Literary Review: 'The Psychedelic Future of the Mind' by Thomas B. Roberts
Posted by PsypressUK September 27, 2013
Originally published in 2013 'The Psychedelic Future of the Mind: How
Entheogens are Enhancing Cognition, Boosting Intelligence, and Raising
Values' is written by Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D.. The text includes
contributing chapters from Roger Walsh, Charles S. Grob, and Alicia L.
Danforth. Roberts is professor emeritus at Northern Illinois University,
where he has taught the world's first catalogue-listed psychedelics course
since 1981. He has previously authored 'Psychedelic Horizons' and edited
'Spiritual Growth with Entheogens' and 'Psychedelic Medicine'.
As the subtitle – How Entheogens are Enhancing Cognition, Boosting
Intelligence, and Raising Values – suggests, there are some very weighty
and perhaps, to some, challenging ideas being explored by Thomas Roberts in
The Psychedelic Future of the Mind. In some regards this is a speculative
book, but one in which the author has carefully sieved through the
scientific research on psychedelic substances, and various theories, in
order to bring the potential personal and social efficacy of the substances
to light. As he writes from the outset, "This book looks forward, not
backward" and with a slew of historically-based psychedelic narratives out
there, it is refreshing to read a cogent and informed glimpse of a possible
future. However, this is not to say that Roberts ignores the past, indeed,
he clearly recognizes that past researches help point toward the ways
forward.
"Psychedelics have been lurking underground in science since the mid-1960s.
Is this the time to bring them back above ground for more careful scrutiny?
Judging from professional publications, apparently so. In addition to a
swarm of Internet sites devoted to psychedelics, a flock of articles in
professional scientific journals and general magazines recommend
reconsidering them" (Roberts 8).
In many respects, this is the challenge that Roberts takes up with this
book. The two major concepts that he develops and utilizes in his discourse
are the mindbody state and multistate theory. The former avoids certain
philosophical complications as to whether either the mind or the body take
priority in any given understanding, postulating, instead, a unified state
that avoids the often ambiguous use of the term consciousness. The mindbody
state is the "overall patterns of cognitive and bodily functioning at any
one time" (Roberts 124). The latter, multistate theory, is opposed to the
"singlestate fallacy," which "is the erroneous assumption that all
worthwhile abilities reside in our normal, awake mindbody state" (Roberts
123). This gives credence to altered states, in this case psychedelic ones,
as experiences with intrinsic values, which can fruitfully be explored for
medical and personal growth reasons.
The Psychedelic Future of the Mind is divided into three main subsections.
Part 1, The Experience that Alters All Others, examines the potential for
psychedelic substances to induce mystical experiences and, moreover, how
these kinds of experience can affect other mindbody states (personally and
socially). This part also includes the guest authors Roger N. Walsh,
Charles S. Grob and Alicia L. Danforth who look at religious experiences
and the use of psychedelic psychotherapy near the end of life respectively.
Roberts examines whether psychedelics have the ability to raise certain
values in individuals, and consequentially society, and in the chapter The
New Religious Era he speculates on whether they are foreshadowing a new
approach to religion, one based on experience, not the Word:
"The word-based Reformation that took place five hundred years ago produced
an earthquake swarm of schisms whose aftershocks continue today. As
entheogens give us another step toward spiritual democracy, will the spread
of direct, personal spiritual experience cause similar schisms in our
future?" (Roberts 79)
Part 2, High-Yield Ideas—Multistate Theory and the Fruitful Mind, is
concerned with the possible benefits that psychedelic states of mind may
have and is underpinned by the aforementioned multistate theory. In one
chapter Roberts look at Stanislav Grof's theory of the Perinatal
experience, which postulated that birth and pre-birth experience influences
us in later life. Roberts develops an interesting critique, using Grof's
methods, which can be applied to such disciplines as film and literature.
In the 'Perinatal Cinecrit' idea he examines films such as Snow White and
Fight Club. From my own perspective, this offers a very real and practical
way that one can take certain scientific theory and easily apply it to the
humanities with interesting and revealing results. Elsewhere, Roberts also
picks up on previous research and discusses whether the psychedelic state
could be used as a creative learning space for "enhancing cognition,
boosting intelligence, expanding cognitive studies." Obviously this flies
in the face of the official position of it simply being pathological, but
if psychedelic states, via the multistate theory, can indeed be used in
personal development then a particularly useful and intriguing tool is
awaiting ignition.
In the final part, From Lab to Life, From Clinic to Campus, Roberts begins
to paint a picture of what a psychedelically-savvy society might be, and
how it might be achieved. Having taught a university course on psychedelics
since 1981, the section discussing education is particularly interesting,
and anyone in higher education should find it in part inspirational, in
part challenging. What is clear is that if the multistate theory stands
true, it is not only learning about psychedelics that is on the agenda, but
how states induced by them can be used as educational tools in themselves:
"Psychedelics and multistate theory help us recognize limits to our current
thinking tool, especially its singlestate limitations. Psychedelics and
other psychotechnologies move us beyond that. They provide us with a large
mental toolbox, rich with mindbody tools" (Roberts 219).
There is one seeming contradiction in the book that I personally found very
difficult to marry up, and it relates to the transitioning from 'lower
values' to 'higher values' and the proposed methods of integrating
psychedelic organizations into society. It is, indeed, a contradiction that
has been a prescient ever since the 1960s; namely the relationship between
values and society. In chapter 3, Raising Values, Roberts discusses the
possible ability of psychedelics to personally transform low values such as
greed and money addiction, propagated in the individual by society, to
higher values such as compassion and humaneness. This, of course, would be
an undeniably good thing. In chapter 13, however, entitled Reaching the
Unreachable Public While Raising $1+ Billion for Psychedelic R & D via
Crowdfunding—A Biz-fi Speculation, Roberts talks about setting up Community
Psychedelic Centres. He postulates that such organizations could have, not
only public support, but support from hedge funds, JPMorgan Chase bank,
Citicorp and Prudential:
"These are powerful interests, and they are ones many influential people
take seriously. These organizations and substantial individual investors
would, in effect, be part of a pro-psychedelics lobby too." (Roberts 203)
These companies are both the product and the cause of the low-level values
that Roberts discussed earlier in the book. While it might be argued that
by raising popular awareness of psychedelic and using them to propagate
higher values might lead to a turning away from such societal models, then
perhaps these companies would be less than interested in putting money and
support into them? On the negative side, these companies might not even
recognize the possibility and, by inviting them in, psychedelics will
become a monetized commodity—one used for the benefit of corporate ethics.
It seems to me to be a prickly path to tread down. Importantly though,
Roberts has raised the debate, and it is a debate that should be had.
In conclusion, The Psychedelic Future of the Mind does what any great work
of pharmacography should do i.e. make one think. It doesn't simply
prescribe an approach, posit a definitive vision or throttle any particular
meaning around the psychedelic experience, it puts one to thinking about
the potential for psychedelic substances, for the individual and for
society. As such, it is very successful and, moreover, challenging in many
of the ideas it puts out there. Very much worth a read!
