Published: LSD inventor's letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs
In an offbeat but somewhat fascinating article published by the Huffington Post this week, it's revealed that LSD inventor Albert Hofmann penned a letter to Steve Jobs shortly before his passing, in which he asked the Apple co-founder for help in transforming his problematic psychedelic into a "wonderchild."
Jobs' experimentation with psychedelics as a young man is well documented in books, movies, and media reports covering Apple's early years. As part of his search for spiritual enlightenment during the mid-70s, he was known to have dropped LSD, and has since recalled it as "one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life."
Aware of the positive effects in which the experience had on Jobs' contributions to the world of technology, Hofmann -- who was an age-defying 101 years old a the time of the letter in 2007 -- reached out to the Apple luminary at the request of his friend Rick Doblin, who runs MAPS, an organization dedicated to studying the medical and psychiatric benefits of psychedelic drugs.
Once thought to be a promising psychiatric research medicine, LSD would ultimately follow a path that would see it transform into recreational drug sparking hysteria and prohibition. This disheartened Hofmann, who from then on was known to refer to the drug as his "problem child."
"I hope you will help in the transformation of my problem child into a wonder child," Hoffman wrote in his letter to Jobs, roughly 14 months before he passed away in April of 2008. Specifically, he request that Jobs contribute to Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Peter Gasser's proposed study of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with anxiety associated with life-threatening illness -- said to be the first LSD-assisted psychotherapy study in over 35 years.
According to the Post, the letter would lead to a 30-minute conversation between Doblin and Jobs but no contribution to the cause. "He was still thinking, 'Let's put it in the water supply and turn everybody on,'" Doblin told the publication. Still, Doblin hasn't given up hope that Jobs will someday decide to contribute to the study.
A copy of Hoffman's letter and more on the role of psychedelic in the tech industry can be seen in the full report.
Jobs' experimentation with psychedelics as a young man is well documented in books, movies, and media reports covering Apple's early years. As part of his search for spiritual enlightenment during the mid-70s, he was known to have dropped LSD, and has since recalled it as "one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life."
Aware of the positive effects in which the experience had on Jobs' contributions to the world of technology, Hofmann -- who was an age-defying 101 years old a the time of the letter in 2007 -- reached out to the Apple luminary at the request of his friend Rick Doblin, who runs MAPS, an organization dedicated to studying the medical and psychiatric benefits of psychedelic drugs.
Once thought to be a promising psychiatric research medicine, LSD would ultimately follow a path that would see it transform into recreational drug sparking hysteria and prohibition. This disheartened Hofmann, who from then on was known to refer to the drug as his "problem child."
"I hope you will help in the transformation of my problem child into a wonder child," Hoffman wrote in his letter to Jobs, roughly 14 months before he passed away in April of 2008. Specifically, he request that Jobs contribute to Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Peter Gasser's proposed study of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with anxiety associated with life-threatening illness -- said to be the first LSD-assisted psychotherapy study in over 35 years.
According to the Post, the letter would lead to a 30-minute conversation between Doblin and Jobs but no contribution to the cause. "He was still thinking, 'Let's put it in the water supply and turn everybody on,'" Doblin told the publication. Still, Doblin hasn't given up hope that Jobs will someday decide to contribute to the study.
A copy of Hoffman's letter and more on the role of psychedelic in the tech industry can be seen in the full report.
Comments
I've tried both and like the physical trip much better. Although both are quite habit forming.
People working hard need a break, I'd highly advise saving and taking the time during one's lifetime to see the world and experience new places, foods, people and things, it's fantastic!
Remember your body will not be able to handle things too much when your get older, so you have to plan on a lot when your young and strong.
I never thought I'd say this, but drugs are really not good for you. It makes you weak mentally, everyone see's your hooked and can manipulate you because of your dependence. It's a shame that when hooked, you place the need for drugs over everything else, even the love of your wife and family.
</end preaching>
I've tried both and like the physical trip much better. Although both are quite habit forming.
Air fare is way more expensive than mushrooms.
(And not to be pedantic, but LSD and mushrooms are not physically addictive at all.)
Leagalize!
Using the new API I made a bong that when attached to the iPhone measures the amount of smoke needed for an ideal hit. An alarm goes off if you take your lips away from the bong to early.
Man, you should sell it in the App Store for $4.20, man.
heh
Man, you should sell it in the App Store for $4.20, man.
heh
Air fare is way more expensive than mushrooms.
