Re: MAPS: Justifying a Tim Leary claim

[Valerie Gremillion <valor@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>Tim Leary, true to his fanatical reputation, claims in his =
autobiographical work "Flashbacks" that a number of groundbreaking =
scientific and mathematical insights were reached under the influence of =
LSD and psilocybin.  Does anyone know of any accounts or studies (other =
than the usual ones which claim to find increased creativity in randomly =
selected subjects) which justify this claim?  I would be most interested =
in researching such cases.


There was a TV special in the UK last year when i was there
that was on groundbreaking work done by scientists and artists as
a direct result of entheogenic experiences. I'll check with my UK
friends to see if the nameor producers of it are known. I can't
remember too many specific names of those who purported to have done
such work, except that one of them was the guy who got the Nobel prize
for the PCR, polymerase chain reaction.
    Personally, i know a number of scientists who gained useful
insights and concepts that were applied to their subsequent successful
from their experiences with entheogens. These include physicists, 
mathematicians, and neuroscientists. However, given the current
climate, it is doubtful that they would allow such information to
be made public, unfortunately. Given this, though, I wonder if a
confidential survey of a range of scientists might not turn up the 
data you seek. If you included alcohol and cigarettes (which some
people use as well for stimulation) you might get a fairly 
unbiased view.

valerie gremillion

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