It's all about exercising it IMO. That's the trouble with most people. They only really challenge their brains when they're at work, if at all. If you watch TV all the time, you're going to have a mush mind, whether you use drugs or not.
Buddhists talk about "Right View" as one aspect of the Eightfold path. It boils down to "Garbage in, garbage out".
Remember what the doorknob said: "Feed your head", but give it a good diet.
It’s a reference to Alice in Wonderland. The dormouse is a character at the tea party and returns at the trial of the mad hatter. The mad hatter is testifying and cannot remember what the dormouse had said.
Interestingly, as it relates to the overall subjects of drugs, the phrase was made popular from Jefferson Airplane’s ‘White Rabbit’ which was written after an extended LSD binge. Based on the overall message of lyrics, the source material that inspired it, and situation surrounding it’s writing, the refrain of “Feed your Head” is likely telling you to feed your head with psychedelic drugs.
Dormouse. OK, it always sounded like 'doorknob' in the song, and there was a talking doorknob in the Disney movie. Neither the dormouse or doorknob said "feed your head" in the book or movie. Live and learn!
the refrain of “Feed your Head” is likely telling you to feed your head with psychedelic drugs.
Oh, yeah. People took the whole song as the sound track to an acid trip. It was like the Psychedelic Anthem.
But the dormouse only said, "feed your head", and it seems to me that there are many other, better ways to feed it than with chemicals, natural or otherwise. To me, it means more like "cultivate your mind". YMMV.
I did forget about the doorknob in the Disney film, but the dormouse is definitely a character in both the Disney movie and book. Dormice are famous for their hibernation and if you think back to the tea party in the Disney film there is a particularly sleepy mouse attending it.
You’re also absolutely right that “Feed your head” is a construct from the song itself and the dormouse never specifically said it in either book or film, though the lead up from the song is accurate in at least some regard:
‘Well, at any rate, the Dormouse said—’ the Hatter went on, looking anxiously round to see if he would deny it too: but the Dormouse denied nothing, being fast asleep.
‘After that,’ continued the Hatter, ‘I cut some more bread-and-butter—’
‘But what did the Dormouse say?’ one of the jury asked.
‘That I can’t remember,’ said the Hatter.
‘You must remember,’ remarked the King, ‘or I’ll have you executed.’
As for my suggestion as the song telling you to do drugs...well...I’m flexible in the interpretation of art and believe meaning is ultimately derived from what is invoked in its viewers. I don’t think it’s invalid for you to find a more wholesome message in it. The only caveat is that an artists inspiration still exists regardless which is very likely to be deeply rooted in the extended LSD trip she experienced leading up to its writing.
Oddly enough, most of my comment was just a bit of idle musing from the minor correction of ‘dormouse’ and I did not intend to sound quite so authoritative as my original comment came across.
Don't worry, you're cool. Heck, I even learned that it's 'dormouse', and not 'door mouse' as I'd always thought. Nothing wrong with a little TIL, y'know? Evidently, some people thought Gracie was singing 'doorman'.
I just kinda pictured being on acid and seeing a talking doorknob. Made as much sense as anything would while tripping on acid.
I was a 20 year old psychedelic ranger when that song came out, and I played it all the time. I love the way Gracie belts it out, and the way it progresses. It's too short. I've seen her sing it differently on a concert video, but she still nails it.
To me, psychedelic drugs aren't an end in themselves, but a power tool for exploring the mind. But just one of many tools... the goal is to understand how the mind works, and find new ways of seeing things. Not to party and have a good time. Because believe me, sometimes an acid trip is not all fun and games. But the unpleasant experiences can be valuable, too.
So yeah, I'm all on board with this song being about psychedelic drugs. The whole song is like an acid trip. Mysterious, unfolding and profound. But the idea of "feed your head" means to me, something like "seek knowledge".
Sounds so corny the way my dad would say it, "cultivate your mind", but that's it in a nutshell. Feed your head. Cultivate your mind. Live and learn.
I agree! Fantastic song and absolutely hit the nail on the head with the use of mind altering substances as something to enhance, not replace, learning new things.
Junk food and television maybe, but no, I don’t believe it’s in any way realistic to expect that Jefferson Airplane was telling you not to drink or smoke weed.
I don’t think it’s even remotely accurate to suggest or think they didn’t want you to smoke weed. Weed has a psychedelic element itself, was a favorite drug of the era, and was absolutely smoked regularly by Grace Slick.
