Sam Woolfe

Altered Perspectives - Sam Woolfe My first book, Altered Perspectives: Critical Essays on Psychedelic Consciousness, is available from major retailers worldwide. You can order it here. Summary This book consists of essays that are pri...

It's been one year since my book came out. Time flies.

Thanks to everyone who got a copy. If anyone would like a copy to review, feel free to send me a message.

The Potential Future of Designer Psychedelics One of the main motivations for creating designer psychedelics – or analogues of existing compounds – is to evade bans. LSD is illegal, so an analogue can be created (typically a purported prodrug of ...

I wrote about how psychedelic compounds in the future could be tweaked to offer people shorter or longer experiences, fewer side effects, and different subjective effects.

The Refuge of Dreams In an earlier post on remembering dreams, I described recalling some adventurous and awe-inspiring dreams I had in the past, which got me thinking about how I often feel that these sorts of dreams are...

My latest blog post is on the idea of dreams as refuge, as well as the different relationships between dreams and waking life.

The Jewish Contribution to Western Buddhism I’ve found it curious that many of the pioneers of Western Buddhism – those who brought Buddhism to the West and helped popularise it – are Jewish. Frank Descher details this phenomenon in his 2017 es...

"A third of all Western Buddhist leaders come from Jewish roots.” - Rodger Kamenetz, The Jew in the Lotus

In this blog post, I look at some possible reasons why so many of the key figures of Western #Buddhism come from a Jewish background.

The Portrayal of Depression in The Fire Within (Louis Malle, 1963) The Fire Within (1963) is a drama film written and directed by Louis Malle, which goes by the title Le Feu follet in French, meaning “The Manic Fire” or “Will-o’-the-Wisp”. It’s based on the 1931 nove...

You can read the essay on my blog.

I recently received the Blu-ray Collector's Edition of Louis Malle's 'The Fire Within' (1963), released by @umbrellaent.bsky.social. The booklet inside includes an essay I wrote on the film's portrayal of depression.

Really enjoyed the latest book by philosopher David Benatar, which is on 'quotidian #ethics', or the ethical issues we face in our everyday lives. The chapters I found the most interesting were the ones on sexual ethics, individual carbon footprints, bullshit, and forgiveness.

#philosophy #books

Elastic Minutes and Eternal Moments: How Psychedelics Alter the Perception of Time Time distortion is one of the classic effects of psychedelics (although I rarely see this mentioned as an expected effect of psychedelics on educational, retreat, and therapy sites). I think that time...

My latest blog post is on the heavenly and hellish sides of time distortion and timelessness that people experience on psychedelics.

The Potential Benefits of Psychedelics for Gay People Just as psychedelics can help straight people address issues of shame and depression, for reasons unrelated to sexuality, they can also be helpful for gay people in processing similar issues, but spec...

In my latest article for Numinous Ways, I look at how psychedelics can help enhance affirmation of sexual identity in the gay population, leading to improvements in mental health.

Tuesday Brunch: Four beliefs that cause bad trips and post-psychedelic difficulties (and just...suffering in general)

Definitely good mental health advice in general.

Sex, Masculinity, And Men’s Silent Struggle • States Of Mind Many men quietly carry anxiety and shame around sex and ideas of masculinity. It's time to update the conversation.

For #MensMentalHealthMonth, I wrote this article on men's relationship to sex and sexual dysfunction, and how it is often tied to unhealthy expectations around masculinity.

The Promise and Perils of Darkness Retreats Darkness retreats involve spending a period of time in complete isolation and darkness. People do this for different reasons – to achieve an introspective state, a digital detox, a period of rest, or ...

Darkness retreats are on the rise. People who attend them report trippy effects and profound insights, but spending multiple days alone without sensory input can also lead to some unsettling experiences.

I wrote about their potential benefits and risks in this blog post.

A review of my book from Alberto Cavallarin, published in a new journal, Acta Psychedelica. And the book review is the first publication in it, which is pretty cool.

#bookreview #philosophy #essays

The Influence of Letterboxd on the Film-Watching Experience Since I started using Letterboxd (four years ago), an unconscious tendency I developed when watching films is that, throughout the film, I’ll think about what Letterboxd rating I’m going to give it. I...

I wrote about the positive and negative ways that Letterboxd affects how we watch (and think about) films, which @strohltopia.bsky.social discusses in his latest book.

