Waking Up with Sam Harris

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways

• The question of who should take psychedelics can only be answered by the individual
  • If you feel there’s a reason you shouldn’t take a psychedelic, listen to that
• Psychedelics are immensely sensitive to 
  • Set: Your mental attitude
  • Setting: Your physical environment and the people around you
    • If you have therapeutic intentions, an indoor setting would be better
  • Life Situation
• Taking psychedelics recreationally is more dangerous than most people think
• If you want to have a safe high-dose experience take value from it, it is essential to have a guide, or at least a companion or a designated driver
  • A guide makes it much easier to get out of negative experiences
• “If you get the message, hang up the phone. For psychedelic drugs are simply instruments, like microscopes, telescopes, and telephones” Alan Watts
• Reported benefits with micro-dosing
  • More effective at work and in the gym
  • More creative
  • Enjoyed time with family more than usual
  • Increase arousal
    • Not indicated for people suffering anxiety

Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.org

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with James Fadiman about the psychedelic experience. They discuss who should and shouldn’t take psychedelics, set and setting, the role of a guide, the effects of microdosing, the difference between MDMA and true psychedelics, “good” and “bad” trips, the power of thought, the fiction of a unified self, changing states of self, compassion, and other topics.

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