Psychedelics and the Future of the Planet
One of the great pleasures of my retirement is to field random phone calls from people curious, or even desperate, for information - for the truth - about psychedelics. In doing so, I try to give them a better sense, from my own in-depth experience and study, of how to truly understand psychedelics, their action, what we can expect from them - and how we can better focus on gaining the very real benefits that are possible when we recover from stories based on fear and religion (and that sell newspapers), to understand psychedelics clearly and develop accurate expectations for their use.
And since we are a society made of individuals, understanding psychedelics and using them wisely will, over time, help the planet mature as well.
In this talk, I’d like to discuss (some of) the following topics:
Why take psychedelics - what’s their purpose?
Why are there psychedelic substances on this planet in the first place?
What is the action of these substances?
Why do they make your life better? How do they make your life better?
What is the relationship between psychedelics and spirituality?
What is the relationship between psychedelics and capitalism?
What is the future of psychedelics and what is the future of the planet?
We’ll begin with a brief overview of these topics, followed by open discussion to address related questions and interests of the salon attendees.
Producer: Neal Goldsmith
Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D. is a father, author, public speaker, salonier, and gardener. He is a licensed psychotherapist, personality theorist, strategic planner, an AI analyst, and policy researcher. He worked in AI technology transfer and change management at AT&T and American Express. Author of dozens of popular and scholarly articles, he has curated and hosted innovative workshops, salons, and conferences, and is a frequent speaker on adult developmental psychology, psychotherapy and resistance to change, psychedelics research, therapy, and policy, and the post-postmodern future of society. (A six-minute clip of Dr. Goldsmith speaking on the “Fusion of Spirit and Science” may be found at: http://vimeo.com/7517009).
Dr. Goldsmith’s first book, Psychedelic Healing: The Promise of Entheogens for Psychotherapy and Spiritual Development, describes the influence of psychedelics on the development of his personality theory and clinical practice. His second book, Not About Poetry; Not About Science: The Extraordinary 18-year Run of the Poetry Science Talks Salon (with Gerd Stern), will be out next year. His current book project is a clinical philosophy titled, Psyche Therapy: Soul, Death, Love.
He lives and works in New York’s DUMBO neighborhood.