"Hitting a bong is using all four elements at once."
April 6, 2025 1:33 PM Subscribe
If we ask what cannabis can do for philosophy, on the contrary, I think that the disappointing answer is – not very much. It is a well-worn cliché that the halo of brilliance surrounding our thinking when we are high does not generally stand the test of critical evaluation in the sober aftermath. I do not personally believe that using cannabis can enhance philosophical creativity or produce insights or ideas, let alone good philosophical solutions to important philosophical problems that would not otherwise occur to a philosopher straight. from Philosophers Stoned by Dale Jacquette
I have it on good authority that Fredric Jameson wrote Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism while hitting the bong and watching network TV non-stop for a couple of weeks.
posted by 3.2.3 at 1:59 PM on April 6 [6 favorites]
posted by 3.2.3 at 1:59 PM on April 6 [6 favorites]
all i know is cannabis will get you through times of no philosophy better than philosophy will get get you through times of no cannabis
remember the fabulous furry freak brothers?
posted by pyramid termite at 2:02 PM on April 6 [38 favorites]
remember the fabulous furry freak brothers?
posted by pyramid termite at 2:02 PM on April 6 [38 favorites]
Shades of "I drive better when I'm drunk"
posted by eustatic at 2:06 PM on April 6 [6 favorites]
posted by eustatic at 2:06 PM on April 6 [6 favorites]
in my experience there's only one drug for doing philosophy, a drug which as Sartre said (i'm paraphrasing) turns thoughts into words on the page. marijuana perhaps opens one up to experience the sublime, because it is the sublime, you can't say much about after experiencing it. but if you've got an nagging thought that you have a new result in say, mereology, and you want to work through the literature, enumerate the counter arguments, and develop your nagging thought into a beautifully constructed theorem with an elegant proof, there's nothing better than the much maligned and demonized but magical salt of d-amphetamine. I wish it was easier to come by. Meth: it's for thinking.
posted by dis_integration at 2:10 PM on April 6 [9 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 2:10 PM on April 6 [9 favorites]
Well, yeah. Cannabis isn't supposed to help you think; it's for making your brain shut up shut up shut up for just one goddamn minute.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:16 PM on April 6 [27 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:16 PM on April 6 [27 favorites]
using cannabis can increase heart attack and stroke
posted by robbyrobs at 2:26 PM on April 6 [1 favorite]
posted by robbyrobs at 2:26 PM on April 6 [1 favorite]
I do not personally believe that using cannabis can enhance philosophical creativity or produce insights or ideas...Yeah? Well, you know, that's just like uh, your opinion, man.
posted by jeremias at 2:34 PM on April 6 [26 favorites]
using cannabis can increase heart attack and stroke
You misspelled "smoking".
posted by Lemkin at 2:35 PM on April 6 [17 favorites]
You misspelled "smoking".
posted by Lemkin at 2:35 PM on April 6 [17 favorites]
It doesn’t make me more productive or give me insights, but I do think about my life and access memories (long term) more when I’m high AF. I think it shuts down my busy active part of my brain a bit and allows other parts to speak.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 2:58 PM on April 6 [4 favorites]
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 2:58 PM on April 6 [4 favorites]
Like "Was Stone Temple Pilots the Grand Funk Railroad of the 90s?.
(llustration by Ralph Steadman)
"On December 18, 1927, at three-thirty in the morning, Walter Benjamin began writing a memorandum titled “Main Features of My First Impression of Hashish.” It is characteristic of Benjamin that the first fact he thought it necessary to record was not the time he had taken the drug but the time he started writing about it"
posted by clavdivs at 3:03 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
(llustration by Ralph Steadman)
"On December 18, 1927, at three-thirty in the morning, Walter Benjamin began writing a memorandum titled “Main Features of My First Impression of Hashish.” It is characteristic of Benjamin that the first fact he thought it necessary to record was not the time he had taken the drug but the time he started writing about it"
posted by clavdivs at 3:03 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
"ear"
posted by clavdivs at 3:04 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 3:04 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
Article: meh.
Title of this post: absolute fire.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 3:40 PM on April 6 [9 favorites]
Title of this post: absolute fire.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 3:40 PM on April 6 [9 favorites]
Being.
And time.
That's where it's really at, you know?
posted by Lemkin at 3:49 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
And time.
That's where it's really at, you know?
posted by Lemkin at 3:49 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
but if you've got an nagging thought that you have a new result in say, mereology, and you want to work through the literature, enumerate the counter arguments, and develop your nagging thought into a beautifully constructed theorem with an elegant proof, there's nothing better than ...
