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zakcebulski 's review for:
How to Change Your Mind
by Michael Pollan
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
This was a book that I have had on my shelf for years (stop me if you've heard this one!). I finally got around to reading it after finishing the docuseries that this is based off of.
Michael Pollan is doing amazingly important work that I think should be lauded much more than it is. Pollan, in this work, explores the history of different psychadelics- specifically psylocibin and LSD, as well as DMT.
What I greatly appreciate about this work is that Pollan not only explores the history of these substances, how they came to be used by our ancestors, how they are used today and their battles with legality. I thought that this book was absolutely fascinating.
I like that Pollan does not preach the benefits of these substances while having never touched them- instead- he uses them and discusses his feelings towards them.
I think that reading a firsthand account of these trips is beyond beneficial for readers who may be interested in these substances but are apprehensive to their effects.
I think that the criminality of these drugs is beyond stupid and prevents them from being used for the betterment of people who are suffering from different mental illnesses.
Furthermore, Pollan's writing is great in that he covers these topics from a subjective but as well an objective front wherein he discusses the good and the bad of these substances.
I love reading the history of LSD and how it was synthesized in the midst of the second world war. I thought that reading about the experts of the field and the way that these drugs were/ are utilized is fucking amazing to read about and it gives me hope that this front will continue to be explored in the future.
Overall, this was an absolutely fascinating read that I think importantly covers the topic totally, both the good and bad- which is what it needs. Psychadelics is a science that has very unfortunately been looked down upon, and the research into the topic has been stunted because of government overreach. While I do not think that this book is going to change the world, I do hope that it will help some people who are interested in psychadelics take them without worrying about detrimental ramifications.
With all of that being said, I think that this work is amazingly important- so much to the fact that I think this could ignite a research wave that truly would change the world for the better. Psychadelics are a beautiful thing that should be researched more, not to be understood, but, to be used more to help those in need.