Psychedelic-information-theory-Shamanism-in-the-age-of-Reason

after he ingested LSD, 6 or that LSD helped Kary Mullis think up thePCR process that earned him a Nobel Prize in genetics. 7,8 To counterthese arguments, both Crick and Mullis had been studying molecularbiology for years trying to crack those very problems; LSD cannot takecredit for anything more than helping Crick and Mullis organize theirthoughts in a new way. We can point to great discoveries as examples ofpsychedelic information, but only a tiny fraction of all psychedelicinformation can claim this level of importance. Worse than this,erroneous psychedelic information claiming species-level importancehas negative cultural value and dilutes the overall informationmarketplace, making psychedelic information almost statisticallyworthless. 9Probability dictates that most psychedelic information will havelittle or moderate value, and that the rare piece of psychedelicinformation will have extreme negative or positive value. It also followsthat the more times a subject takes psychedelics the more likely it isthey will generate information of high positive or negative value.Similarly, the more often a subject takes psychedelics the more likelythey are to latch onto and subsequently reinforce information of highperceived value, either positive or negative. In this case the psychedelicbecomes an information imprinting tool. In psychedelic imprinting theinformation is always subjectively perceived to be of high value, even ifit is of low or even negative cultural value. 10Negative and Positive Information ValueIt is easy to demonstrate that psychedelic information has value;cultures that use psychedelics as sacraments place high value on theinformation they receive; people will trade hard-earned cash for apsychedelic experience. But because the quality of psychedelicinformation has such a wide range it is easy to perceive psychedelics ashaving no value or, in the argument of prohibition, negative value.Psychedelic information with negative value can be described as thatwhich is delusional, paranoid, false, or subverts the health of theindividual or culture. Negative psychedelic experiences, or bummers,are a commonly reported element of psychedelic experimentation, but