The Causal Arrow in Addiction

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I had been experimenting with drugs just like as a psychonaut person for a while but my use felt exploratory and not really abusive or addictive. I think that when I began having really powerful experiences from using these drugs, I was really desperate to maintain those experiences and to re-access them. My addiction stemmed from that repetitive use that came from that desperation to get back to that place. So looking back, do you feel like what happened is that you kind of had developed a drug problem over time and then unfortunately that could be compounded by a second problem which is the mania or would you think of it differently?

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Is our adoption of beliefs primarily motivated by wanting to be the heroes of our own stories? Why do we have such a hard time understanding the stories other people are telling about themselves and the world? How can we reduce political polarization? How plausible are the various theories (conspiracy or otherwise) around the origins of COVID? Why don't the EA, Rationalist, and related communities focus more on transforming political landscapes? Free speech is incredibly important, of course; but does absolute free speech tip the scales in favor of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda? Has the internet fundamentally changed the way we converse with each other, or has it merely scaled up and accelerated those conversations while preserving their original characteristics? Is there ultimately a way to land on a principled answer around free speech and censorship? Does a globally optimum free speech policy even exist, or are we stuck picking from a lineup of equally unsavory options?

Cate Hall is a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Alvea, a newly clinical stage EA biotech company. She is also the co-founder and President of Juniper Ventures, a biosecurity and pandemic preparedness foundry. She is a former Supreme Court litigator and former no. 1 female poker player in the world. She tweets at @catehall.

Staff