Life In 19x19

Anybody interested in dropping ‪acid‬ and then playing ‪Go‬? The ‪setting‬ may be a little awkward, though



The Beckley Foundation is looking for participants in their “Psychedelics & Creativity Research”:

For the original PDF see http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/wp-con ... /10/GO.pdf.

I might actually contact them, but I guess the travel from Germany to the UK may be more than I’d want to do.

Via this Reddit post … of which I was notified by this share by OGS on FB.

Greetings, Tom

I have no "prior experience" so I guess I don't satisfy their requirements. I'm down the road (rail-road, that is - I'm in Woking) and don't mind being a lab-rat.

I have a little experience playing tournament bridge when stoned on marijuana. Before one session I smoked a whole joint of Panama Red, which was considered strong stuff in those days. When I got to the playing area I was unsure whether I would be able to play, I was so zonked. On the first hand I discovered that I was able to follow suit, so I figured that I could get through the session. On the second hand I was declarer in a slightly difficult hand. I found that visualization had become almost effortless. End result: a score of 206 matchpoints when average was 156, which is quite a good single session score. (For those unfamiliar with tournament bridge, I once tied for 4th and 5th in a large tournament with back to back session scores of 195 and 194.5.)

Another low level pro told me that once when she was stoned on grass at a tournament she had to excuse herself from the table. She went to the ladies' room and asked herself, "What am I doing with my life? Why am I playing this silly game?"

In college I cajoled a friend into playing go stoned on grass. (We were both 4 kyu.) But instead of playing, he just wanted to arrange the stones into interesting patterns. Like a huge White arrow.

I have some experience playing Go stoned … I wonder how it would be to play it sober

Fascinating.

Why Go, I wonder? I would have thought they would have had an easier time looking for participants in other, similar activities.

I've contacted them, anyway (it's unlikely I will be able to participate, but I am qualified and have even been a lab-rat in related research many years ago). I will report back.

If it weren’t in the UK, and if such a journey weren’t impossible for me as it currently is, I would IMMEDIATELY apply for participation. (I meet all the requirements, though “mental health” would probably be disputed controversially )

Hmm there must be a couple of academics in the forum. Perhaps we should put a grant app in for our own study? All in the interest of science you understand I'll volunteer for modafinil (or beer)

My recreational drug use is daily coffee and roughly a beer a week, but I've read fascinating things about research into how hallucinogens might promote creativity. If I weren't so risk averse, I'd probably be tempted.

I would be more interested if they were looking to test the effect of high quality wines on the ability to play go. Although I could tell them the answer without them going to the trouble.

With my luck I'd be in the placebo group.

Hmmmm.... I thought this study was being done some time ago....

I did have some experience with a substance that isn't usually considered hallucinogenic, but does have some hallucinogenic properties if ingested. Or maybe I just thought it did. (Being asthmatic and a non-smoker, I was reluctant to smoke it.)

It smacked me flat on my back, but suddenly I realised I could follow each instrument in some classical music that was playing in the background when before there was just a blur of sounds (nice sounds, but indistinguishable), and some of that effect still remains, although without the visuals. So I suspect that LSD might be totally useless for actually playing at the time, but I do wonder whether it would have some effects that would remain longterm.

Nope... not thinking of volunteering.

Or maybe...?

Nyanjilla wrote:Hmmmm.... I thought this study was being done some time ago....

I did have some experience with a substance that isn't usually considered hallucinogenic, but does have some hallucinogenic properties if ingested. Or maybe I just thought it did. (Being asthmatic and a non-smoker, I was reluctant to smoke it.)

It smacked me flat on my back, but suddenly I realised I could follow each instrument in some classical music that was playing in the background when before there was just a blur of sounds (nice sounds, but indistinguishable), and some of that effect still remains, although without the visuals. So I suspect that LSD might be totally useless for actually playing at the time, but I do wonder whether it would have some effects that would remain longterm.

Nope... not thinking of volunteering.

Or maybe...?

I've often suspected that a mild to moderate hallucinogen might help a great deal in learning go, as you might find it a lot easier to see the connectedness of moves and the flow of the game, as well as visualizing and reading more easily. Never tested it out though, and I'm reluctant to for a variety of reasons.

Bonobo wrote:I have some experience playing Go stoned

Seems to be more beneficial than my single malt Scotch and rye whiskey experiments then, from our current game

*Sigh* Unfortunately I can't spare the time or travel costs for this, otherwise I'd love to go. I haven't had a reliable contact for acid in at least a decade.

Back when I did, playing go was an effort, but not in the normal sense. It was actually easier to play in some ways ( flow and direction took on a life of their own: sentient clouds flowing and rolling across the board ).
But it was difficult to have to continually remind oneself that there was a game to be played, when every object in the room might have cosmic significance that would for a few minutes outweight the importance of the game.