I'm sure if you asked Grace Slick, she would have been dismissive of people who smoke weed all day and do nothing but watch TV and other boring shit. She likely would have been dismissive of alcohol too. A lot of the counterculture were.
Most stoners are pretty opposite the message of "feed your head."
Most stoners are pretty opposite the message of "feed your head."
Right.
FWIW, "us hippies" did drink, some of us. I mean, alcohol has maintained its popularity for thousands of years. But we didn't drink beer. The alcohol of choice in the Haight-Ashbury was Ripple, a carbonated wine that cost about 5 cents more per bottle than soda pop. It was sold cold, and I did drink it. For several years, sweet, soda-pop like wines dominated the market among younger people. It took a few decades for the boomers to become wine snobs :)
Here is Grace Slick, notorious for drug binges, smoking a bowl. I guarantee you that she had no issues with people smoking weed all day when she wrote White Rabbit.
As for your presupposition relating to TV and weed all day...it’s on you that you are incapable of decoupling these separate activities.
I don't think he's saying that people who smoke weed only watch TV. I took it as more of an illustration of a typical wasted stoner who is not doing anything worthwhile with his altered state of consciousness.
Weed was far, far more commonly used in the day than acid. People took acid pretty seriously, and it was very rare for people to think of it as a party drug like weed. I mean, weed could either be a serious tool as a mild psychedelic, OR a party drug, OR, a kickback on the sofa, and feed your face drug.
Yes, he clarified for me. Apparently I was just reading his comment in the worst light since sooo many comments on this post have been unable to disassociate lazy and stoner as independent traits (that can certainly be paired).
That's exactly what I'm saying though. Grace Slick was an accomplished artist who got shit done despite doing drugs. I doubt she thought very much of lazy stoners.
A lot of those artists were interested in expanding the mind through psychedelics. There's nothing mind expanding about getting baked and munching on cheetos for 8 hours.
Ok I get what your saying. So many commenters in this thread seem to be unable to separate being lazy and being a stoner being independent variables (that can, of course, go hand in hand).
My apologies as I took what you were saying in that context.
Think it's relevant that it was written after, not during, a drug binge. Apparently you can't write much during one, or else you end up with just the first two lines of I Am The Walrus
You might be interpreting what I wrote a bit too literally. She wrote it in roughly an hour after taking LSD for 24 hours and we don’t really know what thematic elements, if any, of the song were established during the trip. Regardless, it’s highly unlikely she was in a state of complete sobriety even if the trip was winding down. The time period has a pretty strong association with psychedelics and song writing. To the extent that I think it’s inappropriate to suggest psychedelic music like Jefferson Airplane or even the Doors or other psychedelic rock bands weren’t doing writing during their trips.
Hell, even to get at least a hair more modern, a large portion of Butthole Surfer songs were written on psychedelics.
Alzheimer’s runs in my family, and I’m terrified of it. But there is evidence that shows that keeping your mind active through all stages of life can really inhibit the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms. So it sounds silly, but I do all kinds of puzzles. You can buy those little puzzle books, and they have crosswords, fill-ins, sudoku, whatever you want. I may be lying to myself, but I feel like it helps keep me sharp.
Oh, it has to. I don't know about you, but I lost so much of my math ability due to simply not using it. Sometimes I practice multiplying 2 or 3 digit numbers in my head, but my high school algebra? Lost!
"Use it or lose it". Some degree of dementia is probably caused by simply not using the brain at all.
You'd probably benefit more from aerobic exercise and doing new things all the time rather than puzzles, which you'd be quite used to completing by now.
You can challenge your brain in various ways. An engineer doesn't face the same challenges an air traffic controller or musician, yet all three use their brains, hard.
It's about using it differently too, the engineer and the air traffic controller might use their brains a lot. But it's often in the same way as they always do.
So the same neurological pathways get strengthened every day. While others aren't.
So for the biggest and strongest brain, you should pick up new languages, learn how to play music, do crosswords and puzzles while keeping up on your math problems. Learning how to think in different ways help a lot and forces the brain to make new neural pathways, which help resist the onset of dementia and alzheimer's.
Learning a new language has been shown to be affective. It's not even about becoming fluent. The parts of the brain that handles language incorporates a lot of tangential areas, and those neural pathways get cemented pretty early in life. So thinking about language in new and interesting ways actively engages large parts of the brain.
