Education
FEB 2023
Microdosing is one of the hottest topics in psychedelics. It is defined as taking a minimal amount of a compound like LSD or Psilocybin every few days, with anecdotal benefits that include better mood, creativity, and increased focus.
James Fadiman is a psychedelic researcher and microdosing pioneer. He was introduced to psilocybin in Paris by his former Harvard undergraduate adviser Ram Dass (then known as Richard Alpert), and has been studying psychedelics ever since. Jim (his nickname) is the author of several books, including the Psychedelic Explorers Guide, a manual about safe, therapeutic, and sacred journeys. It includes data from his research going back to the 1960s. “He devoted an entire chapter to microdosing. In this chapter, he explains that he’s a strong proponent of “set & setting” for a high-dose psychedelic experience but believes the advantage of microdosing is that you don’t need a “set & setting.” Rather you can incorporate microdosing—without any risk— into your daily life. This was the first publication on the subject. It caught the attention of psychonauts and other curious people, including many creatives, software developers, and (influential) entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.
After the upsurge in interest, Fadiman was also the first to develop a standard protocol for microdosing so that people could do a safe and purposeful experiment. In addition to sticking to the proposed dosing schedule (1 day on, 2 days off, continue for at least one month), he believes it’s incredibly beneficial to keep a daily journal to track observed effects and monitor wellbeing.” (read more here)
He mentions in this lecture that he only recommends the so-called Fadiman protocol for the first month of use. After that, he advises using intuition for how often one wants/needs to use a microdose. There are no rules, everybody is different.
After studying at Harvard, he got his PDH for psychology at Stanford and did his dissertation on the effectiveness of LSD-assisted therapy. Jim went on to co-found the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, which is now called Sofia University.
Funga recommends watching the lecture The Remarkable Results of Microdosing: James Fadiman:
Or listening to this wonderful conversation between Jim Fadiman and Tim Ferris:
