Do you believe "Doc" is real?

[Mithrandir]

(All fun has been poked with the best of intentions :) )

What's a truly unique oddball to do?

Join the circus?

When you look at me, do you question what a man is capable of being? Do you question what you are capable of and wonder if you can do something? Do you feel your faith in humanity waver or falter when you think of me?

No, I think I'm just perpetually confused.

Do I inspire you? Frighten you? Do I make you want to be a better person? Does something about me provoke you to anger? Am I all those things wrapped into one?

No, Lou Diamond Phillips does that for me.

Question everything and realise that nothing is as it seems. Even this forum posting right now, is a lot more than it appears to be.

A fine steak dinner? What a clever surprise you crafty bastard.

I come here, and to other places, for personal reasons. I like to get inside people's heads, for reasons of my own.

Because it's nice inside?

I learned a lot about human thinking and behaviour playing online games like Diablo.

You know that you can't really dupe IRL... right?

There are things people will say about themselves in a comfortable environment where they do not feel threatened. People online let slip all sorts of things. Valuable views into the human condition. Precious bits of wisdom, insight, and thought that are far more valuable than gold or silver. In this sort of atmosphere, people are more prone to say something that normally they would not let slip away from their keyboard for whatever reason.

I am wearing no shirt at the moment and my boxers are inside out.

Oh #$%&, is this thing on?

If one looks past the text, the pr0n, the leet speak, and all that other debris that clouds the vision, there is a lot about human nature out there.

Look past the pr0n? Are you crazy sir?

And yes, if you are asking your self right now, I have taken a lot of mind altering drugs. My thought processes are alien to yours because they are in no ways like yours.

Don't worry, I'm trying my best to catch up.

I realise that I have put my self at risk here by letting this out. I don't care. People will think of me what they will.

"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."
- Paul Steiner


On a more serious note, keep doing what you're doing Doc. You're always an enjoyable read.

/hats off

[WarLocke]

This thread is going to take a turn for the weird that would even make Hunter S. Thompson cringe.
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I am so weak! :wacko:

[Guest]

Mine doesnt.

I could say its nice to see you back - but it isnt. So I wont.
But feel free to focus on spelling and typing in all your responses to me, it saves me the bother pointing out your frequent mistakes in reasoning, in response.

[Doc]

Kids, don't do drugs! Drugs are bad mmmkay?

No really... Don't get no bright ideas. The LSD of today is not real LSD. Most of it is synthetic, and will seriously damage your brain rather than build new receptor paths. The chemicals to make honest to God LSD are so tightly controlled now that they are nearly impossible to get.

And even if you did have the real stuff, you must be incredibly strong willed to achieve certain desireable effects. Your mind must be strong. Don't even think about taking it if you have a history of mental illness in your family or if you your self suffer from mental illness.

I want to be very clear on this issue, that people shouldn't go moving furniture in their brains because they think it might be cool.

Another HST quote.

What Leary took down with him was the central illusion of a whole life-style that he helped to create ... a generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the essential old-mystic fallacy of the Acid Culture: the desperate assumption that somebody— or at least some force— is tending that Light at the end of the tunnel.

Even with incredible mental fortitude and will there is no promise of coming through these sorts of experiences with as much mental clarity as I have. (And that's all subjective really, so let's not split hairs.) You could end up a bit like me... Or, you could wind up thinking you are an orange and spend the rest of your life trying to peel your self.

There is a big difference between just taking a tab of acid and tripping, and taking a blotter of acid and turning your brain inside out looking for the doors of perception. There is a whole universe in between your ears... And it's very easy to get lost in there. You gotta know what you are looking for, or you might not come out at all. And if you find something, there is no promise that the door you find works both ways. Once you go through, that might just be it. No return postage, no return trip. Have a nice life as a drooling turnip.

Whatever you do, don't go trying to catch up. If you are dumb enough not to listen, don't worry, you will see the bats soon enough.

[Guest]

Frankly I think just hearing that you took a fair bit of LSD should be a warning to the astute reader.

I really didnt intend to aim anything negative at you in this thread. It was intended to be rather light and I enjoy seeing your posts here. But since LSD came up I feel compeled to be honest.

You say a lot of stuff that doesnt make sense. You say it as though it part of some zenish cosmic contruct, but frequently your pieces just dont fit.
This is reminicient of a the only LSD user I ever knew in real life.

Brains arent meant to reprogrammed and when you do it mistakes are added. Of course the brain itself doesnt notice this often.

