Cannabis and Creativity: Scientist, Carl Sagan

When you hear the name Carl Sagan, you probably think about his work as a prolific scientist or science fiction writer or as the creator of the Emmy- and Peabody-winning television series, “Cosmos,” but did you know that he was a regular cannabis user? In fact, Sagan actually credited cannabis with a lot of his creative and ingenious ideas. In 1969, Sagan penned an anonymous essay under the pseudonym “Mr. X” for the publication Marihuana Reconsidered (1971). In this essay, Sagan says,

 “I am convinced that there are genuine and valid levels of perception available with cannabis (and probably with other drugs) which are, through the defects of our society and our educational system, unavailable to us without such drugs.”

 But how does this altered perception work exactly? How could a genius such as Carl Sagan produce such influential and field altering work while simultaneously being a pothead? Sagan explained this enhancing effect perfectly when he expounded on the thoughts of Robert Ornstein of the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute in San Francisco in his 1977 book, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence (1977). In this analogy it is pointed out that while the stars still exist during the day, we cannot see them until the sun goes down. The sun is just too bright and it blinds us to the stars' existence. However, when the sun is suppressed, we see the brilliance of the stars in their own right. Our own creative and insightful thoughts are just like the stars, only seen when the noise of our logical brain is suppressed. Sagan points out that the brilliance was there all along. It didn’t need to be enhanced, just seen.

 “I wonder if, rather than enhancing anything, the cannabinols (the active ingredients in marijuana) simply suppress the left hemisphere and permit the stars to come out. This may also be the objective of the meditative states of many Oriental religions."

Sagan credited cannabis with having the ability to give non-artists and non-musicians, the ability to experience the joy of creating. He describes these creative experiences as “heightened sensitivity.” 

The heightened sensitivity in all areas gives me a feeling of communion with my surroundings, both animate and inanimate.

 This heightened sensitivity resulted in prolific and untethered explorations of thought and ideas for Sagan. In fact, he describes one incident where he wrote 11 articles on topics ranging from sociopolitical commentary to biology while high. Now, you may be thinking, “Yeah, but were any of those articles valid? Could they hold up to scrutiny the next day?” Sagan thought so!

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There is a myth about such highs: the user has an illusion of great insight, but it does not survive scrutiny in the morning. I am convinced that this is an error and that the devastating insights achieved when high are real insights; the main problem is putting these insights in a form acceptable to the quite different self that we are when we’re down the next day.

Carl Sagan was arguably one of the most brilliant minds of our time. His insight and relatable ways of explaining the universe to millions of people created pathways between science and creativity that did not exist beforehand, and it seems that it is largely due to the effects of cannabis on his perception of these concepts. Sagan understood the value of allowing these creative juices to be tapped through the use of mind-altering substances and both he and his wife remained advocates for legalization. 

The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.

Sagan was right. Our mad and dangerous world desperately needs the beauty and insight that comes from embracing the creative and sensitive side of our human nature. What can we learn from his experiences? How can we leverage cannabis to expand our own creative abilities? Are we willing to take a page from Sagan’s experience and allow the ideas to flow freely without shining our rational brains on them so brightly that they dissipate? To take note of them under the stars of our creativity and only once they’ve been fully expelled from our brains, hold them under the scrutiny of the sunshine to be tweaked and molded into their final product? Sagan allowed the use of cannabis to be an aid to his prolific work and used it as a tool. We, too, can leverage this tool to create!

“The cosmos is within us. We are starstuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”

http://marijuana-uses.com/mr-x/

http://www.veryimportantpotheads.com/sagan.html

https://highexistence.com/carl-sagans-profound-essay-on-why-cannabis-consciousness-is-desperately-needed-in-this-mad-and-dangerous-world/

http://www.openculture.com/2013/05/carl_sagan_extols_the_virtues_of_cannabis_1969.html

https://www.leafly.com/news/lifestyle/carl-sagan-cannabis