In this section, we explore how possible future technologies could be used to reduce the influence of malevolent actors.
Psychedelics probably help with this as well (when carefully administered).
Anecdotally, a lot of Western contemplative teachers got started on that path because of psychedelic experiences (Zen, Tibetan Vajrayana, Vipassana, Advaita Vedanta, Kashmiri Shaivism). These traditions are extremely prosocial & anti-malevolent.
Less anecdotally, Hendricks et al. 2018 found lifetime psychedelic use correlated with reduced criminality (survey with n = 480,000). Lyons & Carhart-Harris 2018 found psilocybin decreased authoritarian political beliefs (small, open-label, prospective study).
Pokorny et al. (2017) seems like a relevant RCT. They found that psilocybin significantly increased empathy.
However, even such results don’t make me very optimistic about the use of psychedelics for reducing malevolence.
The kind of individuals that seem most dangerous (people with highly elevated Dark Tetrad traits who are also ambitious, productive and strategic) seem less likely to be interested in taking psychedelics—such folks don’t seem interested in increasing their empathy, becoming less judgmental or having spiritual experiences. In contrast, the participants of the Pokorny et al. study—like most participants in current psychedelics studies (I think)—wanted to take psychedelics which is why they signed up for the study.
Moreover, my sense is that psychedelics are most likely to increase openness and compassion in those who already started out with some modicum of these traits and who would like to increase them further. I’m somewhat pessimistic that giving psychedelics to highly malevolent individuals would make them substantially more compassionate. That being said, I’m certainly not confident in that assessment.
My intuition is partly based on personal experience and anecdotes but also more objective evidence like the somewhat disappointing results of the Concord Prison Experiment. However, due to various methodological flaws, I’d be hesitant to draw strong conclusions from this experiment.
Overall, I’d nevertheless welcome further research into psychedelics and MDMA. It would still be valuable if these pharmaceutical agents “only” increase empathy in individuals who are already somewhat empathic.
Anecdotally, a lot of Western contemplative teachers got started on that path because of psychedelic experiences (Zen, Tibetan Vajrayana, Vipassana, Advaita Vedanta, Kashmiri Shaivism). These traditions are extremely prosocial & anti-malevolent.
My guess is that most Western contemplative teachers who, as a result of taking psychedelics, got interested in Buddhism and meditation (broadly defined) were, on average, already considerably more compassionate, idealistic, and interested in spiritual questions than the type of practically oriented, ambitious, malevolent people I worry about.
As an aside, I’m much more optimistic about the use of psychedelics, empathogens, and entactogens for treating other issues such as depression or PTSD. For example, the early results on using MDMA for treatment-resistant PTSD seem extremely encouraging (and Doblin’s work in general seems promising).
Aside from the obvious dangers relating to bad trips, psychosis, neurotoxicity (which seems only relevant for MDMA), et cetera[1], my main worry is that psychedelics sometimes seem to decrease people’s epistemic and instrumental rationality. I also observed that they sometimes seem to have shifted people’s interests towards more esoteric matters and led to “spiritual navel-gazing”—of course, this can be beneficial for people whose life goals are comparatively uninformed.
Though my impression is that these risks can be reduced to tolerable levels by taking psychedelics only in appropriate settings and with the right safety mechanisms in place.
I had forgotten about Pokorny et al. 2017 – that’s definitely relevant work.
The kind of individuals that seem most dangerous (people with highly elevated Dark Tetrad traits who are also ambitious, productive and strategic) seem less likely to be interested in taking psychedelics—such folks don’t seem interested in increasing their empathy, becoming less judgmental or having spiritual experiences.
I’m somewhat pessimistic that giving psychedelics to highly malevolent individuals would make them substantially more compassionate. That being said, I’m certainly not confident in that assessment.
More research needed here.
As far as I know, there hasn’t been any work done on how psychedelics affect individuals with high Dark Tetrad scores.
… the Concord Prison Experiment. However, due to various methodological flaws, I’d be hesitant to draw strong conclusions from this experiment.
Yeah, the Concord Prison Experiment is pretty bad. Hendricks et al. 2014 is better work on this, though it’s just a survey.
my main worry is that psychedelics sometimes seem to decrease people’s epistemic and instrumental rationality.
Do you know where this worry comes from?