...caffeine. Preferably via espresso.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:21 PM on April 6 [4 favorites]
...caffeine. Preferably via espresso.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:21 PM on April 6 [4 favorites]
Sartre said of his amphetamine abuse, “I could live longer, or I could write Critique of Dialectical Reason. I made my choice.”
posted by Lemkin at 5:00 PM on April 6 [8 favorites]
posted by Lemkin at 5:00 PM on April 6 [8 favorites]
Coding while high is pure bliss.
posted by whatevernot at 5:24 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
posted by whatevernot at 5:24 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
but if you've got an nagging thought that you have a new result in say, mereology, and you want to work through the literature, enumerate the counter arguments, and develop your nagging thought into a beautifully constructed theorem with an elegant proof, there's nothing better than ...
. . . Lysergsäure-diethylamid. Around 1991, Pynchon made so much sense on three hits of double-dip.
posted by vitia at 5:26 PM on April 6 [6 favorites]
. . . Lysergsäure-diethylamid. Around 1991, Pynchon made so much sense on three hits of double-dip.
posted by vitia at 5:26 PM on April 6 [6 favorites]
on the plus side, hegel makes sense
posted by graywyvern at 5:39 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
posted by graywyvern at 5:39 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
Doing philosophy on heroic quantities of amphetamines is also how you get Nick Land, so I'm all in for giving the thinkers weed instead.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:07 PM on April 6 [7 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:07 PM on April 6 [7 favorites]
Well, yeah. Cannabis isn't supposed to help you think; it's for making your brain shut up shut up shut up for just one goddamn minute.
Man this couldn’t be further from my experience (until you put a movie on or something).
posted by atoxyl at 6:13 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
Man this couldn’t be further from my experience (until you put a movie on or something).
posted by atoxyl at 6:13 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
Row, fisherman, row.
Well, yeah. Cannabis isn't supposed to help you think; it's for making your brain shut up shut up shut up for just one goddamn minute
These things are not mutually exclusive.
Chill out.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:25 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
Well, yeah. Cannabis isn't supposed to help you think; it's for making your brain shut up shut up shut up for just one goddamn minute
These things are not mutually exclusive.
Chill out.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:25 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
Coding while high is pure bliss.
Behold the powers of free CAD software and over an ounce of pure THC: front, back, x-ray.
I just sent it off to manufacturing a couple hours ago (it's Monday morning in Shenzhen). I'm confident there are no mistakes.
posted by ryanrs at 7:56 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
Behold the powers of free CAD software and over an ounce of pure THC: front, back, x-ray.
I just sent it off to manufacturing a couple hours ago (it's Monday morning in Shenzhen). I'm confident there are no mistakes.
posted by ryanrs at 7:56 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
Think of it as doodling while high, with a $600 bet at the end that your drawing is objectively correct.
posted by ryanrs at 8:03 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 8:03 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]
I do not personally believe that using cannabis can enhance philosophical creativity or produce insights or ideas...
somebody needs to have smoked at least as much marijuana (etc) as I have before I'll bother to take their insights seriously as to its usefulness (or not) as a tool toward quality creative breakthroughs and whatnot. Something that has definitely worked for me in the writing dept is to work a couple or three hours on something pretty much straight, then have a toke or two, then (when things maybe get a little fuzzy) a proper strong coffee, then after you've blasted off in various directions for a while ... your day's work is done. Attend to other concerns. Tend your garden. Eat food. Talk to friends. Argue with bots on Youtube. Take the dog for a walk.
Then upon waking the next day, repeat the above, starting with the tangled, sometimes beautiful stuff you left off with.
posted by philip-random at 8:20 PM on April 6 [9 favorites]
somebody needs to have smoked at least as much marijuana (etc) as I have before I'll bother to take their insights seriously as to its usefulness (or not) as a tool toward quality creative breakthroughs and whatnot. Something that has definitely worked for me in the writing dept is to work a couple or three hours on something pretty much straight, then have a toke or two, then (when things maybe get a little fuzzy) a proper strong coffee, then after you've blasted off in various directions for a while ... your day's work is done. Attend to other concerns. Tend your garden. Eat food. Talk to friends. Argue with bots on Youtube. Take the dog for a walk.
Then upon waking the next day, repeat the above, starting with the tangled, sometimes beautiful stuff you left off with.
posted by philip-random at 8:20 PM on April 6 [9 favorites]
please call this material cannabis. it aint "marijuana"
posted by The_Auditor at 8:25 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
posted by The_Auditor at 8:25 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]
Behold the powers of free CAD software and over an ounce of pure THC...I'm confident there are no mistakes.
I dare you to say that again after you've sobered up.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:39 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
I dare you to say that again after you've sobered up.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:39 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
I've been saying that since I started.
