U.S. Marine Says Let Troops Use LCD To Analyze Intelligence
Would that work?
Marines already use performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) such as caffeine, workout supplements, and tobacco, Albayrak writes, and microdosing has already gained a foothold among scientists
LSD is already an (unofficial) staple of the U.S. military's nuclear enterprise; now it's time to bring mind-expanding substances to the wide world of intelligence, a Marine Corps officer has argued.
Writing in the February 2019 edition of the Marine Corps Gazette, Maj. Emre Albayrak makes the case that service members assigned to intelligence gathering and analysis should embrace microdosing — ingesting a "sub-perceptual" amount of LSD that doesn't produce visual hallucinations — that are proven to "significantly heighten alertness, creativity, and problem-solving."
"A person's problem-solving ability is typically constrained by his ability to think beyond his limited set of experiences ... and attempts to find solutions are typically made from past experiences," explains Albaryak. But recent research indicates that individuals on microdoses of hallucinogens "have been shown to expand their ability to connect seemingly unconnected pieces of information and create revolutionary new solutions."
In short: You don't need to do lots of drugs to expand your mind.
Marines already use performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) such as caffeine, workout supplements, and tobacco, Albayrak writes, and microdosing has already gained a foothold among scientists, "Silicon Valley executives, disruptors, and biohackers" — why not take the next logical step and let Marines "leverage unique biological reactions" like their information-hungry counterparts in the private sector?
"War is not a game, and meeting your enemy on equal footing is a fool's errand," argues Albayrak. "Our enemies are already seeking an edge over us through PEDs and nootropics, and our own units, such as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, seek cognitive advantages via unorthodox methods such as mind gyms and sensory deprivation tanks."
This article originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter.
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