I personally believe there are many different kinds of intelligence, and that the idea of using one IQ number to summarize them all up is completely ridiculous.
For example, there is musical intelligence, linguistic intelligence, mathematical intelligence, social intelligence, athletic intelligence, artistic intelligence, spiritual intelligence, mechanical intelligence, etc…
In any case, one of the U.S.’s premier medical institutions just published an article on a way to boost your spiritual IQ.
Now, this sort of information has been known for greater than 5000 years, but I think it’s interesting that the folks at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine would go out of their way to scientifically vouch for it.
Here are the results in a nutshell:
- More than 60% of volunteers said they had a “full mystical experience”.
- “Many of the volunteers in our study reported, in one way or another, a direct, personal experience of the ‘beyond’”, said Roland Griffiths who led the study at Johns Hopkins University.
- A third of the subjects said the experience was the single most spiritually significant thing of their lifetimes.
- 2 months after taking the mushrooms, subjects reported increases in well-being and satisfaction with life, according to the study.
Of course, everything has a price. Instead of showing you Heaven, the little mushrooms may decide to show you Hell. They also may make you do stupid things, like jump to your death, as this 19 year old Japanese student did yesterday. Furthermore, I suspect the dramatic change in neurotransmission that they temporarily induce also triggers a cascade of serotonergic excitotoxicity.
I think the insights psychedelics bring are mostly spurious. I’ve tripped on shrooms, LSD and other psychedelics probably a dozen times or more. Now *I* felt that I gained some inestimable insights but unfortunately I know of many people who have tripped (both acquaintances and famous people) who have tripped many times and were and are fools, creeps and dolts.
Perhaps the most infamous example is Timothy Leary, the Harvard professor and professional schmuck who did more to set back the cause for psychedelics than anyone in history.
I had positive experiences with LSD. So did Carey Grant. But millions of asses have used psychedelics and think it smartened them up. But they’re still asses.
I don’t think that magic mushrooms is a bad thing. There is proofs that ancient civilizations like the maias, used magic mushrooms to treat some diseases with success and to contact with the gods and have the visions of future.
Some people who use psychedelics think that inceases them on an intellectual basis. This is for sure true to me, but it doesn’t mean now i need to be a smart ass to other people. About three days ago i took an eighth of magic mushrooms and supprisingly was left unsatisfied with the trip. I guess i was a little dissapointed to not be shown the side of hell. I was prepared for it. On the other hand my friend often says he is going to grill with me but always becks down. he’s only done it once and took less then a dub, but i think that he has set himself up for hell. i know he is scared and he “says” he taking an eighth on holloween. psychedelics aren’t for everyone. only those who love it. not everyone who doesn’t die or freak the hell out!