Gabay et al. 2019 found that MDMA boosted people’s cooperation with trustworthy players in an iterated prisoner’s dilemma, but not with untrustworthy players. I take that as some evidence that MDMA doesn’t acutely harm one’s rationality. I don’t think there’s been similar work done for other psychedelics.
I also observed that they sometimes seem to have shifted people’s interests towards more esoteric matters and led to “spiritual navel-gazing”—of course, this can be beneficial for people whose life goals are comparatively uninformed.
I think spiritual bypassing is a real problem, and unwise psychedelic use can definitely facilitate it. Context & integration seems very important.
A lot of Nazis were interested in the occult, and Mao wrote poetry.
Good point, my comment was worded too strongly. I’d still guess that malevolent individuals are, on average, less interested in things like Buddhism, meditation, or psychedelics.
Do you know where this worry [that psychedelics sometimes seem to decrease people’s epistemic and instrumental rationality] comes from?
Gabay et al. 2019 found that MDMA boosted people’s cooperation with trustworthy players in an iterated prisoner’s dilemma, but not with untrustworthy players. I take that as some evidence that MDMA doesn’t acutely harm one’s rationality.
Interesting paper! Though I didn’t have MDMA in mind; with “psychedelics” I meant substances like LSD, DMT, and psilocybin. I also had long-term effects in mind, not immediate effects. Sorry about the misunderstanding.
One reason for my worry is that people who take psychedelics seem more likely to believe in paranormal phenomena (Luke, 2008, p. 79-82). Of course, correlation is not causation. However, it seems plausible that at least some of this correlation is due to the fact that consuming psychedelics occasionally induces paranormal experiences (Luke, 2008, p. 82 ff.) which presumably makes one more likely to believe in the paranormal. This would also be in line with my personal experience.
Coming back to MDMA. I agree that the immediate, short-term effects of MDMA are usually extremely positive—potentially enormous increases in compassion, empathy, and self-reflection. However, MDMA’s long-term effects on those variables seem much weaker, though potentially still positive (see Carlyle et al. (2019, p. 15).
Overall, my sense is that MDMA and psychedelics might have a chance to substantially decrease malevolent traits if these substances are taken with the right intentions and in a good setting—ideally in a therapeutic setting with an experienced guide. The biggest problem I see is that most malevolent people likely won’t be interested in taking MDMA and psychedelics in this way.
Overall, my sense is that MDMA and psychedelics might have a chance to substantially decrease malevolent traits if these substances are taken with the right intentions and in a good setting—ideally in a therapeutic setting with an experienced guide. The biggest problem I see is that most malevolent people likely won’t be interested in taking MDMA and psychedelics in this way.
Our estimates of the likelihood of malevolent people being interested probably hinge on our theory of where malevolence comes from.
e.g. if we think malevolence mostly arises as a maladaptive coping response to early trauma, you could imagine interventions that resolve the trauma and replace the maladaptive response with a more prosocial & equally fit response (and malevolent people being interested in those interventions).
But if we think malevolence is mostly a genetically-mediated trait, it’s probably harder to change.
Psychedelics probably help with this as well (when carefully administered).
Anecdotally, a lot of Western contemplative teachers got started on that path because of psychedelic experiences (Zen, Tibetan Vajrayana, Vipassana, Advaita Vedanta, Kashmiri Shaivism). These traditions are extremely prosocial & anti-malevolent.
Less anecdotally, Hendricks et al. 2018 found lifetime psychedelic use correlated with reduced criminality (survey with n = 480,000). Lyons & Carhart-Harris 2018 found psilocybin decreased authoritarian political beliefs (small, open-label, prospective study).
There hasn’t been a proper RCT yet though.
Pokorny et al. (2017) seems like a relevant RCT. They found that psilocybin significantly increased empathy.
However, even such results don’t make me very optimistic about the use of psychedelics for reducing malevolence.
The kind of individuals that seem most dangerous (people with highly elevated Dark Tetrad traits who are also ambitious, productive and strategic) seem less likely to be interested in taking psychedelics—such folks don’t seem interested in increasing their empathy, becoming less judgmental or having spiritual experiences. In contrast, the participants of the Pokorny et al. study—like most participants in current psychedelics studies (I think)—wanted to take psychedelics which is why they signed up for the study.
