Althouse: "He told a reporter that taking LSD was one of the two or three most important things he had done in his life."

October 5, 2011

"He told a reporter that taking LSD was one of the two or three most important things he had done in his life."

"He said there were things about him that people who had not tried psychedelics — even people who knew him well, including his wife — could never understand."

64 comments:

Chase said...: heartbreaking. . . so young.

Here is my question - does every single person who has tried LSD had a similar experience? The way anyone who has smoked a cigarette has had the same basic experience?; 10/5/11, 8:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Chase -- You should try it and see. The problem is getting some. My wife has suggested suburban high schools, but that seems tawdry.; 10/5/11, 8:30 PM
Irene said...: How does someone who graduated from high school in 1972 get to date Joan Baez?; 10/5/11, 8:31 PM
xnar said...: The man gave us all an incredible trip. Rest well.; 10/5/11, 8:32 PM
bagoh20 said...: Taking LSD is like a lot of experiences in life, the person experiencing it is what makes the difference. I suspect Jobs got more out of it than most do, just like he did with most everything else. There are plenty of people who took LSD and would still not understand Steve Jobs.; 10/5/11, 8:32 PM
Roger von Oech said...: He was the most charismatic speaker I ever saw in person. Everyone has their own favorite Steve Jobs story. Here's mine:

http://j.mp/qhlynY; 10/5/11, 8:34 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: ot

The Brews have struck first.

(this could be their night); 10/5/11, 8:52 PM
edutcher said...: His experience may have been unique because of the mind it was expanding.

Many others weren't so fortunate.; 10/5/11, 8:56 PM
Fred4Pres said...: RIP Steve.

Condolances to his family and friends.

Thanks for the iPhone. I ♥ it.; 10/5/11, 9:00 PM
Fred4Pres said...: LSD is a trip. I would not rank it in the top three, but it is pretty interesting.; 10/5/11, 9:01 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Was he referring to heightened appreciation of aesthetics? If so, given Apple's success, based largely on aesthetics, that makes some sense.; 10/5/11, 9:02 PM
DADvocate said...: does every single person who has tried LSD had a similar experience?

What experience is that? I call bullshit on Jobs comment. Sorry to see him go, a true innovator. But, if LSD contributed that much to one's life, we'd have a lot more "different" people.

For me, whitewater kayaking and truly thinking I might die a few times enriched my life much more than taking LSD, which was simply a day of fun.; 10/5/11, 9:22 PM
Psychedelic George said...: Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.

Viktor Frankl
Man's Search for Meaning; 10/5/11, 9:22 PM
frank said...: I'm high on LSD I feel the loss of a great force for good and evil now....strange...did Adolph Hitler just die?; 10/5/11, 9:28 PM
Titus said...: I have never tried Acid.

I was with a friend of mine when he did it and he wanted to jump out the window.

His actions on LSD turned me off.; 10/5/11, 9:43 PM
edutcher said...: A whole lot of people had experiences more like Titus than Jobs.

Sad to say.; 10/5/11, 10:00 PM
Fred4Pres said...: LSD was fun but not life changing.

But a friend of mine broke up with his girlfriend and dropped. That is a bad idea. LSD makes depression worse.; 10/5/11, 10:01 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: Far out, man.; 10/5/11, 10:02 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: For a while there I thought acid had made me crazy-- I mean truly and thoroughly schizophrenic. Eventually I realized that the constant fear I was feeling was not paranoia, but the fear of being crazy. I was a phobophobiac. I instantly got better, but the whole process had taken six months. Acid is not good for everybody.; 10/5/11, 10:07 PM
a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...: The linked story says more about his family than anything I have seen, biological father a native of Syria. I suppose it is also a sad day for people who have had abortions thinking of what this child who was allowed to live found.; 10/5/11, 10:19 PM
David said...: Irene said...
"How does someone who graduated from high school in 1972 get to date Joan Baez?"

By asking her? Steve Jobs was not a shy man.; 10/5/11, 10:22 PM
David said...: Steve Jobs as an old man would have been a treasure. Pity it will not be so.; 10/5/11, 10:25 PM
Chef Mojo said...: I much preferred shrooms. For one thing, I didn't have to worry about who was manufacturing my hallucinogen.; 10/5/11, 10:26 PM
Valentine Smith said...: A friend's brother spent his adult life on a flight deck after popping acid. Playing pinball sent me over the edge one time. Not a pleasant experience.

I'll give him this—he was a great enough marketer to foster recognition as a visionary. I guess that makes him a great bullshit artist. Snob appeal for the petit bourgeoise.

The snob Bloomberg compared him to Edison and Einstein. A comparison that pretty much sums up how far a great nation has fallen. No doubt that reflects Bloomberg's belief in his own greatness—a billionaire's delusion about billionaires.; 10/5/11, 10:31 PM
Titus said...: I did shrooms twice and loved them.

