Read the Never-Before-Published Letter From LSD-Inventor Albert Hofmann to Apple CEO Steve Jobs
The following post is adapted from the new book "This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America." The letter is published with the permission of the estate of LSD-inventor Albert Hofmann. For more on events related to the book, see the Facebook page or follow Ryan Grim on Twitter.
Steve Jobs has never been shy about his use of psychedelics, famously calling his LSD experience "one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life." So, toward the end of his life, LSD inventor Albert Hofmann decided to write to the iPhone creator to see if he'd be interested in putting some money where the tip of his tongue had been.
Hofmann penned a never-before-disclosed letter in 2007 to Jobs at the behest of his friend Rick Doblin, who runs an organization dedicated to studying the medical and psychiatric benefits of psychedelic drugs. Hofmann, a Swiss chemist, died in April 2008 at the age of 102.
See the letter here.
Written just after his 101st birthday, the letter's penmanship is impressive for a man of his years. I showed it to my grandmother, Ruth Grim, who was 8 years Hofmann's junior and did amateur handwriting analysis as long as Hofmann had been tripping. Without knowing who he was, she said in an e-mail that "something happened early in his life that made him twisted about things. Maybe he felt threatened. Also--creative with his hands, hard on himself, thinks a lot, stubborn, careful with the way he expresses himself, not influenced by other's thinking."
Doblin says Hofmann often said he had a happy childhood and wouldn't characterize him as twisted. Hofmann, for his own part, often referred to LSD as his own "problem child" and in his letter he asks Jobs to "help in the transformation of my problem child into a wonderchild."
He specifically asks Jobs to fund research being proposed by Swiss psychiatrist Peter Gasser and directs Jobs to Doblin's Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.
Doblin and Hofmann were close; Doblin gave the doctor his first tab of ecstasy in the '80s when it was still legal, he says, and Hofmann loved it, saying that finally he'd found a drug he could enjoy with his wife, no fan of LSD.
Doblin provided a copy of the letter to me; Hofmann's son, Andreas Hofmann, executor of his father's estate, authorized its publication.
The letter led to a roughly 30-minute conversation between Doblin and Jobs, says Doblin, but no contribution to the cause. "He was still thinking, 'Let's put it in the water supply and turn everybody on,'" recalls a disappointed Doblin, who says he still hasn't given up hope that Jobs will come around and contribute.
That Jobs used LSD and values the contribution it made to his thinking is far from unusual in the world of computer technology. Psychedelic drugs have influenced some of America's foremost computer scientists. The history of this connection is well documented in a number of books, the best probably being What the Dormouse Said: How the 60s Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer, by New York Times technology reporter John Markoff.
Psychedelic drugs, Markoff argues, pushed the computer and Internet revolutions forward by showing folks that reality can be profoundly altered through unconventional, highly intuitive thinking. Douglas Engelbart is one example of a psychonaut who did just that: he helped invent the mouse. Apple's Jobs has said that Microsoft's Bill Gates, would "be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once." In a 1994 interview with Playboy, however, Gates coyly didn't deny having dosed as a young man.
Thinking differently--or learning to Think Different, as a Jobs slogan has it--is a hallmark of the acid experience. "When I'm on LSD and hearing something that's pure rhythm, it takes me to another world and into anther brain state where I've stopped thinking and started knowing," Kevin Herbert told Wired magazine at a symposium commemorating Hofmann's one hundredth birthday. Herbert, an early employee of Cisco Systems who successfully banned drug testing of technologists at the company, reportedly "solved his toughest technical problems while tripping to drum solos by the Grateful Dead."
"It must be changing something about the internal communication in my brain," said Herbert. "Whatever my inner process is that lets me solve problems, it works differently, or maybe different parts of my brain are used."
Burning Man, founded in 1986 by San Francisco techies, has always been an attempt to make a large number of people use different parts of their brains toward some nonspecific but ostensibly enlightening and communally beneficial end. The event was quickly moved to the desert of Nevada as it became too big for the city. Today, it's more likely to be attended by a software engineer than a dropped-out hippie. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, are longtime Burners, and the influence of San Francisco and Seattle tech culture is everywhere in the camps and exhibits built for the eight-day festival. Its Web site suggests, in fluent acidese, that "[t]rying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind."
At the 2007 event, I set up my tent at Camp Shift--as in "Shift your consciousness"--next to four RVs rented by Alexander and Ann Shulgin and their septu- and octagenarian friends from northern California. The honored elders, the spiritual mothers and fathers of Burning Man, they spent the nights sitting on plastic chairs and giggling until sunrise. Near us, a guy I knew from the Eastern Shore--an elected county official, actually--had set up a nine-and-half-hole miniature golf course. Why nine and a half? "Because it's Burning Man," he explained. Our camp featured lectures on psychedelics and a "ride" called "Dance, Dance, Immolation." Players would don a flame-retardant suit and try to dance to the flashing lights. Make a mistake, and you would be engulfed in flames. The first entry on the FAQ sign read, "Is this safe? A: Probably not."
