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A white supremacist took MDMA for a study, and it snapped him out of his beliefs: 'Why am I doing this?' (www.insider.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Nuwer pointed out that Brendan's "seemingly spontaneous change" appears to be an exception to the norm. MDMA releases the chemical oxytocin, which our bodies naturally produce. The chemical causes animals to fiercely love their own, but also protect them from others — which can mean a disdain for outsiders may actually increase.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Maybe he felt a surge to protect humans in general, and that intense feeling changed his outlook. Yeah, definitely, we should treat this as an exception not the rule, but I find myself wondering if he was already open to change, even if he didn't realize

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I was wondering if he was already wanting to change and that's why he signed up to the study.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I think that's likely as well. It may have been the thing that gave him a push to change, but I don't think anything would have happened if he hadn't had doubts beforehand.

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