[Occhidiangela]

Still not down off that acid high, Doc? That must have been some powerful stuff. :lol:

Of course I am real silly... Pete™ is the one that is a program.

I love games and I am an old man with free time. What am I gonna do?

What's a truly unique oddball to do? I am not allowed to hang out online? Not allowed to play Diablo? Am I not allowed to socialise and share my views just the same as you do? Does being weird, having strong opinions, and a skewed sense of reality limit me from being able to come here and talk smack just like the rest of you? I put my kilt on both legs at a time just like everybody else.

No offense taken.

I am the product of what other people believe me to be. So are all men. When a man is believed to be a hero, he will do heroic acts to bolster his image. If a man is believed to be a villian, he will commit vile atrocities in the process of protecting himself from all the heroes bolstering their image that take up arms to slay him. Somewhere in life, we pick up on what others believe us to be. And we somehow reinforce that image. Why? Don't know. Can't say. Not sure I would tell the answer even if I knew, because, I suspect, knowing that answer is one of those things you have to find out for your self. When you look at me, do you question what a man is capable of being? Do you question what you are capable of and wonder if you can do something? Do you feel your faith in humanity waver or falter when you think of me?

Do I inspire you? Frighten you? Do I make you want to be a better person? Does something about me provoke you to anger? Am I all those things wrapped into one?

Question everything and realise that nothing is as it seems. Even this forum posting right now, is a lot more than it appears to be. 

I come here, and to other places, for personal reasons. I like to get inside people's heads, for reasons of my own. Here, there are no faces, no skin colours, nothing for the eyes to trip over. Only people. Of all kinds. And you can learn a great deal about people by gaming with them. I learned a lot about human thinking and behaviour playing online games like Diablo. I have made friends. Good ones. Ones I will never meet. I do not know their bodies, but I am somewhat aquainted with their minds. That is why I am here. One day, I might figure out why I am doing this. When I do, I most certainly will not be telling you, or anybody else. There is a Question. I don't know what it is, but I know where to look for the Answer. There are things people will say about themselves in a comfortable environment where they do not feel threatened. People online let slip all sorts of things. Valuable views into the human condition. Precious bits of wisdom, insight, and thought that are far more valuable than gold or silver. In this sort of atmosphere, people are more prone to say something that normally they would not let slip away from their keyboard for whatever reason. They might be shy, or have a stuttering problem, or they might feel they are ugly, have horrible acne, and are far to geeky to ever socialise with normal people. These folk, in general, have a lot to say because they have suffered. The people here are the cream that rises to the top. The sort of thoughts that I want. The internet, if one wishes to look at it as such, is a library of human thought patterns. If one looks past the text, the pr0n, the leet speak, and all that other debris that clouds the vision, there is a lot about human nature out there. A vast collective of the human condition. I have no idea where to keep looking or what it is I am looking for, but I see little trails of breadcrumbs leading to what might be the greatest experiment in human history. 

Like it or not, you are a part of that. And so am I. What's that line about observation effecting an experiment? Some scientific bit of jargon about observing something changing the outcome. The internet is an amazing portal into God knows what. Even I don't know. But I get the feeling that I, and everybody else, is being observed somehow. And I want in. I wish to be one of the observers. Am I changing the outcome by doing so? Maybe. Who cares. I am in this for my own reasons.

And yes, if you are asking your self right now, I have taken a lot of mind altering drugs. My thought processes are alien to yours because they are in no ways like yours.

I realise that I have put my self at risk here by letting this out. I don't care. People will think of me what they will.
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[Doc]

Frankly I think just hearing that you took a fair bit of LSD should be a warning to the astute reader.

I really didnt intend to aim anything negative at you in this thread. It was intended to be rather light and I enjoy seeing your posts here. But since LSD came up I feel compeled to be honest.

You say a lot of stuff that doesnt make sense. You say it as though it part of some zenish cosmic contruct, but frequently your pieces just dont fit.
This is reminicient of a the only LSD user I ever knew in real life.

