A case-study evaluation of the “Copenhagen Music Program” for psilocybin-assisted therapy

In a recent article, Messell and colleagues provide a curated list, the “Copenhagen Music Program for Psilocybin”. We test their music program with an experienced Indigenous therapist/psychonaut on a 3.5 gram psilocybin journey. Based on comments provided by the Indigenous therapist, we find the program contains musical choices that evoke specific colonial and religious contexts. We also find the program psychologically and emotionally coercive, meaning it is intended to contain the experience by forcing the individual on a specific experiential pathway. We conclude the program is not suitable for Indigenous travelers and suggest that curation of a wider variety of playlists, and music more in line with traditional shamanic practices, might be a better approach to psychedelic curation

Influence of Socioeconomic Status and Gender on High School Seniors' Use of Computers at Home and at School

This article critically assesses the proposition that computers have a democratizing effect in schools by increasing job-relevant skills among diverse groups of students. Drawing on arguments that schools are limited in their ability to counter long-standing patterns of inequality, we examine how gender and socioeconomic status interact to shape computer use patterns among high school seniors both at home and at school. Our data come from a large representative sample of grade 12 students in a western Canadian province. We find that social inequalities are being reproduced in the home through access to, and use of, home computers, with job-relevant uses higher among both female and male students from more advantaged backgrounds. Home environment conditions the effect of school use of computers because students from higher SES families—who have higher academic achievement and goals—are more likely to use computers at home but less likely to do so in school. This finding challenges claims that computers in schools can level differences in cultural capital that students acquire at home.Cet article présente une analyse critique de la proposition selon laquelle l'ordinateur a un effet démocratisant dans les écoles en ce qu'il améliore des habiletés professionnelles chez divers groupes d'élèves. Puisant dans des arguments qui démontrent que les capacités qu'a l'école de redresser des inégalités de longue date sont limitées, nous nous penchons sur la façon dont le statut social des hommes et des hommes (le sexe) et le statut socio-économique influencent l'emploi que font les élèves de l'ordinateur à l'école et à la maison. Les données proviennent d'un échantillon important d'élèves en 12' année dans une province de l'ouest canadien. Les résultats indiquent que les inégalités sociales se reproduisent à la maison par l'accès à un ordinateur et l'emploi que l'on en fait. Plus précisément, les élèves (garçons et filles) provenant de foyers plus aisés se servaient plus de l'ordinateur de façon à améliorer leurs compétences professionnelles. L'environnement à la maison affecte l'emploi que font les élèves des ordinateurs à l'école dans le sens que les élèves de familles de statut socio-économique plus élevé (et dont le rendement et les objectifs académiques sont plus élevés) sont plus portés à employer un ordinateur à la maison mais moins portés à le faire à l'école. Cette conclusion remet en question les arguments selon lesquels les ordinateurs à l'école peuvent niveler les différences dans le capital culturel que les élèves acquièrent à la maison

Influence of Socioeconomic Status and Gender on High School Seniors' Use of Computers at Home and at School

This article critically assesses the proposition that computers have a democratizing effect in schools by increasing job-relevant skills among diverse groups of students. Drawing on arguments that schools are limited in their ability to counter long-standing patterns of inequality, we examine how gender and socioeconomic status interact to shape computer use patterns among high school seniors both at home and at school. Our data come from a large representative sample of grade 12 students in a western Canadian province. We find that social inequalities are being reproduced in the home through access to, and use of, home computers, with job-relevant uses higher among both female and male students from more advantaged backgrounds. Home environment conditions the effect of school use of computers because students from higher SES families—who have higher academic achievement and goals—are more likely to use computers at home but less likely to do so in school. This finding challenges claims that computers in schools can level differences in cultural capital that students acquire at home.Cet article présente une analyse critique de la proposition selon laquelle l'ordinateur a un effet démocratisant dans les écoles en ce qu'il améliore des habiletés professionnelles chez divers groupes d'élèves. Puisant dans des arguments qui démontrent que les capacités qu'a l'école de redresser des inégalités de longue date sont limitées, nous nous penchons sur la façon dont le statut social des hommes et des hommes (le sexe) et le statut socio-économique influencent l'emploi que font les élèves de l'ordinateur à l'école et à la maison. Les données proviennent d'un échantillon important d'élèves en 12' année dans une province de l'ouest canadien. Les résultats indiquent que les inégalités sociales se reproduisent à la maison par l'accès à un ordinateur et l'emploi que l'on en fait. Plus précisément, les élèves (garçons et filles) provenant de foyers plus aisés se servaient plus de l'ordinateur de façon à améliorer leurs compétences professionnelles. L'environnement à la maison affecte l'emploi que font les élèves des ordinateurs à l'école dans le sens que les élèves de familles de statut socio-économique plus élevé (et dont le rendement et les objectifs académiques sont plus élevés) sont plus portés à employer un ordinateur à la maison mais moins portés à le faire à l'école. Cette conclusion remet en question les arguments selon lesquels les ordinateurs à l'école peuvent niveler les différences dans le capital culturel que les élèves acquièrent à la maison