John Gilmore was the fifth employee at Sun Microsystems and registered the domain name Toad.com in 1987. A Burner and well-known psychonaut, he's certainly one of the mind-blown rich. Today a civil-liberties activist, he's perhaps best known for Gilmore's Law, his observation that "[t]he Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it." He told me that most of his colleagues in the sixties and seventies used psychedelic drugs. "What psychedelics taught me is that life is not rational. IBM was a very rational company," he said, explaining why the corporate behemoth was overtaken by upstarts such as Apple. Mark Pesce, the coinventor of virtual reality's coding language, VRML, and a dedicated Burner, agreed that there's some relationship between chemical mind expansion and advances in computer technology: "To a man and a woman, the people behind [virtual reality] were acidheads," he said.
Gilmore doubts, however, that a strict cause-and-effect relationship between drugs and the Internet can be proved. The type of person who's inspired by the possibility of creating new ways of storing and sharing knowledge, he said, is often the same kind interested in consciousness exploration. At a basic level, both endeavors are a search for something outside of everyday reality--but so are many creative and spiritual undertakings, many of them strictly drug-free. But it's true, Gilmore noted, that people do come to conclusions and experience revelations while tripping. Perhaps some of those revelations have turned up in programming code.
And perhaps in other scientific areas, too. According to Gilmore, the maverick surfer/chemist Kary Mullis, a well-known LSD enthusiast, told him that acid helped him develop the polymerase chain reaction, a crucial breakthrough for biochemistry. The advance won him the Nobel Prize in 1993. And according to reporter Alun Reese, Francis Crick, who discovered DNA along with James Watson, told friends that he first saw the double-helix structure while tripping on LSD.
It's no secret that Crick took acid; he also publicly advocated the legalization of marijuana. Reese, who reported the story for a British wire service after Crick's death, said that when he spoke with Crick about what he'd heard from the scientist's friends, he "listened with rapt, amused attention" and "gave no intimation of surprise. When I had finished, he said, 'Print a word of it and I'll sue.'"
The letter from Hofmann to Jobs, transcribed below if you have difficulty viewing:
Dear Mr. Steve Jobs,
Hello from Albert Hofmann. I understand from media accounts that you feel LSD helped you creatively in your development of Apple computers and your personal spiritual quest. I'm interested in learning more about how LSD was useful to you.
I'm writing now, shortly after my 101st birthday, to request that you support Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Peter Gasser's proposed study of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with anxiety associated with life-threatening illness. This will become the first LSD-assisted psychotherapy study in over 35 years.
I hope you will help in the transformation of my problem child into a wonder child.
Sincerely,
A. Hofmann
Dear Rick,
Thank you for all you do for my problem child. I am pleased to add whatever I can do from my part.
I learned much from your great letter, to do things after waiting for the right moment, how clever and careful you organize and do your work.
I do hope that my letter to Steve Jobs corresponds to your expectation, especially what regards the choice of the writing paper. [Doblin had asked Hofmann to use his personal letterhead. It's not what you're thinking.] I believe that I followed your prescription.
Hopefully Dr. Gasser will be successful with his request.
Cordially -
Albert
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"The eye cannot see itself." Why are we still wasting effort and time trying to find the easy way out? We simply have to orient ourselves to that level of our consciousness that is beyond subject/object dichotomies.
It is our birthright. It does take effort to re-orient, but using "tools" for anything other than learning that a new direction is possible, prevents the very effort that will save us all.
Don Juan told Carlos: I only promoted substances because you were too stupid to let go.
I suppose you are against telephones and medicine too?
Only when they are ingested for their hallucinogenic properties.
The eye cannot see itself unless one holds a mirror up to the eye, then the eye can see itself.
the sound of one hand slapping
No...then it sees a poor representation of itself. Of course, depending on the quality of the mirror.
of course Wozniak did all the heavy lifting
So you're saying Jobs is the Ginger Rogers of the team? That's comically simplistic.
Actually, I kind of like your analogy. Neither Fred Astaire, nor Ginger Rogers could have done or been as beautiful doing what they did together, without the talent of the other. Sounds alot like the Woz and Jobs when they started dancing together. And, we all know by now, just how flamboyant, 'flying through air with the greatest of ease' Jobs can be. So, yeah..sure- I'd definitely call him the Ginger Rogers of the team!
