Ecodelics

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Several peer reviewed studies have shown that psychedelics can work as ecodelics, medicines which are positively associated with people’s sense of connectedness with the natural environment and even objective knowledge about climate change issues.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. One suggested reason for this effect, is the claim that ego-death which is a common feature of the psychedelic experience, leads to the realization that all of life is interconnected, a kind of cosmic holism inducer.

non-dystopian psychedelic future
Figure 1. Perhaps by using psychedelics we can realize a non-dystopian future?

Psilocybin

Whilst all psychedelics are thought to induce nature relatedness, psilocybin has been shown via a reanalysis of five independent datasets to be the most potent[8].

Psychedelic Environmentalism

Due to the pressing ecological crisis, there is a strong need to inculcate in individuals environmental virtues. Often, environmental problems are understood as fundamentally collective action problems, but there is also a need to change individual behavior. It is proposed that a way of meeting this need, is by the judicious, safe, and controlled administration of “classicpsychedelic drugs as a way to catalyze the development of environmental virtues – a form of moral bio-enhancement[9].

Rate Limiting Steps

The main rate limiting step is thought to be the legality of psychedelics, however ketamine which has shown to have psychedelic like effects is legal in the majority of countries worldwide. The next issue would be the anxiety people feel towards taking a psychedelic which stops them from taking it. This is called Psychedelic Anxiety Syndrome and can be reduced via a type of existential exposure therapy.

References

  1. From Egoism to Ecoism: Psychedelics Increase Nature Relatedness in a State-Mediated and Context-Dependent Manner. Hannes Kettner, Sam Gandy, Eline C. H. M. Haijen and Robin L. Carhart-Harris Centre for Psychedelic Research, Department of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Published: December 2019 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16245147. Accessed on 30th September 2022 via: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31888300/
  2. Lifetime experience with (classic) psychedelics predicts pro-environmental behavior through an increase in nature relatedness. Matthias Forstmann and Christina Sagioglou Journal of Psychopharmacology 2017. DOI: 10.1177/0269881117714049. Accessed on 30th September 2022 via: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28631526/
  3. Manifesting Minds: A Review of Psychedelics in Science, Medicine, Sex, and Spirituality. Doblin, Rick; Brad Burge (2014) North Atlantic Books. ISBN 1583947272.
  4. Acute, subacute and long-term subjective effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: a pooled analysis of experimental studies. Studerus E, Kometer M, Hasler F, Vollenweider FX.  J Psychopharmacol. 2011 Nov;25(11):1434-52. doi: 10.1177/0269881110382466. Epub 2010 Sep 20. PMID: 20855349. Accessed on 12 December 2022 via: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20855349/
  5. Connectedness to Nature and to Humanity: their association and personality correlates. Front. Psychol., 21 July 2015. Sec. Personality and Social Psychology. Kibeom Lee, Michael C. Ashton, Julie Choi and Kayla Zachariassen. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01003. Accessed on 3rd October 2022 via https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01003/full
  6. Increased nature relatedness and decreased authoritarian political views after psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. Journal of Psychopharmacology. Taylor Lyons, Robin L Carhart-Harris. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881117748902. Accessed on 3rd October 2022 via https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269881117748902
  7. Psychedelics, Personality and Political Perspectives. Matthew M Nour 1, Lisa Evans 2, Robin L Carhart-Harris DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2017.1312643. 2017 Jul-Aug;49(3):182-191. doi: 10.1080/02791072.2017.1312643. Epub 2017 Apr 26. Accessed on 3rd October 2022 via https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28443703/
  8. Among psychedelic-experienced users, only past use of psilocybin reliably predicts nature relatedness. Matthias Forstmann, Hannes S Kettner, Christina Sagioglou Alexander Irvine, Sam Gandy, Robin L Carhart-Harris and David Luke. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 2023, Vol. 37(1) 93–106. DOI: 10.1177/02698811221146356. Accessed on 11th January via https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/02698811221146356
  9. Psychedelics and environmental virtues: Nin Kirkham, Chris Letheby. Published online: 29 Mar 2022. Journal of philosophical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2022.2057290. Accessed via: https://philpapers.org/archive/KIRPAE-4.pdf

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