(And not to be pedantic, but LSD and mushrooms are not physically addictive at all.)
Who said "air fare?", certainly not me.
I've seen the world on the governments dime.
I only flew once, from Hawaii to LA on my own $$, the rest by bus, train, boat and car.
Travel doesn't have to be expensive or far even, but it sure is better than a addiction and a prison sentence, that's one life altering experience you really don't want.
A note, different states have different degree's of tolerance for possession of anything drug related. I've seen kids from California yanked off Greyhounds in the middle of some bumfuck desert town just because the dog hit on their luggage with a empty pipe.
Locking up criminals is a state industry in many states of the US, so watch out! They love to trip up youngsters, try to make them mad and go off, or try to get the youngsters to touch a cop (even a friendly gesture) so they can claim assault.
Another trick is they know youngsters are scared, so the cops place a handcuff key on the cop car floor so they can nail them for attempted escape on top of the drug possession. And cops will lie in court, the jury naturally believes them because they represent "authority", so if a cop wants you to go down for something, good chance your going down.
While sitting in some sh*thole jail, the state paid lawyer (usually a washed out former DA lawyer) comes around with a DA plea bargain, 1 year in jail or if you take it to trial and lose, you get the mandatory 10 years by state law. So your fscked taking the deal even though you know the cop is a lying sack of sh*t and you only had a ounce instead of 10 ounces they claim, also because you can't prove it otherwise. Taking the stand is a joke unless your a experienced con artist and studied law, being your own lawyer is having a fool as a client. Your just a piece of meat to them, a way to get Federal and State dollars to pay for state paid workers in the business of prison industries.
There are towns in the US that are nothing but prisons, built by prisoners, run by prisoners and housed by prisoners, the only free people are corrections officers living in town and their families. Florence Arizona is one for starters, Google Earth it.
If you travel and need your sh*t, I suggest a car and a foolproof way to dispose the evidence, fool the dogs and the mind/body language reading cops. If your fscked up, that's going to be a hard job to do in a pinch, the random stop, the accident, flat tire or engine trouble that always seems to bring a cop around a few seconds after your vehicle has come to a stop, and it always seems one of your friends will rat you off to get a lighter sentence anyway.
Screw all that. Stay far away from drug using people.
Carry nothing illegal or points to illegal behavior, in your person, in your car in your house or hotel room. Your blood will give you up when you get arrested too and the judge see's that when you get sentenced.
Get a physical high from travel, sports and life, it's a lot less risk and downside.
I've genuinely felt that, in some situations, it's helped me come to understand parts of the human experience which I wasn't aware of before (awareness of the subtleties of human interaction and emotion, etc). Everyone has a particular way they interact with the world based on which parts of it they focus on, and in my experience, LSD helps to shift or expand that focus (which can be beneficial). However, I don't think it's completely necessary to use LSD to get that -- as someone else mentioned, traveling and major life changes can also give you the same experience.
But I've also had a strong distaste when seeing LSD used by people who are just looking for another way to get high (amongst a cocktail of other things) and not have to deal with the world around them. Often isolating those people from others. In that case, it's not of benefit whatsoever IMO.
Like others, I haven't done it in years (the idea just hasn't appealed to me). But I do still carry the experiences with me in my daily life.
Also, because it's an illegal substance, who knows what you're actually getting (unless you know where it comes from). That's another thing which keeps me from wanting to do it.
Anyways, I can see how it could be useful in psychiatric research.
I never thought I'd say this, but drugs are really not good for you. It makes you weak mentally, everyone see's your hooked and can manipulate you because of your dependence. It's a shame that when hooked, you place the need for drugs over everything else, even the love of your wife and family.
Dude, I hate to say this as I know the tone with which I'll say it will immediately discredit me, but this preaching of yours is short-sighted.
Saying that "drugs are really not good for you" is like saying anything else isn't good for you. Here, let's try some:
Cars are not good for you.
Planes are not good for you.
Trains are not good for you.
Food isn't good for you.
Children aren't good for you.
School isn't good for you.
Work isn't good for you.
You, and I, everyone here, can hopefully see how each of the items listed above can in some cases be bad for you.
In case you can't, I'll spell it out for the slow ones:
Cars can kill you.
Planes can kill you.
Trains can kill you.
Food can kill you.
