Why should one need drugs to see beyond the ordinary?

[otherlander]

I know that there are things that the human brain can't perceive unless it's altered by other chemicals, but why should someone have to be on drugs to think about things beyond the utilitarian? If someone wants to do drugs, I don't care. I think most things should be legalized, and if people can handle it, good for them. But where I live there seems to be an assumption that if someone is thinking outside of the usual pattern of day-to-day life, it must be because of drugs.

Please understand, I really don't care what these people think. If they want to think I'm high, fine, it's easier for me just to go along with it. Compared to some of their other misconceptions about the world, it's nothing. But I can't help but wonder: is it really so ordinary in their minds? To laugh at the sunlight, to look at the dirt and find it beautiful in the spring thaw, to see the plants in a field swaying in the rain and celebrating the warmth of day: are these all things that it would never cross their mind to do unless they were high? They have other things they like to do, and I have nothing against that, except that they assume that when I do, it must be drug related.

The way I see it, what matters is being able to function. To have a logical discussion, to think clearly, to go about your life. As long as one is able to do these things as needed, why not look beyond these utilitarian functions? As long as it doesn't become an abstract way of thinking which occupies your mind so much it gets in the way of ordinary living, why not? Does anyone agree with me, or am I just not making sense?

And yet these people seem to think that in order to see BEAUTY IN THE EARTH, my brain functions must by CHEMICALLY ALTERED. I feel like Guy Montag.

End of rant.