Weird dreams train us for the unexpected, says new theory AI inspires hypothesis that sleeping human brain might try to break its overfamiliarity with daily data

“It is the very strangeness of dreams in their divergence from waking experience that gives them their biological function."

Fly around or make out with your crush: how to start lucid dreaming We asked experts to share tips on how to take control of dreams once you realize you’re in it

"Paller was the lead author of a 2021 paper from Northwestern University which found that individuals in the midst of a lucid dream could communicate with (awake) researchers.... This is promising because dream research had previously relied largely on retrospective reports".

Bergson's Theory of Déjà Vu In an intriguing essay titled ‘Memory of the Present and False Recognition’ (1908), the French philosopher Henri Bergson proposes that déjà vu is the result of memory and perception becoming intertw...

An excerpt from my book Altered Perspectives. It's taken from Chapter 9, where I apply Henri Bergson's theory of déjà vu to the intense feeling of familiarity that many people experience under the influence of DMT (i.e. "I've been here before").

#philosophy #memory #Bergson

YouTube video by Philosophers Discussing Art Ep. 81: Resisting Algorithms & Appreciating Difficult Movies | A Discussion with Matt Strohl

Interesting discussion with @strohltopia.bsky.social and @politephilosopher.bsky.social on why we should resist letting algorithms decide what we watch, and the benefits of giving more time and attention to 'difficult' films, e.g. ones which are long, slow, or shocking.

How Personality Shapes Our Receptivity to Veganism When watching street debates with the vegan activists Earthling Ed and Joey Carbstrong, it becomes apparent to me that one of the biggest barriers they (and other activists) face is personality differ...

I wrote about how #personality differences affect people's responses to #veganism generally as well as to specific kinds of arguments for veganism. This is an underexplored challenge that many vegan activists face.

Charismatic Christian nationalism in the UK God's on the move in the UK, and He's carrying a pitchfork

Very interesting read on charismatic Christianity and its recent rise in the UK.

"Charismatics are so focused on the demons outside the church, sometimes they miss the darkness within it…and within themselves." - @philosojules.bsky.social

Processing Climate Anxiety and Eco-Grief Through Psychedelics The climate crisis has seen, in response to it, a worsening of many people’s mental health. Climate anxiety (distress related to climate change and its effects) and eco-grief (mourning the damage and ...

In this blog post, I look at whether psychedelics can be helpful for dealing with climate distress.

BBC Radio 4 - File on 4 Investigates, Trip Shocked Psychedelics are going mainstream. But are we ignoring the risks?

Very interesting and needed. A Radio 4 programme from journalist Ed Prideaux on the blind spots and pitfalls of the psychedelic renaissance.

Danny Shine: A Modern-Day Jester Danny Shine, also known as the ‘Social Experimentalist’, runs a YouTube channel where he posts videos of himself out in London with a megaphone, voicing his polemical opinions. (His more recent conten...

My latest blog post is about Danny Shine's role as a modern-day jester, and more generally about the social functions of jesters.

Recently finished reading the new book by @strohltopia.bsky.social. Highly recommend it for cinephiles out there, or anyone who wants to give difficult films more attention.

It also motivated me to watch Jeanne Dielman, which I kept putting off. (I agree with Strohl, it's not a boring film at all.)

Remembering Dreams While Falling Asleep One night last week, as I was falling asleep, in my head I told myself – as I’ve done before – I don’t want to have weird or bad dreams, I want to have fun dreams. I’ve done this as my intention befor...

In this blog post, I look at the experience of enhanced dream recall while falling asleep, and what may be behind it.

Need more of this.

In this paper, Alberto Cavallarin critiques the narrow way in which 'mystical experiences' are typically framed, as seen in a lot of psychedelic research.

YouTube video by Brain in a Vat Aztec Philosophy: What the Aztecs Knew About Life | Sebastian Purcell

Interesting discussion on Aztec #philosophy with philosopher Sebastian Purcell.

Psychedelics and the Rogansphere The Rogansphere – consisting of Joe Rogan and like-minded comedians orbiting around him – faces steady and consistent criticism from YouTubers (whose focus and most popular content is criticising the ...

New blog post.

Using the #Rogansphere as an example, I look at the relationship between psychedelics and political views – how these substances can make no difference to one's views, as well as intensify them or shift them in any direction.

Why you should never argue online Even if you win a mud fight, you're still covered in mud.

Why you should never argue online iandunt.substack.com/p/why-you-sh...