No Internet Month Diary (Part 2 - LSD micro-dosing)

December 1st

Just made my usual announcement that I'll be leaving the internet for a month – not that anyone would notice if I did disappear from facebook – but in the vague hope that others might be inspired to do the same – not that it would make any difference...

We're too far gone now, most of us, to think about turning back. It's good to turn back the clock for a while, to the year 1992, or thereabouts, before the internet entered our lives and changed our consciousness, our lifestyles and our relationships, but now we depend on it.

I don't like being a slave to technology, but the fact is that without it, even for a day, our world would descend into chaos and people would quickly start to die.

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December 2nd

A sunny Saturday. Taking the day to myself. Sat outside in my rocking chair for about an hour. Me, Barley, Jim and Lightning (human, dog, two cats) dozing in the morning sun. Nothing to do. That's the life.

My travelling friend came around the other day on his way to Africa. He had a cracked guitar he wanted me to fix. Nothing to worry about, I told him. A cracked guitar is a good thing. Releases tension.

Half an hour later it was fixed up, good as new, but for a little scar, but we all have a few of those. It's not the end of the world.

Refusing payment, being simply glad to see my friend and help him out in some small way, he then said 'Do you want some acid?' which took me by surprise somewhat.

Not entirely surprised that he should be carrying psychoactive substances among his possessions, although somewhat surprised that people are still taking LSD at all. I don't know why it should surprise me. Maybe because I haven't touched it in about twenty years or more, I figured the world had moved on too. Goes to show how out of touch I am.

At first I refused his offer, thinking how far from all that I have come – and how the last thing I want or need is an extended, intense and unpredictable mind-altering experience, which may possibly cause me serious long-term damage. Then, on second thoughts, I said 'Sure. Why not?' After all, it's not every day that someone offers me acid – and it can be a powerful and useful tool to have among my inventory.

I read some article on facebook a while ago about micro-dosing. Maybe I'll try that. The idea is that you take a tiny amount of the substance and it's supposed to give increased focus, concentration and creativity, without sending you entirely to another dimension for hours on end – perhaps permanently. That could be worth a try.

Not sure exactly how to do it. The stuff is so strong that even a micro-gram of the pure chemical will send you into all sorts of hallucinations. I could look it up on Google, but since I'm supposed to be off the internet, I'll just have to improvise. Maybe I'll try diluting some of it in water and take a few drops with my morning coffee. Hm... I could be onto something there...

Without looking it up on Google, this much I know about LSD...

LSD (which stands for some long chemical name... something something something acid) was discovered accidentally some time around the 1950's. I'm not sure how, when exactly, or who made the discovery – or what they were trying to make – nevertheless, somehow, the most potent and powerful mind altering substance ever created in a laboratory was born.

It didn't take very long for the potential of this new chemical to begin to be explored and exploited...

On the one hand, by scientists, psychologists, psychiatrists and other researchers interested in what LSD could reveal about the workings of the brain, what it could teach us about consciousness and ways in which it could be used to treat the mentally ill and clinically insane.

It was also eagerly picked up by artists, philosophers, spiritual seekers, writers and musicians – playing a central role in the new, alternative hippie culture of the 60's. Turn on, tune in, drop out. Plots were even made (but unfortunately foiled) to spike the president's drink with acid – in the hope of expanding and raising his consciousness to a level where he realised the futility and error of his ways and put an end to the war in Vietnam...

At the same time, secret services and the military were busy carrying out their own top-secret experiments – mainly on soldiers, prisoners and psychiatric ward inmates – to discover ways in which the chemical could be used for purposes of mind-control and interrogation, among other things nefarious and underhanded.

The parallels here, between the invention/discovery of LSD and the Internet, to me, are striking.

Since becoming a facebook user, it's been particularly interesting (and sometimes disturbing) to observe ways that it can subtly and not so subtly affect and change one's state of mind, as well as extracting information from people. Of course, I'm not the only person who's noticed this. The whole 'shocking' story about Russian involvement in last year's US election – particularly the use of social media, trolls, robots, fake stories and highly targeted, weaponised propaganda – all point to the fact that the mind-controlling power of the internet is being taken seriously and explored to the full potential by dark, secretive organisations. It should come as no surprise really, when you think about it. That is their job after all...

Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the spectrum – good people, artists, activists, environmentalists – are making use of this new 'drug' (see 'No Internet Month' diary 2015) to try to raise consciousness and awareness, connect the invisible lines of energy that flow between everything and everyone – and generally make the world a better place.

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In part 3, read what happens when I start to add LSD dilution to my morning coffee....

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You can read my 'No Internet Diaries' from 2015 and 2016 at:

https://nim2129.wordpress.com

Check out ecoTrain For the best and latest, original, mind expanding content:

https://steemit.com/nature/@eco-alex/the-best-of-ecotrain-2017-highlights