Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tl00055)

Thoa Tran wrote:
> 
> Bart, why are you staying out of this debate?  Stop teasing!  Hints, hints,
> but no firm stand.  Enquiring minds want to know.

	Once again, I will not talk of the laws. However, I feel that
mind-altering drugs have extremely limited use in evolution. By and
large, they mimic chemicals in the brain, only more concentrated.
Certain drug-induced mental states mimic mental states that can be
reached by meditation or other self-induced means. They can be used as
initial guideposts (when you feel that way without the drugs, you know
you are going in the right direction). However, by and large, they are
used with selfish purpose in mind; feeling good. However, the mechanism
of addiction works that once one takes something to feel good too much,
then eventually, one needs it to feel normal. In the meantime, side
effects step in, or worse, one chooses even stronger substances to
retrieve the good feeling that one can no longer get with the previous
substance. If one does not break the cycle, the result is stagnation at
best, and self-destruction at worst. By and large, one removes onesself
from the breeding pool, or at least the active parenting pool, and by
doing so, improves the condition of humanity. Therefore, evolution in
action.

	Bart Lidofsky