Comment by vmception | Hacker News Reader

Comment by vmception | Hacker News Reader

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When I do “tranquil” things like being on a trail I mostly wind up thinking about others things I can be doing

Like I get motivated to do things I’m procrastinating on, except now I’m in the middle of a trail and cant

This can have redeeming benefits like sorting out thoughts for things I hadnt considered and I can enjoy it when I get into it, but this is a different experience than psychadelics

Also not all trails I can get into. Some start boring and stay boring.

An exercise high where you zone off into your thoughts and get a (theorized) release of dopamine and serotonin from your muscles aching is very different than psychedelics

Some/Many people on the trails around you are also on psychadelics. You shouldnt be able to tell, but especially if they are microdosing.

I would say while using psychadelics that stimuli guides your thoughts differently. Your mind is sorting different things. And primarily different neuron groups are communicating that typically aren’t, or are now communicating at higher bandwidth. This is all theorized based on shared experiences and some MRIs that show enhanced activity but arent capable of corroborating how neurons are connected. The serotonin released is also considered to be amplified. For many, this has redeeming benefits. More study is needed so at least less redeeming side effects can be listed on the bottle like every fda evaluated drug.

Being in the woods and being on psychadelics isnt mutually exclusive

> Like I get motivated to do things I’m procrastinating on, except now I’m in the middle of a trail and cant

This is a really common phenomenon. We also experience it in the shower or laying in bed at night.

I think the common understanding is that it's a dumb little trick our anxiety is playing on us. One of the main reasons we procrastinate is fear: that we will fail at the task, that it will be too hard, that it will impinge on our picture of ourselves in some way. So we know we're supposed to do it, but we also don't want to.

When we're in a situation where we could work on it, those procrastinating rationalizations rise up to let us escape the risk of those negative experiences. But if we're in a situation where we can't do the task we're afraid of, there's no reason to put the unconscious mental effort into summoning those mental blocks. So we experience that as "I feel really motivated right now but I can't."

What's really going on is that you're equally motivated all the time, you just have other negative stuff layered on top at points when you could be doing the thing. Work through that negative stuff, and you'll feel just as motivated even when you are able to do the task.

Doesn't happen on psychedelics though

Its all replaced with a deconstructive process. Deconstructive of the mental model and fabric of reality.

Might result in insight into something you’re procrastinating on

Might just make your stomach hurt and question if this is a good or bad drug

Very different than just removing anxiety distractions

Marcel Proust wrote a piece on the subject.

> since within twenty-four hours, in the empty frame of that long morrow in which everything was so well arranged because I myself had not yet entered it, my good intentions would be realised without difficulty ... Unfortunately the morrow was not that vast, external day to which I in my fever had looked forward. When it drew to a close, my laziness and my painful struggle to overcome certain internal obstacles had simply lasted twenty-four hours longer.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/63532/63532-h/63532-h.htm

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