POD 55: Michael Valentine Smith Unmasked

Very fascinating, but wow this guy has some opinions. Aside from all the political garbage, anyone who claims to understand Wittgenstein or holds Searle's philosophy in high regard is a fuck.

James Moran

I’m glad to see that I’m not the only who was a bit skeptical of this guy. I’m not going to doubt that he did some important things like put that psychedelic book together, but his lack of explanation for any of his ideas does not make him look like he knows what he’s talking about most of the time. Like the amount of arrogance to assume you know better than people who dedicate their lives to studying psychology or Wittgenstein and then you can’t even explain your synthesis of those two things. Also, psychology is not just about language, that does not explain animal psychology since animals still are able to act and process information without any ability to form language (for the most part). Also, he talks about how he is such an innovator for 3D but I was unable to find much info about the companies he said he founded or about any of his products at all. In all, it was interesting to hear from this guy but he’s kinda full of it lol

Addicted to Chloroform

It’s ironic that someone who claims to understands human language at it’s most fundamental levels can’t explain his ideas, or listen to someone as intelligent and patient as Hamilton. Makes me appreciate the effectiveness of Hamiltons communication. These big brain guys are fascinating to listen to but the arrogance is hard to take some times, and ultimately stunts them.

Enchanted FX

An interesting peek into how the mind can spiral when left to its own devices over years and years. I always feel sorry for older people who have lost some of their rationality but don't realize it. After listening to his hot takes and not so humbly saying he has "figured out" how psychology works, it's hard to believe he is telling the truth about the 3D stuff either. This was hard to listen to near the end, but thank you for putting this interview out there. Some of the guests are enjoyable to listen to for the "how much of this is just made up?" aspect.

JJ

great interview damn

aarni nieminen

Fascinating interview. I’m a bit sad to hear him assume that the female students/TAs making allegations of sexual harassment/abuse are bad actors engaging in falsified claims for character assassination as part of a woke conspiracy, rather than considering whether a great professor and colleague might have actually been a complicated person who made some mistakes. But he’s far from the only one who buys into this culture war seeking to divide progressives vs libertarians who if united as a bloc would overwhelm the radical reactionary right. And at his age there are definitely shittier biases to have, so thank goodness for problematic pioneers who speak their mind at least. On a different note, I called in response to your Q&A prompt a few months ago asking if you knew anything about the cutting edge of pharmaceutical assisted therapies to treat stimulant addiction, and since then there has been a fascinating development. Several companies have begun clinical trials of monoclonal antibodies engineered to destroy molecules of cocaine and (meth)amphetamine without interfering with receptor activity or even having to cross the blood brain barrier. Much like the MABs now commonly in use for autoimmune disease and cancer which specifically guide leukocytes etc to attack compounds found only in tumors for a selective form of chemotherapy with a much more tolerable side effect profile than classic immunosuppressants, these compounds would completely stop someone from feeling high if they relapse on that drug, without antagonizing endogenous dopamine activity like olanzapine or competing for reuptake like buprenorphine does on the opioid receptors. Presumably this same tech could be used to create another opioid withdrawal support medication that is far more tolerable than suboxone, methadone or naltrexone as well, or even one that selectively gates fentanyls without impacting heroin or oxycodone leaving the potential for a harm reduction approach for people who need to take pain medication but also are at risk of addiction and overdose. I’ve tried reaching out to some of the people running these trials, one of which is at Providence Medical Center in Everett, WA, but they have so far refused to speak to me likely due to non disclosure agreements at this stage in the process. Wondering what you have heard about all this and if it’s a potential avenue to investigate via interview. Thanks!

SeattleTransAndNonbinary ChoralEnsemble

That went off the rails a bit huh? "Are you still with me" I imagine Hamilton wide eyes and a bit stunned.

Cheminterested

Wow, if for some weird reason you ever give up on chemistry, you are an outstanding interviewer. Fox News is a hell of a drug ;)

I am also very intrigued by your description of this book..

Hi Hamilton, do you know where one could find any information on The Alchemist book you had mentioned in the preface? I can’t seem to find any information on it online.

Yes, I know Alex.

Hamilton Morris

I think the chemist’s name is Alexander Stratford who owns a company called Synex Synthetics.

Psychestim

I have been thinking about doing this for a while now, just been dragging my feet. Need to make sure everything is legal and I won't get in trouble for sharing whole books and also find a good place to upload it to.

Wow! Very interesting, I hadn't seen this.

Hamilton Morris

Could you please digitally archive the rare books/manuals you have?

jacob c

Hamilton have you see the new Vice Germany Documentary on legal LSD in Germany. It's pretty cool, because they got to interview the Chemist "Al" even showing his face and laboratory, who seems to be working at Lizard Labs although the company isn't specifically named, and claims he came up with Psychedelic Prodrugs in his case with 1-X-LSD compounds. It's a segment of maybe 2 Minutes starting at around 03:40 and it's in english because the chemist is a brit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVNCt2zyIaQ&t=784

Max

I got a copy of Psychedelic Chemistry in the early 90’s from Loompanics Unlimited, which was a story in itself, I lived just a few blocks from their office in Port Townsend, WA. My room mate was friends with Mike Hoy, who was either the owner or director or something. Getting books from them was always a weird experience. They only actually let me into the office once and they had a framed collage on the wall of fake drivers licenses from every state with the same photo of the same woman but all with different names. Their book catalog was an amazing collection of the weirdest and most radical information available in one place at that time. I was still on their mailing list until around 2001, when I got one of their quarterly catalog supplements and it arrived in my mailbox opened to the full page entry for Fester’s book Secrets of methamphetamine manufacture. I’m pretty sure it got me the wrong kind attention because all of my mail arrived opened and ransacked for the next year or so. I called them and told them to please take me off their mailing list after that. I wish I still had those old catalogs though because they were so weird and interesting.

mindfunck