A lot of people orgasm and say, “Oh god!” but that doesn’t mean they’ve become theists.

To quote the article. "Griffiths and the research team caution that the study relied on self-reported responses to a questionnaire, a method that carries substantial possibilities for biased or inaccurate responses among participants."

Well some of them also think they now can fly.

I did acid at least 100 times, never saw or experienced "god" unless "god" is the universe as a whole.

I took LSD as a teen. I thought I could talk to my car. .........And I could. .......

Primitive religions were created to explain the unknown. Hallucinations create a vision of something unknown and they had to call it something..

There are some profound experiences which humans can have, which are a real phenomenon, at least in the sense that dreams are a real phenomenon, and which have been consistent enough over time and throughout all cultures, that humans are perennially inclined to call "an encounter with God." This is a fact.

Now whether that thing we are calling God actually has the qualities and substance we attribute to it is a separate question, but the phenomenon has a long and remarkably consistent history in human experience. It is, at minimum, a real part of human nature, and, having been recorded in virtually all human cultures, at all periods of time in which humans have existed, it meets the rule of thumb for most likely being an adaptive trait.

So the question of whether God exists is not really a very useful, or even interesting, question. Certainly something exists that our species keeps referring to as "God". The more useful question is "What is God's nature"? An all-powerful person who created the universe, or an evolved aspect of our collective unconscious... or maybe something we've not begun to understand yet?

I have taken psychedelics. No change for me.

I might read this if "psychedelics" was spelled properly, but....naaaah.....

What exactly does self identified atheist mean...is there any other kind? What is more to the point is where were they on the belief spectrum before they identified as an atheist. I think the idea of someone like me, who has never believed, recanting that disbelief after some hallucinatory experience, is about as likely as me turning into a pumpkin!

I shed a lot of things after consuming psychedelics in my youth.

A+ Would dose again

Chemically modifying the natural state of your brain could make you believe you are the creator itself . . . . and why do the madmen land in insane asylums?

Fascinating! What is next? Christians encouraging the taking of psychedelics to eliminate atheistic thinking? Wouldn't that be a twist!

IMO, self-identified atheists run the gamut, from those who at one time were deeply religious to those who were raised without any concept of a deity. In other words, a range from the highly negative (in terms of their prior upbringing) to the relatively ambivalent. It would be interesting to delve deeper into the data, to see if there were any correlation with prior religious belief and retaining (or shedding) one's self-identified atheist label.

btw, when I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible

In my opinion, this supports the theory that Theism is the product if hallucination.

Drug induced hallucinations has no bearing on reality.

I would assume the numbers would similar for agnostics with a slightly higher percentage do to less skepticism.

The take away... psychedelics are deeply moving! Some attribute it to external forces, some realize it's all internal, but just about all can agree that it's moving.

With me it was just the opposite...I shed Christian beliefs AFTER the Psychedelics...was leaning away from the Church as a teenager and the mind expansion sealed it.

I recent finished "How to Change Your Mind" by Michael Pollan (non-believer), a very good read.

[nytimes.com]

I guess I’m part of the remaining 1/3. ‍

Meanwhile on the reservation:
A charter was granted by the State of Oklahoma on October 10, 1918 placing the Peyote Ceremony on a basis of legal equality with other religions by providing Constitutional Protection through the establishment of a Native American Church. This is perhaps the most important cultural contribution by the Comanches to the lives of other Native American Indians.

Proves that the religious are always on drugs - the emotional high of belief.

Very little difference between an atheist and an agnostic. What this ridiculous study is trying to prove and show you is that the invisible man in the sky is real. Everybody knows that the cloud in the sky really does look like Jesus. They also know after taking a psychedelic that their dog turns into Jesus and he talks to you. There. Their must be something to it. I might start believing again tomorrow coz I found my car keys in the frige.

Yes, the first time you take psychedelics you will see god.
Explaining: You will have a fractal experience that will be overwhelming and with a oneness feeling, this people will call "to see god" It happens with most of people and everyone feels different.
And the theme of this experience can vary.

I knew a person that was tasting fruits at this time and felt the tongue dividing and tasting different tastes and dividing more and tasting more and so on.
I saw a person that were reading ancient books and felt a line of culture and information integrating him with all the humans that are directly or indirectly impacted by those texts.
I heard about people feeling that the whole mankind was one thing evolving and learning as a giant multicorporeal being.

But the experience is always fractal, is your mind looping over the same theme and gives the idea of an infinite and impossible to grasp complexity. If you are a believer or has tendencies for it, you can be convinced on spot. If you are a strong atheist you can understand and even associate this with natural themes.

And a lot of those atheists are "not affiliated with a religion" but still have mystical and religious beliefs.