Moreover, my sense is that psychedelics are most likely to increase openness and compassion in those who already started out with some modicum of these traits and who would like to increase them further. I’m somewhat pessimistic that giving psychedelics to highly malevolent individuals would make them substantially more compassionate. That being said, I’m certainly not confident in that assessment.
My intuition is partly based on personal experience and anecdotes but also more objective evidence like the somewhat disappointing results of the Concord Prison Experiment. However, due to various methodological flaws, I’d be hesitant to draw strong conclusions from this experiment.
Overall, I’d nevertheless welcome further research into psychedelics and MDMA. It would still be valuable if these pharmaceutical agents “only” increase empathy in individuals who are already somewhat empathic.
My guess is that most Western contemplative teachers who, as a result of taking psychedelics, got interested in Buddhism and meditation (broadly defined) were, on average, already considerably more compassionate, idealistic, and interested in spiritual questions than the type of practically oriented, ambitious, malevolent people I worry about.
As an aside, I’m much more optimistic about the use of psychedelics, empathogens, and entactogens for treating other issues such as depression or PTSD. For example, the early results on using MDMA for treatment-resistant PTSD seem extremely encouraging (and Doblin’s work in general seems promising).
Aside from the obvious dangers relating to bad trips, psychosis, neurotoxicity (which seems only relevant for MDMA), et cetera[1], my main worry is that psychedelics sometimes seem to decrease people’s epistemic and instrumental rationality. I also observed that they sometimes seem to have shifted people’s interests towards more esoteric matters and led to “spiritual navel-gazing”—of course, this can be beneficial for people whose life goals are comparatively uninformed.
Though my impression is that these risks can be reduced to tolerable levels by taking psychedelics only in appropriate settings and with the right safety mechanisms in place.
Thanks for this great comment!
I had forgotten about Pokorny et al. 2017 – that’s definitely relevant work.
A lot of Nazis were interested in the occult, and Mao wrote poetry.
More research needed here.
As far as I know, there hasn’t been any work done on how psychedelics affect individuals with high Dark Tetrad scores.
Yeah, the Concord Prison Experiment is pretty bad. Hendricks et al. 2014 is better work on this, though it’s just a survey.
Do you know where this worry comes from?
Gabay et al. 2019 found that MDMA boosted people’s cooperation with trustworthy players in an iterated prisoner’s dilemma, but not with untrustworthy players. I take that as some evidence that MDMA doesn’t acutely harm one’s rationality. I don’t think there’s been similar work done for other psychedelics.
I think spiritual bypassing is a real problem, and unwise psychedelic use can definitely facilitate it. Context & integration seems very important.
Good point, my comment was worded too strongly. I’d still guess that malevolent individuals are, on average, less interested in things like Buddhism, meditation, or psychedelics.
Interesting paper! Though I didn’t have MDMA in mind; with “psychedelics” I meant substances like LSD, DMT, and psilocybin. I also had long-term effects in mind, not immediate effects. Sorry about the misunderstanding.
One reason for my worry is that people who take psychedelics seem more likely to believe in paranormal phenomena (Luke, 2008, p. 79-82). Of course, correlation is not causation. However, it seems plausible that at least some of this correlation is due to the fact that consuming psychedelics occasionally induces paranormal experiences (Luke, 2008, p. 82 ff.) which presumably makes one more likely to believe in the paranormal. This would also be in line with my personal experience.
Coming back to MDMA. I agree that the immediate, short-term effects of MDMA are usually extremely positive—potentially enormous increases in compassion, empathy, and self-reflection. However, MDMA’s long-term effects on those variables seem much weaker, though potentially still positive (see Carlyle et al. (2019, p. 15).
Overall, my sense is that MDMA and psychedelics might have a chance to substantially decrease malevolent traits if these substances are taken with the right intentions and in a good setting—ideally in a therapeutic setting with an experienced guide. The biggest problem I see is that most malevolent people likely won’t be interested in taking MDMA and psychedelics in this way.
Our estimates of the likelihood of malevolent people being interested probably hinge on our theory of where malevolence comes from.
e.g. if we think malevolence mostly arises as a maladaptive coping response to early trauma, you could imagine interventions that resolve the trauma and replace the maladaptive response with a more prosocial & equally fit response (and malevolent people being interested in those interventions).
But if we think malevolence is mostly a genetically-mediated trait, it’s probably harder to change.
I haven’t poked the literature on this yet.