it's only going to get faster and faster. job losses, fear of job losses, an unprecedented reshuffling of our social and economic order. in psychology there's something known as eustress. it's the anxiety we feel when good things like new jobs and weddings happen. so those of us who will benefit greatly from our rapidly approaching brave new world will not be immune to the challenges to come during these next few years.
we can either risk suffering all of this as it happens or we can proactively prepare ourselves and our institutions for what lies ahead. the irony here is that the same ai that is catalyzing this will also be our greatest tool for dealing with it.
in record time ai has already discovered a new class of antibiotics. it has discovered new materials including a major advance in lithium batteries. it will hopefully help us reverse climate change. but for now, its most important use may be in developing the medicines that will ensure that we navigate all of the good we're moving into in the best possible way.
entheogens are substances, often psychoactive plants or chemicals, that induce expanded states of consciousness. the term "entheogen" is derived from greek words meaning "generating the divine within." they can also be used to manage anxiety, depression, psychosis, alienation, loneliness and other forms of psychological distress.
most of us are already familiar with the entheogen, cannabis. but there are others. here are some of the major ones:
psilocybin (magic mushrooms) have been shown in clinical studies to facilitate a profound emotional and spiritual experience that can lead to a lasting sense of peace and reduced anxiety.
ayahuasca, traditionally used in shamanic rituals, has been studied for its potential to treat depression and anxiety. its active ingredient, dmt, may help individuals process emotional traumas and achieve psychological insights, leading to improvements in well-being and reductions in anxiety symptoms.
peyote (mescaline) has been found to reduce anxiety and stress.
mdma, (commonly known as ecstasy) is being studied for its use in treating ptsd, and help patients process trauma in a therapeutic setting.
these new medicines are powerful, and must of course be used with due care and respect. how does ai fit into all of this? new ai protocols can be developed to create safer and more effective analogs of these medicines. today's antianxiety, antidepressant and other psychotropic medicines have significant harmful side effects, weight gain and addiction being common. ai can help us create a new field of entheogenic medicine that can help us solve these problems.
but their greatest benefit may be in how they expand our state of consciousness, how they expand our minds. essentially, they can help us develop healthier new perspectives regarding who we are as individuals that can be indispensable to our better understanding and adapting to the coming wave of ai-induced change that will effect every level of society.
if we are wise, we will pursue this promising new avenue now, and not wait until we perhaps find ourselves way in over our heads with all of the challenges our world will meet as exponential ai advances. sure, there is money to be made from this pioneering enterprise. but it's main benefit is that it will ensure that we preserve and protect our sanity and well-being while we push forward toward a future that at this point we all acknowledge is inevitable, and coming much faster than many of us yet realize. i hope we will have the courage and faith to meet this bold new challenge now rather than later.
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