Psychedelics are back, now in the language of health and wellness. Michael Pollan, Ayelet Waldman, and T.C. Boyle weigh in.It can seem as though everyone in Silicon Valley is either heading to or coming back from a psychedelic trip, and it is probably Michael Pollan’s fault.
He did after all write a best seller, “How to Change Your Mind,” about how healthful psychedelics can be. His neighbor Ayelet Waldman, whose memoir “A Really Good Day” recounts how taking acid helped her mood and marriage, has something to do with it, too. And now, inspired by Pollan, the writer T.C. Boyle has a new novel, “Outside Looking In,” about Timothy Leary, the charismatic Harvard professor turned psychedelics pied piper of the 1960s.
In the past year, psychedelics have entered the mainstream conversation in a way not seen since then. But now LSD and magic mushrooms aren’t for fun or adventure, but for wellness, life-hacking, therapy and self-care. The Milken Conference, a business event featuring the leaders of major banks, had a panel called “Psychedelics: Mind-Enhancing Methods to Well-Being.” There is a seemingly endless array of psychedelic health events. And no group has embraced psychedelics like Silicon Valley engineers.
On a recent afternoon, Waldman, who like Pollan lives in Berkeley, came to his house for lunch. The two had gotten into psychedelics only in their 50s, and their interest was a mix of academic, spiritual and therapeutic. Boyle, in town for his book tour, joined. Unlike the other two, Boyle had used drugs liberally in his youth and entirely for fun. (Boyle is recently retired from teaching writing at U.S.C., though he prefers the term “pre-dead.”) Over lunch, the three talked about the flood of freshly minted shamans, Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness brand Goop and whether hallucinogens belong at company gatherings... (continues)
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