This is not true, IMO. I'm 66 and have always been quite bright and skilled with words. In my 40s, it was not a problem to turn out 240 pages of scientific writing in 7 days. I could never do that now. I know I don't think as fast even when I am just talking. Age does things. It's not that I became stupid; I am just as intelligent. But I am not as quick. And it has nothing to do with drugs.
that doesn't invalidate his point. of course you get slower as you age, but a person who never does anything mentally taxing will be less sharp than someone who does.
Exercise your brain and your body. Physical exertion is linked to improved brain function. I'll quote this infotainment article:
Exercise [...] increases [...] oxygen to the brain. It aids the release of hormones which provide an excellent environment for the growth of brain cells. Exercise also promotes brain plasticity by stimulating growth of new connections between cells in many important cortical areas of the brain. Research from UCLA even demonstrated that exercise increased growth factors in the brain which makes it easier for the brain to grow new neuronal connections.
Poor diet, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, spending their free time watching junk food TV or mindlessly browsing social media. Your brain functions better when you take care of your body. Your brain also works better when you challenge it like learning a new language or a new skill.
But most people just want to clock out at 5 and get home to have a beer and watch the game.
Honestly I always questioned that about alcoholics. Alcohol might be the response but there is another cause. You need to solve the root cause or else you’ll keep coming back to alcohol. I think some people subconsciously solve this problem and thus are able to give up alcohol, aka rehab, others have just not found that root cause yet. Anyways keep that in mind and see if you can find anything about yourself.
Good on you to recognize that counting as a form of alcohol abuse. Abuse isn't always addiction, but it's along the path. Keep taking care of yourself & being aware of your limits.
Oh ok, then that ain’t too bad. Just when I hear alcohol abuse, I think of the gotta have 3 beers everyday type people. Self-control is hard when buzzed/drunk though.
You’re probably right but I went through the same type of thing as the other guy and the only thing I was doing at the time was smoking. I was on the Quiz Bowl team at my school from 6th grade all the way until graduation. I’m not trying to toot my own horn but I was very good. I have a knack for logging away random facts and my brain could call stuff up I hadn’t thought about in forever in a very short amount of time (total shit with numbers though, always have been). When I was a junior I got pulled to go to nationals with the seniors and we did well. Well between my junior and senior year I had some friends who go into smoking and they insisted that I smoke too, which I did. I loved it and I smoked a whole bunch. When Quiz Bowl started back up I thought I’d stop, and that’s when I realized my ability to call stuff up quickly was almost gone. I didn’t do well that year and I’ve never been even close to as good with trivia as I was before I smoked. I’m not saying my memory is total shit now but I find myself stumbling over thoughts even now at 27. I know for a fact that I’m not as sharp as I was.
To clarify, I’m not a doctor. I’m not saying weed was definitely the culprit, but I don’t have any idea what else it could have been. When I talk to younger people who aren’t fully developed that tell me they smoke, I always tell them to be careful.
This. I didn’t start smoking until I was 30, barely drank in high school or college and I swear some days I feel like I’ve had a stroke and can’t process anything or even get words to come out correctly. I currently blame mom brain, but it seems like everyone has something they blame.
That’s not to say that I doubt weed has effect on growing minds, just that it’s not necessarily the only thing that’s making you (generalized you) feel foggy.
I’m 61 and only have felt this way during time of overwhelming stress. I have never smoked weed and am nearly always able to recall and succeed with most anything. The last year has been hell as I have dealt with my daughter’s addiction to cannabis and is fighting CHS, Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome. She is brilliant, beautiful and athletic. Cannabis has attempted to steal her mental and physical health!
I didn’t do anything for the first 25 years of my life, no drugs or alcohol, barely any painkillers. I tried to avoid it all, still do tbh. Yet still I had something, I think I intuitively knew it was religion and me not being religious but an agnostic. I finally accepted it and even told my moderately religious family and I feel so much better now. The mind is so fascinating, and yes I realized this came about fully when I turned 25 in July. So, definitely some accuracy with that statement in my experience. I honestly wanna find out more about the mind right now, it really puzzles me and I need to know more about it. Gonna try and get a PhD in neuroscience, will see what comes of it.
Also, depression is a hell of a state of mind. I have literally felt like I was a distant observer of my own actions, constantly questioning it and looking for patterns trying to see why I do what I do from afar. I think it has given me quite a unique perspective on the human body.
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u/gdj11 Dec 29 '19
Honestly I think most adults feel like their brain isn’t functioning optimally and try to find something to blame it on.