Tripping on Utopia

Four decades of psychedelic science research in the US. This book has a lot of names and a lot of history. We all know how it ends, with Leary, Lilly, dolphins and a whole research branch falling out of grace. But what I was less familiar with was the beginning, and the involvement of two great anthropologists in it - Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson. Foremost Mead's vision of taking her insights from anthropology and using psychedelic drugs as a short cut for altering our consciousness and world views towards a more peaceful togetherness.

It feels a bit like society has come full circle, as we're again on the brink of probing the potentials of psychedelics. Maybe this time with fewer lofty goals, less tripping and more safeguards.