Everybody Has a Connection Experience: Prevalence, Confusions, Interference, and Redefinition

This paper is an attempt to bring forward awareness of the existence and significance of “connection experiences”, what others call mystical experience, religious experience, and so on. The paper addresses the reality of the experiences, and well as some of the confusions, misconceptions, distortions, and just plain avoidance displayed by sociologists and others

Connection 100—An Auto-Ethnography of My (Mystical) Connection Experiences

This paper provides an autoethnographic accounting and analysis of my own mystical experiences, called connection experiences in this paper. This account, which is structured around a description of my early experiences, attempts to weave together psychological, sociological, historical, and methodological themes into a coherent contribution that advances our understanding of connection experience. The paper includes an explication of the four stages of the research project that developed as a consequence of these experiences as well as an examination of the processes, tools (i.e., MediWiki), and emotional, psychological, professional, and scholarly challenges of collecting and analyzing the autoethnographic data of mystical experiences. The denouement of the paper is the presentation of a conceptual schema aimed at overcoming nomenclature confusion and providing a basis for description, analysis, and discussion of connection and connection experiences. The utility of the schema is demonstrated when it is used to provide a clear overview of my own connection experiences, and the connection experiences of others. In order to facilitate critical discussion of the conceptual framework, a glossary of terms developed and presented in this paper is provided at the end

A Sociology of Tarot

This article examines the Masonic roots of the popular Tarot deck

A Sociology of Archetypes

Archetypes inform our self-image, influence how we see the world, and direct many of the actions we take as we navigate and create our realities. According to psychologist Carl G. Jung, archetypes are powerful determines of human experience and human psychological and political realities. As such, they hold significant spiritual, psychological, and sociological interest. There has been sustained interest from those interested in the psychology and spirituality of archetypes; however to date sociologists have remained largely aloof. Hoping to overcome this lacuna, this paper explores the sociology of archetypes by examining the emotional and psychological power of archetypes and by demonstrating how powerful archetypes become situated in elite “spiritual” discourses designed not in the service of human health and development, but in the service of the political and economic agenda of societal and world elites

Mystical experience and global revolution

Since Marx first declared religion to be the opiate of the masses, institutions of religion and spirituality have often been resisted by scholars. The assumption of many seems to always be that religion is either a reactionary response to difficult realities or a mere illusion, delusion, or epiphenomenon of brain/social function. This paper looks at the "authentic core" of religious institutions, religious/mystical experience, and, using biographical examples from the literature, argues that far from being a reactionary holdout of our primitive past, human spirituality is, in fact, essentially revolutionary. It is suggested that, in the context of a growing global ecological, political, and economic crises, the revolutionary authentic core of religion and spirituality has to be examined, recovered, and even embraced as part of any local or global strategy of transformationAn article that examines the revolutionary potential of mystical experience

Rocket Scientists' Guide to Money and the Economy

Since Marx first declared religion to be the opiate of the masses, institutions of religion and spirituality have often been resisted by scholars. The assumption of many seems to always be that religion is either a reactionary response to difficult realities or a mere illusion, delusion, or epiphenomenon of brain/social function. This paper looks at the "authentic core" of religious institutions, religious/mystical experience, and, using biographical examples from the literature, argues that far from being a reactionary holdout of our primitive past, human spirituality is, in fact, essentially revolutionary. It is suggested that, in the context of a growing global ecological, political, and economic crises, the revolutionary authentic core of religion and spirituality has to be examined, recovered, and even embraced as part of any local or global strategy of transformationRocket Scientists' Guide to Money and the Economy is a popular and critical introduction to money, capitalist accumulation, and debt