WI: No Timothy Leary

Just off the top of my head, I can think of about a half-dozen or so medical drugs that crossed over into recreational usage(and that's not including the various permutations of opium). So we can probably assume that the same thing would have happened with LSD, with or without Dr. Leary's contribution. Though Leary might have had some effect on the particular way in which it snuck its way into the culture.

Maybe without Leary, acid is seen as less of a transcendental experience and more just something that people do for kicks. But with the hippie thing in full bloom by the time it gets into the youth culture, maybe it was inevitable that it would be associated with the pursuit of mystical experiences.
 
There are a number of people who would replace him. Dr. Richard Alpert is likely still in charge of the Harvard Psilocybin Project. He could be the drug guru rather than becoming Ram Dass. Aldous Huxley's Doors of Perception is probably more prominent ITTL.
 
Just off the top of my head, I can think of about a half-dozen or so medical drugs that crossed over into recreational usage(and that's not including the various permutations of opium). So we can probably assume that the same thing would have happened with LSD, with or without Dr. Leary's contribution. Though Leary might have had some effect on the particular way in which it snuck its way into the culture.

Maybe without Leary, acid is seen as less of a transcendental experience and more just something that people do for kicks. But with the hippie thing in full bloom by the time it gets into the youth culture, maybe it was inevitable that it would be associated with the pursuit of mystical experiences.
Or, if Dr. Alpert is the drug man, psychedelics would be seen as more spiritual.
 
Or, if Dr. Alpert is the drug man, psychedelics would be seen as more spiritual.

And on the other end, there's the quote from Hunter S. Thompson(never a huge fan, just recall it from Trivial Pursuit): "I don't get into all that "seeing God" shit, I just like to take a bunch of pills and see what happens."

It would be interesting to see a timeline where the Leary/Ram Dass approach is totally jettisoned, and psychoactive drugs are just viewed as something people do for kicks, subject to no more philosophical significance than guzzling a can of beer.
 

hammo1j

Donor
Yeah there's plenty of times I tried 'cid while necking the beer and wanting to not pass out because of the energising effect of LSD.

The result was a kind of cartoonish corrupt behaviour that I observed but was matter of fact about. Because the Bhagavad Gita says that honor and dishonor can be seen the same.

IIRC: I was in a pub and the winner of a lottery was the mate of the landlord.
 
Legend Of A Mind
The Moody Blues
Timothy Leary's dead.
No, no, no, no, He's outside looking in.
Timothy Leary's dead.
No, no, no, no, He's outside looking in.
He'll fly his astral plane,
Takes you trips around the bay,
Brings you back the same day,
Timothy Leary. Timothy Leary.
Timothy Leary's dead.
No, no, no, no, He's outside looking in.
Timothy Leary's dead.
No, no, no, no, He's outside looking in.
He'll fly his astral plane,
Takes you trips around the bay,
Brings you back the same day,
Timothy Leary. Timothy Leary.
Along the coast you'll hear them boast
About a light they say that shines so clear.
So raise your glass, we'll drink a toast
To the little man who sells you thrills along the pier.
He'll take you up, he'll bring you down,
He'll plant your feet back firmly on the ground.
He flies…
 
Top