Brains arent meant to reprogrammed and when you do it mistakes are added. Of course the brain itself doesnt notice this often.
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I'll give you that Ghost. You might be right. Mayhap I am part of that "Zenish Cosmic Construct." But just because you don't understand it doesn't make it any less real. Just because you can't reach the fruit in the highest branches of the tree doesn't make it any less delicious. Uh oh... I just did it again didn't I? Humans are clever creatures. We can create tools and items to assist us in reaching that juicy delicious forbidden fruit. Just because you can't reach it for whatever reason doesn't mean the few of us that have can't enjoy it. LSD, and other chemicals, were my ladder. It was a windy day, lemme tell you, and I could have fallen and broken my neck at any time. Getting on that ladder was risky... Dangerous. And I had to stand on the very tippy top rung, which is something you should not do on a ladder. But I took a big ol' bite of that fruit, and I got my reward. I think. Either that or I got the hershey squirts. My pieces don't fit because you and I are working on different puzzles. We are very different you and I. The fact I took LSD could either be a warning or an invitation. Whichever the reader desires.

But what you said about the brain is simply not true. What about stroke victims that mysteriously recover and one side of the brain learns to control both sides of the body? The brain obviously has reprogrammed it self, and done a damn good job. What about the epilepsy treatment that involves cutting half of the brain out and leaving the other half to control the whole body? If the brain was not meant to be reconstructed or programmed, then why does it have the ability to produce new receptors of varying types, as well as creating new means to send and receive instructions?

There is entirely to much evidence to the contrary. The brain can be influenced, reprogrammed, and is capable of doing amazing things under the right conditions. Meditation, deep thinking, etc. What the mind can believe the body can achieve. The power of thought can be so strong that amazing things can happen. I can, with effort, sit down, slow down my heart rate, and drop my pulse. Getting to know your own brain is one of the most rewarding experiences that one can do in their whole life.

Tell me... Since we are being honest, do I seem that badly damaged? Warped, maybe. But in a sincere sense, damaged? Damaged or different? Am I crippled somehow by my experience? Am I any lesser than what I should be? Am I crazy?

Or am I a better man for my experience... I took a risk, understanding full well what was at stake. I only had my sense of self to lose.

[Raelynn]

Tell me... Since we are being honest, do I seem that badly damaged? Warped, maybe. But in a sincere sense, damaged? Damaged or different? Am I crippled somehow by my experience? Am I any lesser than what I should be? Am I crazy?

Or am I a better man for my experience... I took a risk, understanding full well what was at stake. I only had my sense of self to lose.
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I wouldn't ever take drugs as I don't feel the risk for me is worth the reward, but you seem to have come out fine, not damaged. You are the type of person I would love to sit down and just chat with occasionally. Some of the ways you present your thoughts just fit. They make me think (as I believe someone else said) "Wow, why didn't I think of it that way?"

[Doc]

I wouldn't ever take drugs as I don't feel the risk for me is worth the reward, but you seem to have come out fine, not damaged.  You are the type of person I would love to sit down and just chat with occasionally.  Some of the ways you present your thoughts just fit.  They make me think (as I believe someone else said) "Wow, why didn't I think of it that way?"
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You are wise for feeling that way.

Having a physical conversation with me is difficult. I mostly grunt.

When I do engage in actual conversation, my talking and my thinking are haywire. I wont lie... I tend to talk about 4 or 6 things at once because my brain is thinking about 4 or 6 things at once. It's hard to explain. I am not sure how to explain, but it's a bit like my brain can multitask like a computer. I start thinking about something, and then while I am thinking about that, other parts of my brain start thinking about other things. And pretty soon the sound between my ears is a deafening roar because all these parts of my brain are all thinking about something. And when I talk, I have to be nudged on occasion to go back on track because I tend to talk how I think. While it makes perfect sense to me, it confuses the hell out of normal people. Because of this, I can process large quantities of information rapidly. Like... Right now as I am typing one part of my brain is thinking about the theory on the 11th dimension involving folded space and pockets and stuff about string theory. Don't ask me why... It's just there. Another part of my brain is thinking of ways to improve the viscosity and the "stringy" texture of the goat cheese I make when it melts. What do those things have in common? Well, near as I can tell with all the noise in my skull, string. Oh, and those string beans on the back shelf pickled with tobasco sauce would be delicious with dinner. Er, oh. I was trying to explain how I think. I have some difficulty in conversation a fair bit of the time. I have mixed feelings about it. I am quite chatty online, but away from the keyboard I don't say much. I grunt, or nod, or make a gesture, or might blow a dreadlock out of my face in annoyance. I use a lot of facial gestures. I might whistle a tune to convey my current state of emotion. A bright cheery whistle is a good sign, and it's usually safe to be around me, but when I start blowing a dire dirge, people that know me best evacuate the area. Human communication involving words is so... Limiting. I don't like it much. Don't take this the wrong way, but it annoys me that most folk are just to damn stupid to even attempt to communicate outside of spoken words. Makes me want to tear my hair out. One of the main reasons I just don't like people and can't stand to be around them. My wife is an exception. She and I have whole conversations with out saying a word. She has learned the whistling bit... We speak in the sense of raw emotions so that we understand what we are feeling because words to often get in the way. Some pantomime. A face, contorted in whichever way to express what should be said. A gesture with the hand or body. With her severe AADHD, it has become much easier for her to convey her emotions and feelings with this means of communication.

