transition said:
I did a line of cocaine with Sigmund today, an imaginary Sigmund, and of course it was imaginary cocaine
I put to Sigmund the possibility that if there are psychoactive drugs that maybe there are psychoactive thoughts
the conversation wandered some then ventured the possibility of a secret prohibition on psychoactive thought, and that real drugs were more tolerated than imaginary drugs, and further that concepts about real drugs displaced the potential value of imaginary drugs
he seemed initially unimpressed by my torturing the concept of drugs, and removing the idea of psychoactive from its regular association with drugs, but softened eventually to the thought exercise
> placebo is 1/3 effective
I’ve done two placebo tests on myself. Placebos are supposed to be quite effective against both pain and depression and not nearly as effective as against other diseases.
When I did a placebo test for depression, it worked. The placebos I used were “Get well pills” manufactured by “Dr Mel Practice”. Taking the pills improved my mood. Unfortunately, these are no longer manufactured.
When I did a placebo test for pain, it failed. The placebos I used were orange tic tacs, and they had no measurable effect on my pain levels.
I should add here that SSRI antidepressants do have a measurable effect in reducing pain.
> the possibility of a secret prohibition on psychoactive thought, and that real drugs were more tolerated than imaginary drugs, and further that concepts about real drugs displaced the potential value of imaginary drugs
In one sense we’ve already seen that, with the demise of hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is psychoactive thought, and with a good practitioner can be extraordinarily effective. Think Derren Brown for example. But now all you can find is hypnotherapists who are rank amateurs and haven’t a clue about what they’re doing or how to do it.