The above image was made with stable diffusion using the prompt 'Drugs, Tech, and UFOs.'
As a kid in the '90s, I consumed large quantities of psychedelic drugs. I took LSD until my tolerance became such that it no longer had any effect. At 16, under the guidance of a dubious mentor, I ate nearly an ounce of magic mushrooms in one go and was transported out of my body and into a galaxy of colorful shapes. A year later, I took enough mescaline to transform me into a screeching prehistoric bird hovering over my body.
My life during that time was impossibly troubled. But I never saw psychedelics as an escape from my problems. My intention was always to seek out solutions to those problems in non-ordinary reality. The solutions I was after weren't forthcoming, so I kept trying. DMT. Salvia. Various tree barks and seeds. I tried many things, experimenting into my early twenties.
I never found the answers I was looking for in my psychedelic experiences. But I found other answers. Other answers and other worlds, some populated by intelligent entities. These experiences also left me unafraid of death, and the dead have been casually showing up in my dreams ever since. All of this turns out to be excellent fodder for the science fiction stories I write.
These days, psychedelic medicine has gone from fringe to mainstream. More and more people are journeying and everyone is microdosing. A friend today told me about encountering beings of light with a message of love and cooperation during a DMT trip/sound healing session. I like the idea of more and more people having experiences like that.
The psychedelic renaissance now underway coincides with the emergence of increasingly trippy technology and UFO disclosure. This is notable because all three things naturally challenge our assumptions about reality; about what is possible. The world is changing quickly, and these things remind us that our story is not the whole story.
Drugs, tech, and UFOs each put us into contact with ourselves in a new way. Sometimes the effect is minor, but sometimes it's life-changing. Looking back, I can credit psychedelics with stripping me of undesirable religious programming from childhood and with making it seem possible to give up alcohol. A relative saw a massive flying saucer many years ago and ever since has found the memory a source of wonder and amazement. And we all know people who completely changed their lives after discovering blockchain.
All of this of course comes with a warning label. Some people shouldn't take drugs period. Some people have non-ordinary experiences and blow them way out of proportion, becoming egomaniacal and dogmatic about their versions of the truth. I have a friend that sees UFOs whenever he forgets to take his meds. And multitudes of people are wrapped in tech, oblivious to the world beyond their sensors.
Despite their downsides, I believe that drugs, tech, and UFOs are all having a broadly positive impact on society. In a sense, they're tools for considering both the present moment and the future from previously inaccessible perspectives. Soon, we'll have immersive VR, corporate psilocybin, and seemingly incontrovertible evidence of extraterrestrial visitations. I'm looking forward to seeing what that does to our collective psyche.
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