity isn’t the only context for the human experience, and it would be sad if we shaped ourselves solely for the purpose of being more effective cogs in a machine. Neurohacking is just as interested in getting better at asking “why” and “what” as in building capacity around “how”.
Enter, psychedelics, empathogens, entheogens and ‘plant medicines.’ Though many of these chemicals are currently schedule-1 drugs in many countries, humans have been using them for thousands of years for healing, self-inquiry and visioning into the nature of reality. In fact, some propose that the evolution of human consciousness itself was catalyzed by the use of mind-expanding substances discovered or concocted by early man. If neurohacking is about upgrading the hardware our consciousness runs on, we would be remiss not to mention these technologies of altered states.