There might be some back-and-forth with the factory, tweaks to the layout. But no hand-assembled prototype. I'm doing a 10 unit run on a pick-and-place, with X-ray inspection but no software self-test, because I haven't written any software yet.
posted by ryanrs at 8:46 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
There might be some back-and-forth with the factory, tweaks to the layout. But no hand-assembled prototype. I'm doing a 10 unit run on a pick-and-place, with X-ray inspection but no software self-test, because I haven't written any software yet.
posted by ryanrs at 8:46 PM on April 6 [2 favorites]
That Night Owls series from the second link looks very cool.
posted by latkes at 10:00 PM on April 6 [1 favorite]
posted by latkes at 10:00 PM on April 6 [1 favorite]
I noticed thirty years ago that cannabis and creativity didn’t mix for me, although I appreciate that it works for other people - but the longer I have worked in creative sectors the less I have seen people using cannabis. I do know a mathematician who swears that a hangover is good for his work
posted by The River Ivel at 12:35 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]
posted by The River Ivel at 12:35 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]
from the second link :
“Is Philosophy a Blood Sport?”
no.
(last link:)
“where earlier cartographers had found many shoals, i found few; where others found barren & dangerous islands, i saw lands that looked increasingly interesting as i drew closer”
posted by HearHere at 1:29 AM on April 7
“Is Philosophy a Blood Sport?”
no.
(last link:)
“where earlier cartographers had found many shoals, i found few; where others found barren & dangerous islands, i saw lands that looked increasingly interesting as i drew closer”
posted by HearHere at 1:29 AM on April 7
Re: cannabis, weed, and marihuana, vegetating, and productivity.
Relax Your Mind, by Jay Ungar & Molly Mason
When my mind's relaxed I code better.
When my mind's relaxed I enjoy watching Maverick reruns.
Getting high is a world of contrasts.
posted by mikelieman at 6:47 AM on April 7 [3 favorites]
Relax Your Mind, by Jay Ungar & Molly Mason
When my mind's relaxed I code better.
When my mind's relaxed I enjoy watching Maverick reruns.
Getting high is a world of contrasts.
posted by mikelieman at 6:47 AM on April 7 [3 favorites]
Have you tried not being sober? :)
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 6:55 AM on April 7
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 6:55 AM on April 7
I think it shuts down my busy active part of my brain a bit and allows other parts to speak.
For me, it allows my intuition to come to the surface and speak much more clearly when the always on part of my brain finally shuts up.
posted by Savannah at 7:54 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]
For me, it allows my intuition to come to the surface and speak much more clearly when the always on part of my brain finally shuts up.
posted by Savannah at 7:54 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]
As a very late in life stoner, weed makes me listen to music more intently, enjoy absolutely ridiculous movies I might have never watched, enjoy folding laundry and other minor chores, and when the dosage is juuuuuust right, makes running errands downtown really awesome. (Note: I live in a walkable area so obv not driving anywhere.)
posted by Kitteh at 7:56 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]
posted by Kitteh at 7:56 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]
This is the wrong question, for me. Weed is good when I'm in a funk and need to reset my thought process. Using weed habitually (like any other drug) means you just get into a different funk. But if I want to throw a wrench into my writer's block, a good session every month or two isn't bad for it. Do a little sketching and musing in the old notebook, then get to work on it when I'm sober.
posted by es_de_bah at 9:23 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]
posted by es_de_bah at 9:23 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]
METAFILTER: makes me listen to music more intently, enjoy absolutely ridiculous movies I might have never watched, enjoy folding laundry and other minor chores,
posted by philip-random at 9:51 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]
posted by philip-random at 9:51 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]
As a very late in life stoner, weed makes me listen to music more intently, enjoy absolutely ridiculous movies I might have never watched, enjoy folding laundry and other minor chores...
Agree on listening to music more intently. As for chores, cleaning house is my first urge: Put on some dub and dust and scrub and straighten.
posted by y2karl at 2:59 PM on April 8 [2 favorites]
Agree on listening to music more intently. As for chores, cleaning house is my first urge: Put on some dub and dust and scrub and straighten.
posted by y2karl at 2:59 PM on April 8 [2 favorites]
Weed circuit board update: I probably have to pull the plug because of Trump tariffs. I'm not paying 104% extortion on something I designed myself.
I can't believe the Republican president got into a pissing match with China re. who can raise their taxes the most. What the actual fuck?
posted by ryanrs at 10:26 PM on April 8 [1 favorite]
I can't believe the Republican president got into a pissing match with China re. who can raise their taxes the most. What the actual fuck?
posted by ryanrs at 10:26 PM on April 8 [1 favorite]
« Older "I don't know that we can come back to Earth at... | Competent Intelligent Adult Newer »
posted by Lemkin at 1:52 PM on April 6 [13 favorites]