(I could be a bit biased, as Ginger Rogers is my beloved cat now dancing in the great catnip ballroom;)
=^;^=
Danced in high heels and backwards. LOL
Thank God I went to college in the late 70's when everyone at least tripped once. I'm talking Catholic High School girls. Laying in varied wallpapered rooms in my rented house and watching the designs float in different patterns was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Laughing for 2 hours by just looking at my girlfriends will be in my memories in "The Best Times of Your Life" category. Actually I would be frightened now to try it. Too old and who knows what is out there. Better left to my exploring days, but come on, it was a blast!
Find some like-minded people who want to revisit it and I'm guaranteeing you'll have just as much fun as you did back then. Then there is the whole thing about what you've experienced between then and now becoming re-examined. It would once again change your life.
When I, ahem, lowered my pH, I had the epiphany that, just because I can't imagine or concieve of something, doesn't mean it's impossible. It merely means I can not concieve of or imagine it. I wish more people had had that flash.
Ok MadHeart - I'll bite - please name these women?
Excellent piece. Peace.
Ryan, sorry to post off topic, but I want you to keep this story in mind.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/08/ireland-lisbon-treaty-sec_n_228101.html
The passage of the Treaty of Lisbon is the biggest story of this century, like the founding of America. The treaty of Lisbon will reestablish the power of the Roman Empire. This story is huge to the future of Central Banking.
Gasser's research reminds me of earlier LSD psychotherapy studies with the dying by Stanislav Grof. I believe those were squashed by the Nixon Administration back in the late 60's.
In the fall of 1977, Hofmann and Grof participated in a conference at the University of California, Santa Cruz called "LSD: A Generation Later". I wonder if there is a connection.
Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey, Fritzof Capra plus other cultural and scientific leaders participated at that conference too.
Nixon, '70s.
Nixon was inaugurated 1-20-69. LSD psychotherapeutic research ended in the U.S. later that year.
Quashed.
Yup. Banana Slugs rule! I was there.
Cheers, Jack
You would not remember - If you were Really there !
I never did acid but I had the wonderful experience of MDMA twice when it was legal. It was a drug that could help so many people. In its pharmaceutical form, it was totally safe, and was pure Empathy and could be used if legal for those with communication problems in relationships, for the many who are dying and afraid, for all manner of folks where TRUST is an issue and Empathy is the cure. Anyone? I think that making MDMA illegal was truly an awful action.
Last, MDMA is the opposite of addictive. You can only take it once a month for full effects. Taking too much is contra-indicated. Wish we would see that medication legalized for the benefit of millions. It's nothing like street ecstacy according to my kids.
While MDMA is being used in clinical trials to treat _soldiers_ and rape victims, people are put into Federal prison for years on end for possessing and making this miracle substance that is not addictive, and the DEA scheduled without regards to experts, medical doctors and psychologists who studied it's effects.
The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are still totally crazy (even after ending the disparity between crack and powder cocaine that has existed for years). Keep this in mind, folks:
1 DOSE of LSD will get you 33 to 41 months (just less than 3 to 4 YEARS) in Federal prison
1 gram of MDMA is treated as an equivalent to 1 pound of marijuana
And people take the risk because the value outweighs the threat.
What will it take for Congress to change the insane and counter-productive drug laws? Masses of people speaking up and saying they want something different!
The War on Some Drugs = FAIL
Thank goodness for the work of MAPS. We should ALL donate, if you support their work.
Please, both of you, stop with the misinformation. MDMA IS addictive. At first only psychologically. After consistant use it becomes mildly physically addictive. I should know.
Using LSD was the single most stupid thing I have ever done which I regret whole heartedly. Maybe it was a bad strain or something but the after effects of anxieties and paranoia were severe for 6- 8 months after and I still have bad flashbacks to this day, 5 years later. The trip itself was amazing, but it's not worth the horrible after effects I was experiencing. Perhaps if I had a psychiatrist to sit with me during the whole trip and work out my deep internal conflicts it could have helped me release them, but I feel it made them more prevalent in my life.
yep that's what it'll do. if inexperienced, definitely seek a 'guide' to trip with you. believe it or not, another trip could bring you right out of that funk
How sad.
A little research first would have revealed that you needed to take this a bit more seriously.
See anything written by Tim Leary.
Sorry you had a bad trip! We used to always make sure we had a couple hits of thorazine with us when we tripped just in case someone had a problem. I am prone to anxiety but had many trips back in the 60's and 70's without a problem. But there was one time on some very intense LSD when I had a severe bout of anxiety during the trip and "lost" it. My friends gave me a hit of thorazine, held my hands, whispered soothing words to me and next thing I knew it was the next morning and I was fine. It helped that I had expereinced friends and that I had done many trips myselt and knew to just keep repeating the mantra in my head "It is o.k., it is just the drug you took that is doing this, it will get better soon, just go with the flow, etc." Still we none of us would ever have dropped without knowing that one of us was carrying some thorazine. It was a hard drug to score but well worth it. Even though we almost never had to use it just the peace of mind of knowing you had a parachute on board was worth it.
