Bill Atkinson's psychedelic user interface

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Finding Psychedelic Communities

  • Participants list entry points: TripSit IRC, psychedelics subreddits, certain Discords, music scenes (Phish, EDM), Burning Man and festivals, art-show afterparties, local meetups (e.g., Denver/Boulder), and classic sites like Erowid.
  • Some note this advice is US‑centric; others add European angles (art events, Santo Daime / ayahuasca circles).

Security, Privacy, and Illegality

  • Strong disagreement over using non–end-to-end-encrypted platforms like Discord for Schedule I discussions.
  • One side warns of legal risk, logging, doxxing, and difficulty staying anonymous; others dismiss this as “paranoia” or say risk is low outside the US and can be mitigated by identity hygiene.

Access, Gatekeeping, and Commercialization

  • Tension between wanting psychedelics less casually accessible vs opposing criminalization and black markets.
  • Some argue prohibition pushes use to unsafe contexts; others fear “OTC DMT vapes” and casual novelty-seeking.
  • Concern about corporate capture and patented analogues (e.g., LSD-like drugs) vs cheap, existing compounds.
  • Others praise open-source, DIY tools (like Atkinson’s device) as democratizing access and avoiding elite retreats.

Risks, Harm Reduction, and Experiences

  • Many emphasize psychedelics’ power: reports of life-changing insights but also hellish trips, psychotic episodes, suicidal ideation, accidents, and HPPD/visual snow.
  • Debate over how common “bad trips” and lasting damage are: some claim thousands of benign trips; others counter with multiple severe anecdotes and stress they’re “definitely not for everyone.”
  • Harm reduction practices mentioned: reagent testing, GC/MS, dose control, set/setting, sitter/guide, and resources like Erowid, TripSit wiki, Subjective Effect Index.

Youth, Social Costs, and Insurance

  • General agreement that adolescent brain development is a special concern; some advocate strict under‑18 limits plus honest education.
  • Side debate about whether socialized healthcare justified higher premiums/taxes for risky behaviors (drugs, motorcycles, fast food).

Doctors, Expertise, and Self‑Medication

  • One camp prefers medical supervision and regulated clinics (e.g., Oregon psilocybin services, ketamine infusion centers).
  • Others distrust doctors due to misdiagnoses, war-on-drugs bias, and pharma capture, arguing patients can surpass physicians’ knowledge on specific conditions.
  • Meta-discussion about epistemology: how much to trust experts vs one’s own research, given that many approved drugs’ mechanisms are only partly understood.

Legalization, Research, and Overton Window

  • Some want broad decriminalization/legalization for autonomy, better research, and quality control; others are uneasy about hype (e.g., “slows aging,” “cures depression”) and rapid cultural normalization.
  • There’s consensus that Schedule I claims of “no medical use” are scientifically untenable and that legality greatly eases research.

Psychedelics, Computing, and Culture

  • Several call out Atkinson’s LSD-inspired work on HyperCard and the broader role of 60s–80s drug culture in personal computing’s history.
  • A minority argue computers themselves are “psychedelic” in how they expand the mind; others say that’s metaphorical, not comparable to 5‑MeO‑DMT–level experiences.

Personal Attitudes and Taboos

  • Views span: “sober life is best,” to “everyone should have the right to explore,” to “I’m curious but culturally terrified.”
  • Many stress that if people do experiment, it should be intentional, well-informed, and supported—not casual, secretive, or coerced.