Huxley

It was interesting because Huxley seemed very concerened with the experiences of other individuals, even when he was having his own experience. It is interesting that this mescalin could cause so much color and beauty and even awareness of what is happening in the universe. It seemed like his hallucinations got stronger after the cerebral sugar shortage was wearing off and that he was still having pretty intense visions. I did think he did a good job at relaying his experience to the reader. I thought it was kind of neat.

Later on I thought it was interesting that he said that, "We now spend a good deal more on drink and smoke than we spend on education. This of course, is not surprising. The urge to escape from selfhood and the environment is in almost everyone almost all the time."(63) I thought that was interesting, because I don't think that society spends more time on drink and smoke then on education. Perhaps parts of society do, but that is a pretty large claim to make. Also, I don't have the urge to escape myself almost all the time. Honestly, I never thought that much about it until I had this class. I just felt like he is making a lot of statements and he is not backing them up. He also says, "What is needed is a new drug which will relieve and console our suffering species without doing more harm in the long run than it does good in the short."(65) I guess it is better to have a drug like this opposed to cigarettes and alcohol, but I don't feel that drugs are that crucial. Even when Huxley explains what is gained by a drug, I still cannot understand it. I really don't believe one can understand until they experience it, and I think the only reason people do drugs is because of curiosity.

I feel like even people who have experienced drugs and hypnosis still don't understand it. Huxley even mentions that nobody knows how and why hypnosis effects people. What is the point in going to another state of consciousness if we won't understand it. I'm a very curious person. Therefore, I would not be satisfied in having an experience in which I don't understand. Overall, I feel like altered states of consciousness won't be fascinating for long, because people will just look at them from a scientific approach. They will apply so much meaning and so many terms that the mystery will be erased. Eventually, altered states of consciousness will become just as dull as normal states of consciousness.

Also, I found this quote by Huxley interesting. "Unconsciously to myself, I looked at a film of sand I had picked up on my hand, when I suddenly saw the exquisite beauty of every little grain of it; instead of being dull, I saw that each particle was made up on a perfect geometrical pattern..." (94) This quote in general reminded me of Walt Whitman because he sees beauty in everything. Maybe he was on some kind of drug. I don't know.