In this TED talk, Adam Oliver Brown describes his experience with ayahuasca while filming an episode of The Nature Of Things on the medecine’s promising ability to help people overcome addiction. Brown goes into intense detail about his journey while on the powerful Amazonian psychedelic medicine and calls the experience the “most terrifying and most exciting event of my life to date.”
This is one of the most flawless explanations I’ve heard on this subject in so little time. He covers every base. Well done!
This is a well articulated description of the ayahuasca experience and the medicines potential for transforming humanity on individual and collective levels. There was one idea I disagree with. The idea that plants have evolved compounds like DMT primarily to deter insects from eating them, and that the biochemical effects, and the profound emotional experiences that result from them are a chance side effect of this evolutionary response to insect pressure is counter to my own experiences and the beliefs of the indigenous cultures that have coevolved with these plants over millennia.
He seems to have little if any reverence for the spiritual nature of his experience, and in an attempt to maintain his credibility takes every opportunity to underscore the trippy nature of his psychological adventure. This coming from a scientist steeped in western civilization is not surprising nor particularly disturbing. What does strike me as disturbing is his rationale for the preservation of the environment. He is not concerned with the loss of aboriginal cultures, ancient knowledge, or their understanding of our spiritual existence. No, his primary concern is losing what remains of the untouched world that might otherwise be exploited for human gain. The value of his presentation lies in the possible impact it may have on the decision making process of our worlds corporations, which might find the possibility of profiting off of the environment reason enough for its preservation.
Without Earth, there would be no cultures or ancient knowledge to know, so actually preserving Earth is pretty much the highest priority, and he telling it this way is actually more beneficial, because most people are not trippy-hippie-spiritual nerds and talking that way would most likely only prevent them from even accepting and taking seriously what he is actually saying.
I think I agree with Sandra on this one. @MakeMoreArt I struggle to see the point of being so dismissive of a view point that differs from your own only in its approach. Your’s and his suggestions are essentially aligned, Adam is just engaging with a wider audience…not just the far left. Rather than simply blasting the west of its wrong doings (YouTube has plenty of that already), Adam’s intent of solving prevalent problems within society is a little more productive and will speak to those with more marginal/conservative views. Besides, it is unrealistic to expect him to brush upon every possible aspect of this issue and to acknowledge every stakeholder… Let me know if you disagree….
Hi Ben/Sandra
I respect Adam’s choice to direct his argument to an audience that has a chance of being influenced. Unfortunately while addressing his audience he referred to the Ayahuasca ceremony’s participants as “wigged out space cadets (in danger of) wandering away from their little trip out stations”. I’m guessing he did this in an attempt to identify with his audience. I get that, but without any explanation of the aboriginal beliefs associated with these ceremonies, he appears to be trivializing aboriginal spiritual practices, and to some degree I think he was. I don’t think he intended to openly trivialize the beliefs of aboriginal peoples, but I think he did. I also think he made it a little more difficult for aboriginal cultures to get a seat at the table when solutions to our common problems are being discussed. If his goal is for us to benefit by living in harmony with, and understanding the value of nature; who better to learn from than the aboriginal peoples who have been living in harmony with, and benefiting from their relationship with nature for the entirety of their existence? I think it’s telling that Adam did not consider this when preparing his argument. That being said, I’m thankful for his point of view, and the work he is doing. He’s talking about the same issues that are important to me, and he’s doing a great job.
That is a good point. Some of what he says does trivialize the belief system of indigenous Peruvians…he should have tried harder to steer clear of this perhaps.
And I absolutely agree….Ayahuasca or any drug for that matter is not a standalone solution, there needs to be mindset transformation at the individual and collective level for people to gain a sense of internal harmony and that with the world around them. To achieve this some form of conscious learning is required. As per usual, the best people to learn from are those people who have mastered it themselves (Peruvian spiritual leaders fall into this category). Overall, I think there is much to be learned from indigenous cultures as a whole and I think this is your point….
However, many people insistently favour contemporary medicine over their local Shaman when it comes to managing their mental health. And by that I mean they will likely visit their local Psychiatrist and be prescribed a suite of anti-depressants. Whilst this in itself is an issue worth discussing, I think it is more realistic to say that mainstream medical channels will always be part of the solution. For this segment of patients to have such alternative treatment methods (the psycho-active drugs mentioned) both available to them and with perceived legitimacy, there are many barriers of resistance to be overcome. To deal with this push back, a careful constructed marketing strategy will be required. This video is in fact part of that strategy I believe. All in all however, I agree with you…
Read “One River” by Wade Davis if you want to know about ayahuasca from the father of ethnobotany, RIchard Evans Schultze
Nothing mentioned about the risks of taking Ayahuasca, even under ‘controlled’, regulated conditions in the Amazon. I speak from experience, as I had an EXTREMELY difficult experience with the brew in Peru several years ago, and came back home to peristent panic attacks and extreme depression. Some have argued that I simply ‘didn’t finish what I started’, yet this is false, because the sitter assigned to our group was later released for incompetence with other guests as well. This particular group (Ayahuasca-Wasi in Peru) touted itself as an authentic experience, guided by trained Ayahuasceros and Curranderos, yet turned out to be yet another psychedelic tourism trap for uninformed visitors.
I essentially came back with PTSD from the all-night trauma I endured through the third drinking session of my week there, and it persists to this day, nearly eight years later. I wouldn’t wish said experience, nor its endtrails, on anyone.
Haight -(‘hate’, not ‘hite’) Ashbury.