I laughed my ass off.; 10/5/11, 10:37 PM
jamboree said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/5/11, 10:43 PM
Titus said...: The first time I did ecstasy was life changing.

I got it from a guy in a bar (who was a total stranger) and told all my friends a guy just gave me a pill don't leave me. They all hooked up with other guys and left me.

I then went to the ocean and floated in the water and watched the sun come up. It was really hot and I felt so fucking good.

I jerked off and had never had so much cum come out of me ever.

I did it 4-5 other times. 2-3 were good and the last two I got sick and never did it again.

I haven't done any drugs in over 15 years and likely will never. Once I turned 25 I was like that's it.; 10/5/11, 10:43 PM
Titus said...: I did coke every weekend for like 3 months and hated it.

I would go over to a friend's house, we would do it, talk until 4 in the morning, and I would go home and not be able to sleep. I couldn't get a hard on on it either. Coke Cock-not fun.

My friend was a double Eagle-BC High and Boston College.

A totally gross and disgusting drug.; 10/5/11, 10:46 PM
Titus said...: I also did ketamine a couple of times. That stuff is fucked.

I ended going into a K Hole at a bar and my friends put me on a chair with sunglasses on, shirt off, and a tiara.

I literally couldn't walk for over 30 minutes.

I thought I was going to be handicapped. After I came out of the K Hole I never did it again.

One of the drug dealers I would go to was a Medical Student at Harvard. How fucked up is that?; 10/5/11, 10:51 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Titus, you are 40?; 10/5/11, 10:57 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Darkness washed over the dude. Blacker than a black steers tuckus on a moonless prairie night.

There was no bottom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz2ET5K6zY0; 10/5/11, 11:07 PM
Titus said...: Yes, Fred, I turned 40, gulp, in July.; 10/5/11, 11:18 PM
Jeff with one 'f' said...: Acid changed me for the better. I shudder to thing how I would have turned out if I had not taken it at 19... or stopped taking it at 24.; 10/5/11, 11:23 PM
Jeff with one 'f' said...: shudder to think; 10/5/11, 11:27 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: The stench in here is terrible.; 10/5/11, 11:29 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: I know a lot of people who used to do acid. They all stopped because they realized they'd go insane.; 10/5/11, 11:33 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Titus, 40 is the new 30.; 10/5/11, 11:39 PM
vbspurs said...: The man gave us all an incredible trip. Rest well.

This wins the internet, tonight.

Cheers,
Victoria; 10/5/11, 11:45 PM
AlanKH said...: Well, LSD does kinda make a lasting impact.; 10/5/11, 11:50 PM
Anonymous said...: Chase @ 8:20

No.

Same person doesn't necessarily have the same experience twice.; 10/5/11, 11:56 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Steve became the lover of Joan Baez in large measure because Baez had been the lover of Bob Dylan.

Eeeewww. Okay, I am calling BS on that one. From the unauthorized biography, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, author Alan Deutschman; 10/6/11, 12:41 AM
john said...: very informative, i think Jobs got more out of it than most do, just like he did with most everything else.There are plenty of people who took LSD and Everyone has their own favorite Steve Jobs story.; 10/6/11, 1:34 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Missed you Vic; 10/6/11, 1:39 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: iTunes cannot close in his honOr?

an occupation demand.; 10/6/11, 1:46 AM
crosspatch said...: I agree with him and feel the same way with my LSD experience many years ago. It isn't for everyone but I feel it was an amazingly important experience in my life.; 10/6/11, 3:15 AM
J said...: Chase aka Bubba Belchamy puttng on his sunday school act. You've done more acid than anyone here , Bubba.

Jobs was lucky .Very lucky. A semester or two of college--like BASIC..and a calligraphy class, which he said was very important to Apple. Some say he he was mentally ill (like many geeks). Autistic billionaires. yeah.; 10/6/11, 3:18 AM
J said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/6/11, 3:23 AM
Humperdink said...: It was not all love and kumbaya at Apple. Current and former employees of Apple are quoted as saying people were terrified to ride in the elevator with Steve Jobs - for fear of being fired.

Even true visionaries have their negative traits.; 10/6/11, 4:50 AM
J said...: you don't know anything about it, Herr Doktor Tee-shirt.; 10/6/11, 5:10 AM
Toad Trend said...: LSD life-changing?

Somewhat agree. The experiences tend to be personal. I didn't freak out as some indicate but witnessed those who did. Not pretty.

Mushrooms were similar but not as intense, certainly more recreational and yes, your gut would be sore afterwards from laughing your ass off. And no matter how much alcohol consumed, it never dented the shroom buzz.

So, not in my top three. No question this man was a visionary and had some great fortune along the way. People such as Mr. Jobs always make enemies but anyone with an ego and a mission will.

