ackthbbft

Hi Adam! Why do I always seem to find out about AMA's about 3 hours too late?

Thanks! Although now I feel like I wasted a question... :/

A very close friend wants to take a trip to South America to take part in ayahuasca ceremonies, in an attempt to help deal with a traumatic past that has resulted in borderline-personality disorder (BPD). I'm supportive, but also somewhat skeptical (both in terms of what DMT can do for BPD and PTSD sufferers, and the fact that we're talking about going to a third-world country where there are scattered stories of people dying at these retreats). There are said to be places in the U.S. that one could go to, but they are in a gray area of legality.

What suggestions might you have regarding safe ayahuasca use?

Follow-up question: The term "marijuana" is very stigmatized, with ethno-racist roots going back to the "reefer madness" propaganda days. Coming from scientific circles, do you think we should strive to call it by its real name "cannabis" in an attempt to re-legitimize it?

Though I don't recall the exact details, I heard some time ago about a very successful accelerated math cirriculum being tested decades ago that had children doing advanced calculus as early as 12 years old. (IIRC, it was a relatively well-known political reporter/progressive pundit who was part of this program as a child.)

Do you feel we are actually holding our children back with a fallacious "math is hard" mentality, and too conservative with our current math standards? How would you address the creation of an acelerated math cirriculum, and in particular the current hole in teaching statistics at a young age (often not presented until university, when it could/should be taught even before calculus, which is also excellent for instilling rational thinking skills)?