Little Known Fact: Carl Sagan Was A Stoner

[AllenVanAllen]

"When I'm high I can penetrate into the past, recall childhood memories, friends, relatives, playthings, streets, smells, sounds, and tastes from a vanished era." - Sagan

http://gizmodo.com/5376856/little-known-fact-astronomer-carl-sagan-was-a-stoner

[qnr]

1. Wonder what the munchies were like when you were used to contemplating

billions and billions of units?

[AllenVanAllen]

22. Some people recognize him more for his cadence.

I didn't even snap who "Agent Smith" sounded like until I saw this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlpyGhABXRA

[Tobin S.]

2. The thing I find amazing about that

is that he was able to do much of anything when stoned, let alone write books. When I used to get high all I wanted to do was vegetate and maybe listen to music.

I'm reading one of his books right now called The Dragons of Eden. I've also read Cosmos and The Demon-Haunted World. He was a brilliant person and I'm happy that we have these enlightening works by him. They have literally changed my life. Carl lives on, still educating and entertaining.

[fujiyama]

3. I've never got a very good account of how much he actually smoked

I mean, there is a difference being a total pothead and partaking occasionally. Granted, the one nice thing about marijuana is that its toxic effects are much less than alcohol.

[PassingFair]

4. I read "The Dragons of Eden" when I was 19 and it really DID change my life.

It changed my perspective.

Oh, and I WELL remember reading it, completely
stoned, on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan
during a family vacation.

So there you go....

[Tobin S.]

10. I didn't question anyone's ability to read while stoned

It just seems to me that writing powerful, life-altering, brilliant, immensely popular books would more likely come from someone who was sober when they wrote them. Have you ever written a book? I've tried it and wasn't even able to complete a manuscript let alone write something that was publishable. And that was an attempt at a fiction novel, not something that requires intense research and being an expert in any particular field. I tried drinking and writing, but ended up sitting back and enjoying my buzz more than typing.

I used to like to get high and I don't have anything against anyone who does.

[AllenVanAllen]

13. It seems to me from his comments

He used pot to reach deeper levels of consciousness, maybe he used it to help him meditate. I figure he probably didn't use it when he worked. How knows?
The Demon-Haunted World is one of my favorites. I've really been wanting to read Contact but haven't made the time. :hi:

[Taverner]

18. I work best stoned

As long as its data mining or some kind of information quest

I can proofread when I'm high, but writing is not that easy.

[hippywife]

5. Not little known at all. n/t

[AllenVanAllen]

14. I had read he got high before

but I don't remember any comments from Sagan himself about the matter.
Those are new to me. :hi:

[abq e streeter]

6. one more bit of evidence of what a bunch of bs that we're 'educating "our kids re: drugs

At least 95 % of the people that were stoners when I was young ended up with stable, happy and productive lives. For that matter, even many of the bigger acid-heads I knew did the same and some in fact have achieved remarkable levels of professional accomplishment . Not saying we should run out and tell our kids to do drugs, but kids can eventually detect BS if it's around em long enough ,and they need accurate information , not propaganda that most drug awareness education has been since , well forever, but especially since Nancy Reagan's just say no campaign. And can't blame this on just repubs either; Democrats have fallen all over themselves to be part of the "drug war" including its one-sided "educational" campaigns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXmzcroUmdU

[stray cat]

7. Why is it only my relatives as adults sit around smoking dope and not working?

[abq e streeter]

8. I'm sure you're not alone in seeing that among stoners

I am just speaking from personal experience as are you. Many of the people I was referring to either no longer get high( I don't either) or now do so only occasionally (the body generally just can't take constant intoxication on anything indefinitely). But most of em were regular stoners for years, and again, I can only speak from who I know (and knew); the overwhelming majority have gone on to successful careers, families etc. and that even includes the ones that were quite the acid-heads back in the day ( a few of whom, like Sagan, actually have achieved national, and even world wide recognition in their fields). And yeah, like you, I certainly know a few that never did much with their lives but hang out and stay high but even that was at least in some cases a conscious choice; they didn't see any point in joining the rat race, and not one of them is a drain on society; they work when they have to in jobs with no drug testing, or will reluctantly clean up for awhile ( incredible how America just accepted the normalcy of having, as a condition of employment, allowing samples of one's bodily fluids to be analyzed to see what you were doing on your own time away from work). I also certainly can't say I don't know anyone who escalated their drug use and needed treatment, but on the other hand, most of these cases involved alcohol. But I know people who even well into their 60's (and probably will continue beyond that) still enjoy lighting up a joint on a Saturday night , and are ( except for breaking the silly drug laws) good law abiding, functioning citizens.

