Michael Pollan on the Science and Sublimity of Psychedelics
Conversations with Tyler
Conversations with Tyler
4.8 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 15 August 2018
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Michael Pollan has long been fascinated by nature and the ways we connect and clash with it, with decades of writing covering food, farming, cooking, and architecture. Pollan's latest fascination? Our widespread and ancient desire to use nature to change our consciousness.
He joins Tyler to discuss his research and experience with psychedelics, including what kinds of people most benefit from them, what it can teach us about profundity, how it can change your personality and political views, the importance of culture in shaping the experience, the proper way to integrate it into mainstream practice, and - most importantly of all - whether it's any fun.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.
Recorded July 20th, 2018
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, |
| 0:08.4 | bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems. |
| 0:12.6 | Learn more at mercatis.org. |
| 0:15.3 | And for more conversations, including videos, transcripts, and upcoming dates, visit |
| 0:20.5 | ConversationsWithT Tyler.com. |
| 0:30.7 | I'm here today with Michael Pollan at UC Berkeley. |
| 0:33.8 | Michael is most recently the author of How to Change Your Mind. |
| 0:37.9 | What the new science of psychedelics teaches us about consciousness, dying, addiction, |
| 0:43.0 | depression, and transcendence. |
| 0:44.9 | Every word in that subtitle is indeed important. |
| 0:47.5 | This is a broad book, a very important book. |
| 0:50.2 | It has skyrocketed to being a number one bestseller. |
| 0:53.4 | Michael has many other achievements. |
| 0:55.2 | He is one of our very best and most widely read food writers. |
| 0:59.1 | He is faculty at Berkeley and Harvard and has written books on building, gardening, and |
| 1:04.6 | many other topics. |
| 1:05.6 | Michael, welcome. |
| 1:06.6 | Thank you, Tyler. |
| 1:07.6 | Good to be here. |
| 1:08.6 | My first question. |
| 1:09.6 | Your book considers psychedelics and the benefits we might reap from psychedelics. |
| 1:14.4 | If people have a status quo bias that they're not so willing to try new things, what other |
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