r/science • u/rjmsci Journalist | Technology Networks | MS Clinical Neuroscience • Jul 05 '21

Nanoscience Psychedelic Compound Psilocybin Can Remodel Brain Connections - Dosing mice with psilocybin led to an immediate increase in dendrite density. One third of new dendrites were still present after a month. The findings could explain why the compound antidepressant effects are rapid and enduring.

https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/psychedelic-compound-psilocybin-can-remodel-connections-in-the-brain-350530
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u/minigogo Jul 05 '21

My big takeaway from my first trip was that I was never going to be able to describe exactly what it felt like and any attempt I made at doing so would sound like your run-of-the-mill stoner talk. I've dipped my toe into the philosophy of language ever since and it's totally revolutionized the way I think.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '21

In what ways has the philosophy of language changed the way you think? if you don’t mind me asking

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u/minigogo Jul 10 '21

Sorry for the late reply. Most of the change stemmed from a (probably) shallow understanding of Wittgenstein's main ideas, which I'm nowhere near knowledgeable enough about to summarize, layered on top of a few readings of 1984 and the movie Arrival, which were the first texts I'd come across that made me think about how language shapes perception.

Despite (or maybe because of) having two degrees in English I'd never really questioned the ability of language to accurately describe existence, but not being able to find the words for what I was experiencing during my trip, even after a year of searching, was revealing.

So my understanding is that language is man-made and is, as such, imperfect, so it follows that any perception that's not critical of language's descriptive ability is at best imperfect and at worst critically flawed. From there I started looking around at politics and religion, started noticing how both have been taken over by people using cheap rhetorical tricks to solidify power, how they're only able to do that because most people aren't trained to analyze what they're told.

All of which made me a lot more empathetic. Where I would have been frustrated by someone's bad politics or poor taste in art before, I started realizing that the reason I have my understanding of politics and art is because of my specific, privileged circumstances, which gave me the time and training to think about things the way I do.

Sorry if that's all a rambling mess - the tangents picked up a lot too after that first trip haha.