If you’re interested in accurate examples of visual effects of hallucinogens, check out /r/Replications. Some of them are shockingly accurate. Here are some good examples:
The article states that "It is most commonly induced under the influence of mild dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline."
Overdose or a "bad trip" is possible with any of these three substances, so one must be extremely careful when experimenting.
I can only speak about LSD, but its visual effects are based on constant and surprising visual transformations. People's faces transform into the faces of other people or animals (which can be even frightening). Non-animate objects can transform into other objects or resemble unexpected living forms.
However, these initially unique visual experiences quickly become boring for people with clear objectives in their life. I don't think it's contact with a spiritual universe or anything like that. It might help (or not) if you try it once or twice.
The visual experience is last on the list of things psychedelics are proven through clinical study to help with. Also, unless one of those objectives is to avoid the help psychedelics can provide, having clear objectives in life isn't a predictor of how helpful it will be. Finally, "contact with the spiritual universe it whatever" isn't even on the list things that actually help subjects in these studies.
The visuals are like 10% of the experience. The last thing you could describe psychedelics as is underwhelming. It is not possible for you to understand what the experience is like without trying it for yourself.
And I am not advocating for trying them. Im not one of these evangelists. But replication images are a very weak simulacrum of what the experience is actually like.
I was using stable diffusion 1.5 when it came out and had my first LSD trip shortly after that, prolly like a few months. Anyways, what struck me was how similar the closed eyes visuals were on LSD compared to the generated images from stable diffusion when i was using it on low CFG and also some of my poorly trained textual inversions at the time. Watching the "training process" of the textual inversion in the early epochs made a lot of such images before the TI finally completed. Makes me think if the processes are somehow related, like if in human brains the reason we don't have experience seeing these "hallucinations" is because we have many robust subsystems that filter out the noise and make the mental model cohere on a stable world view.
Our culture is very image-centric. You have to understand that the drug induced image distortions are just a very specific side-effect that is part of a larger whole.
Hallucinogens act on deeper mechanisms that control from visual perception all the way to the sense of self. It can fundamentally change during the experience the way you see yourself and the world. It's not uncommon for users of LSD or DMT and psilocybin to describe the experience as getting in touch with the interconnectedness of all things. Also bad trips can be very terrifying because of how much you are exposed to the experience. Like dying or feeling the fleeting nature of existence very present in your skin.
All this to say that videos don't do any of this justice. It's just a fun way to represent the image distortions.
It’s kinda like if the feeling you see in the videos were replicated across all of your senses. Your senses kinda blur together in an indescribable way, and it’s extremely intense, kinda all consuming.
'Wail to god' (the second piece of artwork at that link) strongly resembles a brighter, faster, and more detailed version of what I see whenever I close my eyes but still try to pay attention to what I'm "seeing".
(Normally, I "tune out" my visual field when I close my eyes. And for reference, my mind's eye is weak, but I do not think I have complete aphantasia.)
Fun list, I'm glad there is language around some of this. I've drank ayahuasca around 500 times personally in a traditional context (somewhat of an apprenticeship setting) and have experienced most of these effects. In the tradition I've been learning, it's pretty fascinating just how vast the indigenous understanding of that space is- they really have words for everything and the mechanisms behind what they see (as well as an understanding of how those things manifest outside of that space, in normal waking life). And more importantly how those things can be worked with and released through the practice. We're really only beginning to scratch the surface here (in the "western" context) but at least it's starting.
It makes sense though. Our brains are constantly trying to recognize familiar out of everything it sees. The DeepDream from Googs does essentially the same thing. Starting with static, it "finds" patterns that then leads to seeing even more patterns that start to be recognizable. Or the other system that kept finding Ryan Gosling in images he clearly was not in. The DeepDream starting with static definitely reminds me of closing my eyes and watching the show with a head full of something.
I had struggled to describe a bad trip I'd had until some of the text-to-video models from a few years ago became more accessible and nailed the morphing visuals and general uneasiness I'd felt, of course it was unintentional. The recent increase in quality has erased those features for better or for worse.
I have such vivid memories of experiencing many of these things in infancy and early childhood. Especially pareidolia, mild object activation, and scenery slicing. Hasn't really happened much in almost thirty years. Is there any research on like, if this is a side effect of brain development? It's always made me wonder.
The thing about psychedelics that is hard (really, impossible) to convey to the uninitiated is that the hallucinations are a secondary effect. The real show is the bending of your consciousness, which no image, video, or written description can really capture. It's akin to trying to describe color to a blind person.
Anecdotally speaking, I believe many of these to be largely true and a good respresentation.
I never thought about the machinescapes visual and that is very spot on. That was over 20 years ago on Salvi. I was in a basement and visualized a train driving through the wall. The thing that stood out the most is the detail of the train. It looked like an old steam train and nothing like I had ever seen before in person. Was really cool and fun experience and really short lived. All done in like 15 minutes. Never really noticed the level of detail that was present until just now looking back on it.