Did Al Gore invent The Internet?
I am so tired of this chestnut being bandied about. Al Gore never ever claimed to have "invented" the internet. His words were twisted (big surprise) by the right wing pundits. Please stop spreading half truths and blatant lies.
Maybe you should read what the engineers who did in fact invent the internet had to say about Al Gore's significant contribution... and then finally get over that worn out material?
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200009/msg00052.html
Wow. Close enough.
You are clearly no Alchemist. It requires a little bit of "connect the dots," a skill which would aid you in not making these kind of uninformed, mis-understood, obviously mis-represented statements.
Al Gore, using well his powerful position of Vice-President, early in the first Clinton/Gore administration, advocated loudly for the "Information Superhighway" to become a first-level priority for the nation, beginning the process by which the Internet was make available to a rapidly increasing number of people.
Years later, he said accurately that he had helped to create the "Information Superhighway", which he most certainly did.
The weinie-brained Republican folks trying to get the Bush/Cheney cabal into power contorted what he had actually said into "he claimed to have invented the Internet" (see the parrot's comment above), which he, in fact, never claimed.
As Vice-President friom 1993-2000, Al Gore passionatlely advocated for the universal availability of the Internet and for environmental awareness.
I've heard about Hoffman's 100th birthday party before. I do so wish I could have been there.
Hoffman reportedly said that he knew LSD must have derrived from a natural substance because the experience of oneness-with-all he had on his first (bicycle) trip with it was so reminiscent of a drug-free experience of oneness-with-all that he'd had as a small boy.
I thought his Bicycle ride trip was terrifyingly horrible because he took too much? I could be wrong. But, the day before his bike ride, he accidently ingested a small amount which was the discovery. The very next day he purposely ingested a bunch and took a bike ride. He was terrified by the thoughts he had and the things he had seen. But, nonetheless, found out that in the right dosage things could be very pleasant and uplifting.
I once deliberately experienced nearly 7 days of sleep deprivation. I was a hardcore atheist at the time, and took a commission to paint ten 18" X 24" oil portraits on canvas done from high grade black and white photos and without the use of a projector. They were to be presented in seven days to such people as Barry Goldwater, etc. Since they had to be dry they were done in acrylics. To make them seem to be oil, I used a glazing technique similar to the old masters. After about 3 sleepless days and nights of constant painting I began to believe I was getting instructions from a variety of long dead painters, from Rembrandt to Van Gogh. I could actually hear their voices in my head as they detailed how to complete each stroke. I finished the commission on time but by the seventh day I actually thought I was in the presence of god.. S/he/it didn't speak, but I was engulfed in a kind of tolerant kindness. The portraits were a big hit and after a few days of rest I realized that I had vastly advanced my techniques. Even though I strongly suspect it was merely an hallucination, I went from being a hardcore atheists to a happier agnostic who is now open to nearly all possibilities. I suspect that the same experience, or probably much better, could be attained with LSD...
Interesting!
I'd love to see repros of the paintings!
The same sort of altered state can be reached, as in shamanic journey work, with listening to percussive sound.
LOL, are you forgetting the mushrooms?
Be careful. Many people become addicted to drugs in the search for a divine experience, and I have known people who became psychotic because of their use of LSD. If you decide to try it, be very very careful.
Oh, dear.
I'm still vigorous, but at 75 fully understand it's my twilight years.. That said, before I kick off I'd like to again, as a poet ( maybe Keats? ) once implied, "swim in very deep waters." But sleep deprivation is too much like hard work. I'd dearly like to find some lab quality LSD and once again take the plunge into darkened, creative making seas.... I'll brave the mythic sea serpents and. LOL, Garp's "undertoads." but if they get me, I'll go out a happy man..
sleep deprivation can induce hallucinations. i've heard the trip is like none other..
A lot of people claim to see God. I had a room mate that saw the end of the world, but he's OK now.
If your room mate saw an increasingly warming world with a growing variety of dying species, then he's right on! He might have been a couple of hundred years off, but I suspect even an old dude like me will be affected by the coming world disaster. Now may be the perfect time to move to Alaska, or Siberia....
the only bad news about this, is someone will pass off "crank" as LSD, driving countless people out of their skin!
daniel pinchbeck describes several enlighting natural vehicles,to vacation your ego,good reading,intresting conclusions.
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