Changing your mind has seldom been so interesting

I had rarely heard the word 'psychedelics' before encountering this audio book, recommended by Yuval Noah Harari in The Guardian Review. Michael Pollan has done a compelling research on a topic that has had little importance or interest in my life so far and a negative touch to it. This book reveals a great varieties in which to meet and undertand psychedelics, casting light on different ways of perceiving their impact on our society - both historically and with an attempt to look at their future, while also being a very personal encounter. I highy enjoyed listenig to the author reading his book and it sparked of some quite interesting discussions with myself so far.

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Changed my mind

Helped me a lot changing my perspective and it gives you a lot of inside in the world as a whole. If you look for for something new a new way of thinking this is your book Also if you just wanna learn something this is it aswell Or if you are on the edge of taking any drugs this is it aswell

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Finally

Our culture needs this book to restart the conversation about psychedelics. The strength of this book is, in my mind, two fold. The first is the extensive research Michael has done for it; it is immediately clear that this is a serious endevour, not some wigged out hippie's soap box. And two, that he starts from the default position, which is that of a skeptic. Michael is nearly the same age as my parents, and his initial outlook and biases against psychedelics was very familiar to me. It is for this reason I think this book can be transformative as others who share his initial views can potentially, logically, come full circle. The only criticism I have is that he too often was making excuses for thoughts that he assumed could come off as unprobable or strange. Personally, there was nothing controversial about the musings or conclusions he put forward, it was all totally obvious stuff. That said, he may have done this to directly speak to more skeptical people. Well done, Michael! And thank you.

Wonderful insight to a largely misunderstood topic

Great research packed tightly together in an easy to follow experience. Spanning the past up to the present doted with personal anecdotes. Easy to listen, and inspiring.

Insightful, convincing and sensible

Great book! very insightful, with sound and convincing arguments combined with a sensible view on the topic. The narration by the author makes it very personal and vivid. Very much worth listening to or reading this book for anyone interested in learning about psychedelics beyond recreational use.

very good journalism

impressive work. very well researched. very well written. and i am enchanted by the many different views he takes on the subject. be it psychological, medical, spiritual, theological or historical

Keep an open mind

Loved every aspect of it and the struggle of the author to accept the esoteric part just as it is. Instead he is trying to reason and find empirical research and provides examples of recent developments in the field of psychedelic psychotherapy. But this doesn't imply that the writing is boring rather it tries to mediate the fact of the profound effect or underlying magic of psychedelic on our minds.

Excellent book on psychedelics

Balanced views, clear thinking, funny, pleasant voice, great insights I did not have before although I know some things about the topic. Came here after the podcast with sam Harris. Was not disappointed, I highly recommend the book to those interested in psychedelics, its history and application to depression, trauma, terminal illness and last but not least spirituality even for those who don't consider themselves religious.

all you need to know about psychedelics

Michael Polland did an amazing job talking about the history of psychedelics, how the general public opinion formed and what the futre for psychedelics could be, he is always analytical and down to earth even in his trip reports he makes sense of what he experienced and gives everybody a good understanding how taking psychedelics feels like.. I was experimenting with those drugs when I was younger at the age of 20 and in recent years now at the age of 40 I thought about going back to experience some more, work pushed me too far in a pattern of perfection and I started to get depressed and life felt like I'm missing out on something, Pollands book is the ideal guide to get into the material again..

Breathtaking, a must read!

Don't miss it, fascinating, compelling, it has live changing qualities, change for the better that is!