I just did it again didn't I?

Sorry. :blink:

[Guest]

Since you mention it.

My dad had a stroke and I have had some first hand observation and have been reading about others.
The brain can be reprogrammed to function well, but its not as good as it was before.

My dad for instance had a stroke(a fairly minor one fortunetly) in his right brain. After the stroke he had a hard time speaking but he was still able to figure out and understand rather complex machines; he took apart and fixed the furnace the 4 days later even though he could hardly speak.

Over time his speach has improved again to the point that a stranger woulnt notice anything but the family sees that he no longer speaks as fluidly as he once did and his casual conversations are a bit off.

From what I have read about people with left brain strokes is they often speak great and relate well to people, but they have a hard time understanding anything complex.




My point? Yes the brain will reprogram itself. Its making the best of a bad situtation.

To say the brain is "meant to be reprogrammed" is like saying someone is meant to scarred knubs on ther hand since thats how the body reponds if your fingers are cut off.

[Doc]

Since you mention it.

My dad had a stroke and I have had some first hand observation and have been reading about others.
The brain can be reprogrammed to function well, but its not as good as it was before.

My dad for instance had a stroke(a fairly minor one fortunetly) in his right brain. After the stroke he had a hard time speaking but he was still able to figure out and understand rather complex machines; he took apart and fixed the furnace the 4 days later even though he could hardly speak.

Over time his speach has improved again to the point that a stranger woulnt notice anything but the family sees that he no longer speaks as fluidly as he once did and his casual conversations are a bit off.

From what I have read about people with left brain strokes is they often speak great and relate well to people, but they have a hard time understanding anything complex.
My point? Yes the brain will reprogram itself. Its making the best of a bad situtation.

To say the brain is "meant to be reprogrammed" is like saying someone is meant to scarred knubs on ther hand since thats how the body reponds if your fingers are cut off.
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Bunk.

The brain is highly adaptive and it can be reprogrammed. If you take certain substances and expose your brain to them, the brain will create receptors to take advantage of said substance. Take caffiene or capsaicin for example. The brain can program it self to become receptive to these chemicals. It creates new receptors specifically designed to take advantage of these chemical compounds. The brain then figures out how to work better while under these particular chemical influences. With the two chemicals I listed, the brain can train it self to work harder, faster, and with clearer thought processes, and both will leave you with a mild sense of euphoria. You stop giving your brain these chemicals, and your brain will punish you with headaches... Your brain is screaming at you that it is not well and desires more of said chemicals. Much like drug addiction. I listed two mostly harmless and easily available compounds that any human being can enjoy.

I am sorry about your dad. Strokes suck. I lost somebody close to me because of a stroke. I wish him, and you, lots of luck in dealing with it.

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

*cackles*

It's so easy to hit that nerve when it's a mile wide.

Oops. Wrong reply-post. Drat the luck.

[Swiss Mercenary]

but it's a bit like my brain can multitask like a computer.

For a nit (one that makes me feel like what I'm learning isn't going to waste), a computer doesn't multitask - it executes commands, one at a time. The CPU switches from process to process very quickly, to give the illusion of those processes executing simultaneously.

How's that for a completely off-topic thread?

[Assur]

"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."
    - Paul Steiner

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"On the Internet, nobody knows you're Paul Steiner"
A Dog

[Doc]

"On the Internet, nobody knows you're Paul Steiner"
      A Dog
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Nietzsche is dead.

God.

[Guest]

Wow the most linear post ever ;)



Thats not how I would characterize the effects of stimulants.

Those drugs push your brain out side its 'design" parameters and force it to function at an increased state of alertness.(please dont argue the word dsign I dont care if God designed ir or evolution developed it in this case.)


Over time your brain doesnt "figure out how to work better" under their influence. What it actually does is learns to ignore them so it can function closer to it original state. For instance the effect of caffine on a regular user is much weaker than than on someone who hasnt had caffiene in months.

The headaches are because your brain cells have adapted to the caffiene(ie changed so as to diminish its effect) and when you stop taking the caffiene the effects of the compensations are not be balanced by the caffiene.



