You ever realize you've been completely wrong about something minor for decades?

[Recursion]

But that it's never really come up except tangentially so you never had a reason to find out?

This one will show my age: I only just realized that Albert Hofmann, inventor of LSD, and counterculture icon Abbie Hoffman, were different people. I had this vague image of a buttoned-down scientist inventing LSD, taking a hit, and suddenly donning tie-dyed shirts and founding the Yippies. But, no.

Interestingly, Hofmann, though 30 years older than Hoffman, outlived him by 20 years: Hoffman overdosed at age 52 in 1989, while Hofmann died of a heart attack at 102 in 2008.

[LeftInTX]

1. That's funny!!

I knew some scientist invented LSD is some lab.
I'm thinking it was in the 1930s?
I think it was Europe.
The drug sat around for years until they thought it had some benefit for mental illness and then the CIA used it.
Then a guy named Timothy Leary started promoting it as a method to promote self-awareness.
Then a bunch hippies started using it.
Then it became illegal.

All guesses, so I will have to check to see how I did!!!

ETA: Here's what I found out from Wikipedia. It was synthesized on my birthday, 18 years before I was born. It was derived from ergot. Ergot is a fungus which is toxic and known to cause psychosis. The fungus grows on stored grain and would cause ergot poisoning. Ergot poisoning is rare in modern times.

I have no idea why Hofmann was searching for medically useful ergot alkaloid derivatives! (But e coli has it's place in modern agriculture too. GMO's are created via e coli. The e coli serves as a vector for the altered gene. OTOH our GI tracts are full of e coli. Only certain strains of e coli are harmful)

LSD was first synthesized on November 16, 1938[82] by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland as part of a large research program searching for medically useful ergot alkaloid derivatives. LSD's psychedelic properties were discovered 5 years later when Hofmann himself accidentally ingested an unknown quantity of the chemical.[83] The first intentional ingestion of LSD occurred on April 19, 1943,[84] when Hofmann ingested 250 µg of LSD. He said this would be a threshold dose based on the dosages of other ergot alkaloids. Hofmann found the effects to be much stronger than he anticipated.[85] Sandoz Laboratories introduced LSD as a psychiatric drug in 1947 and marketed LSD as a psychiatric panacea, hailing it "as a cure for everything from schizophrenia to criminal behavior, 'sexual perversions,' and alcoholism."[86] The abbreviation "LSD" is from the German "LysergSäureDiethylamid"

[PatrickforO]

2. LSD didn't do us much good. I can't help but think back

to the secret experiments with it conducted by the government in the 60s.

[Duppers]

3. Depends on dosage.

Last edited Sat Dec 14, 2019, 07:46 AM - Edit history (1)

As with many substances, depending on the amount, they can be either very detrimental or healing.

This is what ‘microdosing’ LSD and magic mushrooms does for wisdom and creativity

We just ran the first ever pre-registered scientific study on the microdosing of psychedelics and found some very promising results.
...
Specifically, we found that microdosers scored higher on measures of wisdom, open-mindedness and creativity.

Microdosers also scored lower on measures of dysfunctional attitudes and negative emotionality, which is very promising.

More...https://www.rawstory.com/2019/05/this-is-what-microdosing-lsd-and-magic-mushrooms-does-for-wisdom-and-creativity/

Too bad society doesn't accept its verified and legitimate healing properties.

[Paladin]

4. I thought the song was "Every Highway." That's sure what it sounds like.

Turns out it's "Carefree Highway." I blame Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian accent. And I still think "Every" works better than "Carefree."