Children can kill you, whether it be during birth, or with a bullet to the head.
School can destroy your ability to think outside the box and be creative.
Work can ruin your marriage and your ability to enjoy life, and yes, it can also kill you.
And just as you and I can pick counter examples to the above, we can also pick counter examples to the exceedingly nebulous and poorly defined notion of "drugs".
If you honestly think that drugs, for example drugs such as LSD, Marijuana, Psilocybin, MDMA, Cocaine, Heroin, and others, only have negative effects, then you're fooling yourself.
Each of them can have beneficial effects.
There is no objective interpretation of how good or bad a drug is for you. It is completely dependent on your own subjective opinion of the drug and the experience.
It is a shame, however, that for the majority of people, their opinion of such substances is largely based on a body of work known as "brainwashing". They don't actually even possess their own opinion on the substance, because they've never tried it, because they simply regurgitate and subscribe to what they've been told by other brainwashed people, and people with ulterior motives who prefer to believe in fairy tales and Hollywood scenarios.
Using the new API I made a bong that when attached to the iPhone measures the amount of smoke needed for an ideal hit. An alarm goes off if you take your lips away from the bong to early.
How would you measure the amount of THC in the smoke? Also, is THC fat soluble or water soluble? I imagine that the ideal hit might depend on body composition if it is fat soluble.
Also, because it's an illegal substance, who knows what you're actually getting (unless you know where it comes from). That's another thing which keeps me from wanting to do it.
In "rehab" I've seen complete burnouts, they are walking drooling vegetables, because they took some bad sh*t some idiot cooked up in their garage.
That was enough for me, I was "cured".
And for others:
People who glamorize drugs, they never tell you the downsides and risks, they just want you hooked so you either can be controlled, bring them money or recruit others.
They might have had a good run with decent drugs and luck not getting caught, but that's not always the case for everyone and it does wear one down eventually, all the poison accumulating in their bodies does strange things to them. Very few people can use drugs all their life without some sort of problem, they think their way can be good for all, but they never see the inside of a drug caused loonie bin of burnouts.
If your happy in life, then you don't need to get high. If your trying to "self medicate by experimentation" because you don't know what is wrong with your head, learn what is the problem then you can find the solution. A key is knowing that someone, somewhere has gone through the same things as your going through and has found something that works. So you need to talk to good people and ask them "what has worked for you", search online or seek professional help.
Don't go trying different drugs to see if it cures your mental state, some illegal drugs are so highly addictive there is virtually no chance to come back to normal once you start. (crack for one)
Everyone has mental troubles or problems with their feelings or something, it's all part of the body "growing up" and adjusting to life. Eventually it will stop and life will become clear and defined, experience will also come into play and you'll know your depressed and what to do about it. (get out with real good friends!)
It's during this "growing stage" of a lot of young people's lives that they experiment with drugs. If you remain clean and live in the real reality instead of a drug infused one, you'll mature faster and get a grip on your life faster.
Lots of severe alcoholics are immature babies, because they "escape" so much that they never mature. Maturing takes time and interactivity with people and the world, the more you do the more mature you get.
If you need a escape, take a vacation. If you escape with drugs, you might not come back.
Be very afraid of losing control. If you need to lose control, then something needs to change in your life that is pushing you into wanting to lose control. Solve that chief problem or reduce it in some way and you won't need to take desperate measures.
That was enough for me, I was "cured".
[...]
If you need a escape, take a vacation. If you escape with drugs, you might not come back.
[...]
Be very afraid of losing control. If you need to lose control, then something needs to change in your life that is pushing you into wanting to lose control. Solve that chief problem or reduce it in some way and you won't need to take desperate measures.
It sounds to me like you had negative experiences with drugs due to your own personal inability to properly and safely use them. You are now projecting these negative experiences onto others, assuming that somehow your experience is universal.
It sounds to me like you had negative experiences with drugs due to your own personal inability to properly and safely use them. You are now projecting these negative experiences onto others, assuming that somehow your experience is universal.
Don't be a dork. He's warning people of what can happen if you're irresponsible. You're twisting his words.
Jimzip
It's OK though.
There's a reason Steve Jobs did it, and there's a reason why you don't.
As you sit there, surrounded by the echoes of society's latest fads and taboos, you are, ironically enough, the one who could stand to gain the greatest benefit by trying one these illegal substances.