[madeline_con]

28. They act the same way when they're straight, right? n/t

[JonLP24]

9. I'd recommend this post if I could... n/t

[AllenVanAllen]

15. Well said.

There has been far too much "demonization" of marijuana. It's far less dangerous than alcohol imo.

[Blue_In_AK]

20. Here is a Wikipedia article

about a very good friend of mine, with whom I went to high school, another example of what you say about "acid-heads." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Isgur

The last time I saw Nathan was at a party in Houston in 1968. We were all totally blitzed, including him. What I remember most about that night was that Nathan had constructed a model of an LSD molecule out of styrofoam balls and Tinkertoy sticks that he had set up in the corner of the room. I remember thinking at the time how amazing his "trips" must have been with the mind that he possessed, one of the most truly brilliant people I have ever known in my life.

[abq e streeter]

26. Wow; an amazing intellect, and cool story too...sad that he died young .

Yeah, at the same time I want to be careful about sounding like I'm advocating anyone and everyone to smoke pot or do psychedelics. They're certainly not for everyone and in the wrong person and certainly at too young an age, can be potentially as harmful as they can be a positive experience. That disclaimer aside though, examples like Sagan, your old friend and many of mine show what a crock much of the drug war propaganda is. I don't feel like I have the right to name the people I know who achieved great things after a period of time of being big time stoners or tripsters, but I sometimes wish that every person who has that in their past would just all announce that they did those drugs when they were younger, or even still do occasionally, and that it wasn't a "youthful mistake" but a positive , enriching collection of experiences, even as they would responsibly caution young people about possible negative consequences too. In other words, give both sides of the story to counter the relentlessly negative story that's presented and which, as propaganda vs.just telling the truth always eventually does, cause more harm than it prevents.

[Brickbat]

11. No, that's actually pretty well known, I think.

[AllenVanAllen]

16. I didn't know of the book he contributed to, Marihuana Reconsidered

And the great quote like this one:

"Many but not all my cannabis trips have somewhere in them a symbolism significant to me which I won't attempt to describe here, a kind of mandala embossed on the high. Free-associating to this mandala, both visually and as plays on words, has produced a very rich array of insights." - Sagan

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. Well duh.

You can just look at that picture and tell he's tripping balls.

[AllenVanAllen]

23. He looks very excited in that still!

:hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

17. That's a little known fact that I knew.

He was much too cool NOT to be.

[CherokeeDem]

19. Wow....

Maybe we should all get high if being stoned is what helped this incredible man have the insight that he had. He's one of my heroes; he impacted my life, my love of science and astronomy grew from his words and the wonderful visuals he could paint in your head as he spoke or wrote. His death was a great loss to us all.

[Gnosticism]

21. Amazing

Very few people of any given intelligence actually believes the official propaganda concerning marijuana anymore. It's amazing to me that government (at least at the fed level) still maintains a draconian ban against it.

Well, not really amazing, considering how truly corrupt congress and the legislative branch have become, seeing as they are fully deposited within corporate pockets, including Big Pharma.

[Enrique]

24. and you know what happened to him?

he died!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGPBQaU2HqA

[pitohui]

25. i don't know how "little known" it was

he was a person of his time sunshine

[MilesColtrane]

27. Little Known Fact: Jack Horkheimer Used to Coat the Inside of His Members Only Jacket...

...With a Solution of Hash Oil and Ecstasy.

[Lethe]

29. yep. in one of his books he mentions that people all around the world sent him weed

after they heard about him toking up, weed connoisseurs all over the globe sent him buds.

[onestepforward]

30. It appears that Richard Dawkins saw the same story.

He "Tweeted" this tonight:

"Cannabis brings us an awareness that we spend a lifetime being trained to overlook." ~ Carl Sagan"

It made me smile!

link: http://twitter.com/Richard_Dawkins

[AllenVanAllen]

31. Check the great story about him.

From the comments on that page :


"John Napsterista

Sagan was a champion hedonist. At the pizza place I used to work at in college, this old story about a delivery driver’s heartwarming encounter with Sagan was tacked to the wall:

http://www.lunabase.org/~faber/RICHH/general/Sagans_Pizza

It’s by the late Usenet legend RICHH, whom boing boing should certainly celebrate."

:hi: :loveya:

[onestepforward]

34. That's a great story!

I haven't heard too many personal stories about Carl.

:loveya:

[AllenVanAllen]

32. Dupe

:P

[slay]

33. As someone who also also enjoys the insight cannabis provides

I very much identify. One main reason I wish it were legal is so others who are too frightened by authority and the war on drugs could finally experience it for themselves. Doesn't stop me :evilgrin:, but having it illegal does stop many.