psilocybin mushrooms improve hearing?, opinions Options

[FloggedSynapse]

I'm just throwing this out, I don't care if the mods move or delete this post.

For the past several years I've had a very nice cache of cyan mushrooms. Yes the psychoactive ones. The ones that make you trip.

I've noticed something interesting - I think they improve my hearing. If I take just a small amount, like a nickel sized piece of shroom flesh - not enough to trip, it makes my hearing more acute. I swear. I'm almost 40, have good hearing normally. I find I become much more sensitive to high frequency sounds (like my CRT, computer power supply and fans) and I think my hearing overall becomes more acute. Suddenly I can hear the neighbors in my apartment complex much more clearly (having good hearing can be a bit of a curse).

I doubt the drug changes the mechanics of hearing, but it does tweak the nerve conduction and sensory processing. It's thought that most of perception is unconscious and a lot of stuff gets filtered before it reaches the level of conscious perception. Perhaps the drug removes some of this filtering?

I've read a few accounts online that agree with this, including one person with moderate hearing loss that found low doses of shrooms helped his hearing greatly.

It would be interesting to actually measure this and see if there's a real difference in hearing acuity, or if it's all in your head

[Nick E]

Why the Latinate name? See George Orwell: Politics and the English Language:

An interesting illustration of this is the way in which the English flower names which were in use till very recently are being ousted by Greek ones, snapdragon becoming antirrhinum, forget-me-not becoming myosotis, etc. It is hard to see any practical reason for this change of fashion: it is probably due to an instinctive turning-awayfrom the more homely word and a vague feeling that the Greek word is scientific.

http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit

There's a perfectly good English name for these: liberty cap mushrooms.

Do they "help" hearing in some (undefined) manner? Or would someone who's consumed some falsely imagine that they had?

I suppose that could be tested in controlled experiments. I can't see it happening, since this would risk the health of the participants, so what reputable academic institution would undertake such experiments?

If an academic institution were to be interested in how altered states of consciousness might affect hearing (or any other sense) I'd suggest Buddhist monks used to meditating would be a better bet.

[FloggedSynapse]

Why the Latinate name? See George Orwell: Politics and the English Language:

An interesting illustration of this is the way in which the English flower names which were in use till very recently are being ousted by Greek ones, snapdragon becoming antirrhinum, forget-me-not becoming myosotis, etc. It is hard to see any practical reason for this change of fashion: it is probably due to an instinctive turning-awayfrom the more homely word and a vague feeling that the Greek word is scientific.

http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit

There's a perfectly good English name for these: liberty cap mushrooms.

Next time I'll just call them shrooms. Happy? Technically the ones I had were NOT liberty caps - there are many different species of psychoactive mushrooms, what I had were found outdoors along the west coast of the US - 'cyan cubensis' or something like that. 'Cyan' because they have a blueish color. They're one of the most potent varieties of 'magic mushrooms'.

I suppose that could be tested in controlled experiments. I can't see it happening, since this would risk the health of the participants, so what reputable academic institution would undertake such experiments?

First off mushrooms do not damage your health - that's rubbish. Well you certainly may not be comfortable while 'under the influence' you aren't going to be physically harmed by them. As I tried to mention in my original post a very low dose - below what it would take to trip - is all that's needed to effect hearing. Anyway I agree we're not going to be seeing any controlled testing in the area anytime soon, hence my asking for opinions here.

If an academic institution were to be interested in how altered states of consciousness might affect hearing (or any other sense) I'd suggest Buddhist monks used to meditating would be a better bet.

I fail to see how this relates to shrooms altering hearing. That would be a different test