Peter Stafford, RIP

July 21, 2007 10:15 PM

Peter Stafford, psychedelics investigator and author of the Psychedelics Encyclopedia (PDF preview), has died. [Via BB.]
posted by homunculus (17 comments total)

Right after Tammy Faye Bakker/Messner? That's a hell of a sense of humour.
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:16 PM on July 21, 2007

Here's a recent article about Owsley: For the unrepentant patriarch of LSD, long, strange trip winds back to Bay Area
posted by homunculus at 10:24 PM on July 21, 2007

It would appear, however, that LSD is successful in homosexual problems because it can reveal early traumas which underlie the condition.

I respect his exploration into LSD and psychedelics, but his book on LSD (co-written by Bonnie Golightly a.k.a. Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's), was ineffectually weak on the subject. No empirical evidence, but anecdotes that fueled the misconception that LSD was such a powerful drug it could change the essence of your character.
posted by geoff. at 10:41 PM on July 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

(@)
posted by reality at 10:43 PM on July 21, 2007

purple micro .
posted by Poolio at 10:48 PM on July 21, 2007

LSD assisted psychotherapy study to start in Switzerland
posted by homunculus at 10:55 PM on July 21, 2007

Good point, geoff. A lot of the early work was pretty sloppy. And that part, yeesh... But the new research that's being done is much more professional.
posted by homunculus at 11:42 PM on July 21, 2007

Phew. I saw Pope Guilty's post and thought he meant Messner!
posted by neckro23 at 3:42 AM on July 22, 2007

er, Messner.
posted by neckro23 at 3:43 AM on July 22, 2007

Arrgh: Link to has died says absolutely nothing about how he died. Is this helpful?
posted by Xurando at 5:41 AM on July 22, 2007

Is there a good reason why our current times aren't producing people as interesting as this? Other than the inadequate supplies of LSD?
posted by imperium at 6:43 AM on July 22, 2007

It may be selection bias, but I do think that the experience of doing LSD does often change people. Most people I know who have done it seem more intellectually curious and adventurous and more willing to believe that things aren't what they may seem at first.

By now, I don't know the kind of person I'd have been had I not done it, but it certainly FELT like a life changing experience.
posted by empath at 8:26 AM on July 22, 2007

LSD, The Problem Solving Psychedelic is a great book, albeit perhaps a little bit dated.

Thanks, homunculus for this post and the link to the Owsley article as well.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 8:45 AM on July 22, 2007

.
posted by jdfalk at 9:14 AM on July 22, 2007

Trippy Animation Raises Questions
posted by homunculus at 12:18 PM on July 22, 2007

I met this guy at a talk he gave (unofficially) at a dorm lounge at my college about 7 years ago. He was on far too much speed to make any sense at all, and spent the night on a friend's floor. He left a visible sweat stain on the carpet.

I don't know much about his previous work, but he definitely became a bit of a crank in his later years. It's really a shame that the champions of research into psychedelics and consciousness get pushed into the underground, where they are much more likely to get caught up in addictions and become exactly the sort of caricature that makes them easy to discredit.

Sorry to hear that he's gone.
posted by contraption at 12:31 PM on July 22, 2007

They don't come in threes.
They don't come in threes.
They don't come in threes.
I keep telling myself.
They don't come in threes...
posted by ZachsMind at 7:36 PM on July 22, 2007