The article analyzes Erowid trip reports to understand common visual hallucinations experienced on psychedelics. By processing thousands of reports, the author identifies recurring visual themes, categorized as "form constants." These include spirals, lattices, vortexes, and other geometric patterns, often accompanied by visual distortions like breathing walls and morphing objects. The analysis also highlights the influence of set and setting, showing how factors like dosage, substance, and environment impact the intensity and nature of visuals. Ultimately, the research aims to demystify psychedelic experiences and provide a data-driven understanding of the subjective effects of these substances.
This Substack post, titled "What do people see when they're tripping? Analyzing Erowid's trip reports," delves into the subjective experiences of individuals under the influence of psychedelic substances, specifically focusing on visual phenomena. The author utilizes Erowid, a well-established online database containing a vast collection of self-reported experiences with psychoactive drugs, as the primary source of data for this exploration. The core methodology involves employing natural language processing (NLP) techniques to analyze a substantial dataset of trip reports sourced from Erowid, specifically focusing on reports related to LSD, psilocybin (magic mushrooms), and DMT (dimethyltryptamine). The author meticulously preprocesses the textual data, including steps like removing HTML tags, converting text to lowercase, and employing tokenization to break down sentences into individual words for analysis.
The analysis aims to identify recurring visual themes and patterns within the trip reports. The author utilizes term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF), a statistical measure that evaluates the importance of a word within a collection of documents, to highlight the most salient visual descriptors. This allows for the identification of words and phrases that are frequently associated with psychedelic visuals within the Erowid dataset, distinguishing them from more common language used in everyday discourse.
The results of the analysis reveal a rich tapestry of visual experiences reported by individuals under the influence of these substances. Common themes that emerge include the perception of enhanced colors, geometric patterns, morphing objects, and the experience of synesthesia, where sensory modalities blend, such as seeing sounds or hearing colors. The author categorizes these recurring visual motifs, providing specific examples from the trip reports to illustrate the nature and intensity of these perceptual alterations. The post further explores the frequency of specific visual experiences across the different substances analyzed, offering insights into potential differences in the visual effects induced by LSD, psilocybin, and DMT.
Furthermore, the author acknowledges the inherent limitations of relying on subjective self-reports and the potential biases present within the Erowid dataset. The analysis is presented not as a definitive scientific study, but rather as an exploratory investigation into the subjective visual realm of psychedelic experiences, leveraging the wealth of information available within the Erowid archive. The author concludes by suggesting future research directions, emphasizing the potential of combining qualitative analysis with more rigorous quantitative methods to gain a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between psychedelic substances and visual perception.
Summary of Comments ( 61 )
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43171007
HN commenters discuss the methodology of analyzing Erowid trip reports, questioning the reliability and representativeness of self-reported data from a self-selected group. Some point out the difficulty in quantifying subjective experiences and the potential for biases, like recall bias and the tendency to report more unusual or intense experiences. Others suggest alternative approaches, such as studying fMRI data or focusing on specific aspects of perception. The lack of a control group and the variability in dosage and individual responses are also raised as concerns, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the typical psychedelic experience. Several users share anecdotes of their own experiences, highlighting the diverse and unpredictable nature of these altered states. The overall sentiment seems to be one of cautious interest in the research, tempered by skepticism about the robustness of the methods.
The Hacker News post "What do people see when they're tripping? Analyzing Erowid's trip reports" has generated a moderate number of comments, most focusing on the methodology and interpretation of the Erowid trip report data analysis presented in the linked article.
Several commenters express skepticism about the validity of using Erowid trip reports as a basis for scientific analysis. They point out the inherent biases in self-reported data, including the possibility of exaggeration, memory distortion, and the influence of set and setting (the user's mindset and environment). One commenter notes that people who have intensely negative or uneventful experiences might be less likely to report them, skewing the data towards more positive and unusual experiences. Another highlights the difficulty in quantifying subjective experiences like hallucinations, suggesting that the attempt to categorize them into neat buckets might oversimplify the complex and highly individual nature of psychedelic experiences.
Some commenters also question the statistical methods employed in the analysis. They argue that the article's approach to clustering similar words together might not accurately reflect the actual subjective experience of the user. For instance, the clustering of seemingly unrelated words might be an artifact of the method rather than a genuine connection within the trip experience.
However, other commenters find the analysis intriguing, even with its limitations. They appreciate the attempt to bring a more data-driven perspective to understanding psychedelic experiences. One points out the value of large-scale qualitative data like Erowid reports in generating hypotheses for further, more rigorous research. Another commenter mentions the potential for such analyses to inform harm reduction strategies by identifying common themes and patterns in difficult experiences.
A few commenters share personal anecdotes about their own psychedelic experiences, relating them to the categories described in the article. These anecdotes provide a more grounded and personal perspective on the often abstract discussion of psychedelic phenomena.
Overall, the comments on Hacker News reflect a mixture of skepticism and curiosity regarding the article's analysis of Erowid trip reports. While acknowledging the limitations of the data and methodology, many commenters see the value in attempting to analyze and understand these experiences in a more systematic way. The discussion highlights the ongoing tension between the subjective and scientific approaches to studying altered states of consciousness.