Huxley

Huxley's prose, knowledge of history and personal experience with mescalin made his book more interesting to read than any other thus far in the course. It was interesting how he became unconcerned with people in his immediate surroundings after taking mescalin. This sort of drug induced antisocial behavior he describes seems to coincide with the fact that people who take hallucinogens like to surround themselves with other people who are also under the influence of hallucinogens. Maybe if he had another person tripping with him, his book would have turned out a little bit differently. Anyhow, how do we know that mescalin, mushrooms or LSD produce an experience with numinous qualities and possess any actual intellectual value? The only way to know for certain would be to experiment with the said drugs and see what happens. Until then, we would be solely taking Huxley's word for it, and in doing so, exemplifying the same indoctrinated approach to learning information that is discussed and frowned upon in Pearce's text. As we've already discussed, there are numerous ways to experience an altered state of mind, and not all of them entail taking drugs. Nor do such experiences all result in a person arriving at the same conclusions about the nature of reality. At any rate, ingesting a hallucinogen does seem like the most direct, timely and dramatic way to endure a cognitive journey to an altered frame of mind; however, not everyone will be able to empathize with Huxley's interpretation of the world and human behavior due to their abstention from drug use.