You essentially had it backwards.

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

Mine doesnt.

I could say its nice to see you back - but it isnt. So I wont.
But feel free to focus on spelling and typing in all your responses to me, it saves me the bother pointing out your frequent mistakes in reasoning, in response.
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Yes indeedy! I am back, thanks for noticing. Thought I'd trundle in and take note of those needy, socially-retarded malcontents that can't seem to develop an existence beyond the questionable pursuit of arguing and trading insults over the internet.

*ticks of checkmark* Ghostiger, still here, still can't spell worth a shyte.

It's like watching a blind rat run into the same wall of a maze, over and over and over and over and over and over...

[Doc]

Backwards, forwards, who cares. It all runs in a loop anyway, so no matter which way you go you run the same cycle in some form or another.

My point is, the brain can do some amazing things when under the influence of LSD. This has been proven. However, there are far to many risks to make it worthwhile. It is, no doubt, entirely to dangerous to mess with and expect reliable results.

For every one person that got something good out of it... Like Leary, there were hundreds left in vegetative states. It is not a kind drug.

Making it into your mind is rather easy. It's making it out again that is troubling. You get comfortable in there. You want to stay. You don't want to leave. So you settle in and you become a rutabega. And there is a lot of stuff lurking in the dark places of your mind that don't want you leaving either. You get lulled into a comfortable sense of complacency. The nightmares come and they pick you apart and rape your brain. And along come the spiders that pick over the remains. Ew. :wacko:

**Cue creepy music**

[Occhidiangela]

Bunk.

The brain is highly adaptive and it can be reprogrammed. If you take certain substances and expose your brain to them, the brain will create receptors to take advantage of said substance. Take caffiene or capsaicin for example. The brain can program it self to become receptive to these chemicals. It creates new receptors specifically designed to take advantage of these chemical compounds. The brain then figures out how to work better while under these particular chemical influences. With the two chemicals I listed, the brain can train it self to work harder, faster, and with clearer thought processes, and both will leave you with a mild sense of euphoria. You stop giving your brain these chemicals, and your brain will punish you with headaches... Your brain is screaming at you that it is not well and desires more of said chemicals. Much like drug addiction. I listed two mostly harmless and easily available compounds that any human being can enjoy.
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Doc, since your doctorship is not a medical one, please take some care on the bunk vis a vis medical matters. Don't recall your bundle of wax being neurosurgery either.

The difference between adaptation and reprogramming may be subtle, but it is real. Once you cross a certain threshold in neural damage, the recovery capacity is, as of this writing, a grim probability. Reserach into nerve regeneration continues. Above that threshold, adaptability and repair seems the norm.

As to reprogramming with LSD: that is piss poor advice, Doctor.

*agonized whiney voice* Think about the Children who might read this thread! :o J/K Bah anyway.

*Whiskey burnt voice* Think about the impressionable rogues who might read this thread. :lol: There, that's more like it.

You made a comment in another post about most acid being synthetic. Doc, it's all synthetic. It was an engineered drug in the first place, it don't grow on a plant. Now, Mescaline? Peyote? Psylloscibin? Compounds of concentrated hashish? Different story.

Friends of mine made LSD in college. (70's) Lots of folks I went to high school with took it recreationally in HS and College. None I recall (could be wrong) took Acid in large doses. A hit here, a hit there. Blotter the most common form, tabs the dosage. Well, except Tom M, a multi hit man, who is one of the few unsuccessful suicides I personally know. The guys who were with him at college attributed part of that to acid, but Tom had a few demons in the cage, acid or no.

Yes, anecdote, not strong evidence, which is just what your experience is.

Anecdotal.

You liked your acid, fine and dandy. Promoting it as some excellent means to brain reprogramming and mind expansion is irresponsible, since not all brains are wired identiclly, and not all persons are philosophy majors pursuing their inner consciousness and experimentations in enlightenment.

Be careful what you recommend regarding mind altering substances. We aint all wired the same. I admit to a caffeine addiction, but don't really recommend it. Guinness, on the other hand . . . well, it will give one gas, so caveat imbiber.

Occhi

[Griselda]

Please calm down.

While Ghostiger is not likely to win any awards for typographical prowess, he has grown significantly as a poster in the time that he's been here. He'll probably never be your favorite poster, but he has shown that he's here for the long haul. I'm going to have to ask you to agree to disagree, and to leave your disagreement off of the forum.

Thanks.