Another great experience I had that was captured well in this was on LSD at a competitive paintball event. I could visualize the paintball streams coming at me as solid lines. I knew exactly where people were shooting at. It stood out very prominently. But also, I could “feel” an opponent moving on the other side of the field. We were ~20 meters/yards apart behind opposite bunkers but I knew exactly where and when he was moving. I could feel his moves through the ground. Like we were both remotely connected like the mycelium of a mushroom. His left movements pulled me to the right. We were connected together.
I’m really grateful to have experienced these things.
I am very intrigued by hallucinogens, but I am a risk-adverse person and an unregulated market makes me very uncomfortable. A friend of a friend grew mushrooms and I tried them last year; alas, I under-dosed. In the meantime, I’ve experienced the ganzfeld effect via sensory deprivation a bunch, which is kind of a lot of effort for an extremely mild and unreliable effect, but when it works it’s quite enjoyable. The worst that happens is no hallucination but I have a very peaceful meditative session, so there’s no real downside. Just a little sidebar for my curious but mild people out there.
I would love to try hallucinogens but I’m worried that it’ll aggravate my HPPD. It’s a pretty rare condition, and only a single optometrist I’ve spoken with actually believes I experience it.
HPPD is by definition a lasting effect of hallucinogens. The diagnostic criteria begins with the phrase “Following cessation of hallucinogen use”
If you’ve never tried hallucinogens, you wouldn’t really qualify as having HPPD. There are other terms for visual issues that people can experience that look similar, but HPPD is specifically a hallucinogen-triggered condition.
I do agree, though: If you’re already having visual issues it would be very wise to avoid hallucinogens.
My best guess is that HPPD was triggered by how I used NyQuil as a young teen. I would drink half a bottle, sleep for half the day, and wake up feeling better. I did this pretty regularly for a few years whenever I got sick.
Readit News
https://reddit.com/r/replications/comments/1ll9k7o/flight/
https://reddit.com/r/replications/comments/1jkajcq/that_mome...
https://reddit.com/r/replications/comments/1hruv4t/just_visi...
Overdose or a "bad trip" is possible with any of these three substances, so one must be extremely careful when experimenting.
I can only speak about LSD, but its visual effects are based on constant and surprising visual transformations. People's faces transform into the faces of other people or animals (which can be even frightening). Non-animate objects can transform into other objects or resemble unexpected living forms.
However, these initially unique visual experiences quickly become boring for people with clear objectives in their life. I don't think it's contact with a spiritual universe or anything like that. It might help (or not) if you try it once or twice.
Cool story, though.
I have to say it's a bit underwhelming. It's interesting how the closest analog I can think lf is early generative image AI hallucinatory stuff.
Well, yeah. It’s like watching a video of a rollercoaster on your phone, vs riding in one.
And I am not advocating for trying them. Im not one of these evangelists. But replication images are a very weak simulacrum of what the experience is actually like.
Hallucinogens act on deeper mechanisms that control from visual perception all the way to the sense of self. It can fundamentally change during the experience the way you see yourself and the world. It's not uncommon for users of LSD or DMT and psilocybin to describe the experience as getting in touch with the interconnectedness of all things. Also bad trips can be very terrifying because of how much you are exposed to the experience. Like dying or feeling the fleeting nature of existence very present in your skin.
All this to say that videos don't do any of this justice. It's just a fun way to represent the image distortions.
I mean, yeah, you're looking at an image on your computer screen.
Seeing a video of Niagara Falls or a photo of a person at the Grand Canyon similarly capture the difference to the real thing.
For example: https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Geometry#8B_-_Perceived_expo...
https://plus.maths.org/content/uncoiling-spiral-maths-and-ha...
(Normally, I "tune out" my visual field when I close my eyes. And for reference, my mind's eye is weak, but I do not think I have complete aphantasia.)
The effort is purely descriptive and does not seem to correlate the various effects with their cause (nothing wrong with that, still interesting).
This article provides a good overview of various theories:
https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-math-theory-for-why-people-...
Once a week for 10 years? Everyday for almost 2?
I never thought about the machinescapes visual and that is very spot on. That was over 20 years ago on Salvi. I was in a basement and visualized a train driving through the wall. The thing that stood out the most is the detail of the train. It looked like an old steam train and nothing like I had ever seen before in person. Was really cool and fun experience and really short lived. All done in like 15 minutes. Never really noticed the level of detail that was present until just now looking back on it.
Another great experience I had that was captured well in this was on LSD at a competitive paintball event. I could visualize the paintball streams coming at me as solid lines. I knew exactly where people were shooting at. It stood out very prominently. But also, I could “feel” an opponent moving on the other side of the field. We were ~20 meters/yards apart behind opposite bunkers but I knew exactly where and when he was moving. I could feel his moves through the ground. Like we were both remotely connected like the mycelium of a mushroom. His left movements pulled me to the right. We were connected together.
I’m really grateful to have experienced these things.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen_persisting_percep...
If you’ve never tried hallucinogens, you wouldn’t really qualify as having HPPD. There are other terms for visual issues that people can experience that look similar, but HPPD is specifically a hallucinogen-triggered condition.
I do agree, though: If you’re already having visual issues it would be very wise to avoid hallucinogens.
Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder - 5CAST with Andrew Callaghan (#4) feat. Dr. Wesley Ryan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9pK4q7_VUc