Hats off to Steve Jobs and God bless.; 10/6/11, 6:27 AM
Mick said...: It takes a strong mind.

The basic electricity and tension of the Flow that you see but can't verbalize.

Are you experienced?; 10/6/11, 6:52 AM
Mick said...: Incidently, the Biopic on George Harrison on TV right now also talks about Harrison's LSD use and, in his own words, how important it was to his psyche.; 10/6/11, 6:54 AM
pm317 said...: Don't know anything about LSD but how refreshing is this for a billionaire CEO:

Teary-eyed mourners left flowers in front of Jobs’s modest home at the corner of Waverly Street and Santa Rita Avenue in Palo Alto, California. Neighborhood children drew hearts with markers and left them on the ground for others to leave messages. Policemen stood watch, barricading the street.
“Here’s a guy who’s a billionaire and lives in a regular neighborhood, not behind a gated estate with all the security guards,” said Bruce Gee, a former Apple employee who drove up to the house from his home a couple miles away. “On Halloween, people go trick or treating there like everyone else.”; 10/6/11, 7:19 AM
Tank said...: Apple (a rich corporation) and Jobs (rich CEO) are the forces that Occupy Wall Street wants to kill off.

Just sayin.

================

LSD? Not at all surprising.; 10/6/11, 7:58 AM
gerry said...: Leave it to The Onion.; 10/6/11, 8:11 AM
Peter said...: Re: LSD.

IMHO, the classic description of a psychedelic trip remains Aldous Huxley's "Doors of Perception." Even though the drug is mescaline and not LSD.

Huxley's theory in this short story is expressed in the title: it is that these drugs relax the "doors of perception," that is, the perceptual mechanisms that normally prevent us from being overwhelmed by details and nuances that would distract us from focusing on the Darwinian essentials of our existence.

As with anything, what happens has a great deal to do with what one brings to the experience.; 10/6/11, 9:03 AM
Levi Starks said...: I would say LSD enables your mind to seriously consider ideas that were there all along, but your normal conscious mind always pushes them to the rear.

Having said that, I understood Steve's admission perfectly.

If you've got a lot of buried emotional baggage you're going to have a bad trip, otherwise it can be eye opening.; 10/6/11, 9:44 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: DADvocate,

For me, whitewater kayaking and truly thinking I might die a few times enriched my life much more than taking LSD, which was simply a day of fun.

And there's the difference:

I rarely, if ever, took drugs for fun. I was almost always trying to find/make something. I didn't understand the shits-and-giggles crowd. Still don't.; 10/6/11, 10:28 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I did shrooms twice and loved them.

Any experience that starts off by barfing up your guts is a non starter for me.

I did acid back in the day, and I must agree with Jobs. It changed the way that I see things and hear things ...forever.

Some 'trips' were good: fun, beautiful, enlightening, mind expanding.

Some were not: dark and scary, obsessive experiences.

Both types were important and illustrative.; 10/6/11, 12:13 PM
cathy said...: So did Owsley effect more people's lives than Jobs?; 10/6/11, 2:41 PM
crosspatch said...: "I would say LSD enables your mind to seriously consider ideas that were there all along, but your normal conscious mind always pushes them to the rear."

On thing I believe it did for me was help me think "outside the box" a little. It seems I could arrive at unconventional solutions that might never have otherwise occurred to me or might in general be considered a "bad" solution but in that specific case, perfect for the situation.

It is very difficult to describe exactly what it did, but one thing I am fairly sure of is that it enhanced the part of the mind that engages in abstract thought. So a person who is pretty much a "concrete" thinker can come away from it with a much better "abstract" thought process.

This allows one, in my opinion, to get a better grasp of "big pictures", seeing synergies that might have been missed before, and noticing problems in complex systems where a problem in one part of the system manifests in a completely different part of the system. It enhances the ability to "see" (for lack of a better word) how a lot of things fit together and allows one to be more creative by enhancing the ability to visualize an end goal and create it.

It is extremely difficult to explain exactly but that is as close as I can come with the words I can find. In general, it enhances abstract thought.; 10/6/11, 8:40 PM
crosspatch said...: And it does so on what seems to be a permanent basis. It seems to cause a lot of new connections to be made in the brain that stay there after it has worn off.; 10/6/11, 8:42 PM
blake said...: Why am I not surprised that the bulk of the Althouse commentariat has dropped acid?

Michael Malone's remembrance of Jobs, which is not all hearts and flowers, maps pretty well to my own:

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/steve-jobs-an-unexpected-appreciation/; 10/7/11, 11:25 AM
john said...: Huxley's theory in this short story is expressed in the title is that these drugs relax the "doors of perception.
(www.dglaw.org); 10/11/11, 2:47 AM