{"id":7417,"date":"2020-07-05T14:11:41","date_gmt":"2020-07-05T12:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mapsofthemind.com\/?p=6563"},"modified":"2022-11-20T22:51:42","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T21:51:42","slug":"nitrous-oxide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mapsofthemind.com\/2020\/07\/05\/nitrous-oxide\/","title":{"rendered":"Nitrous Oxide: History & Effects"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nitrous oxide is very rarely mentioned in the psychedelic world and isn\u2019t taken seriously in the way that say, psilocybin, MDMA or ketamine now are.\u00a0<\/span>I guess part of that is because its nickname, laughing gas, and how its commonly taken, by breathing it in through balloons – a party item – make it kind of a joke to begin with.<\/span><\/p>\n It has been used in dentistry for its analgesic and anxiolytic properties but not much is said of its hallucinogenic or mind expanding properties…<\/span><\/p>\n What is interesting is that it has history and influence with serious thinkers and scholars, most notably the<\/span> great American philosopher and Harvard psychologist William James, “the Father of American psychology”. James was particularly interested in mystical experiences, investigating them throughout his life, <\/span>and he experimented with nitrous oxide, as well as others including the more classic psychedelic peyote.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n James claimed that whilst under the influence of nitrous, he was finally able to understand the philosophy of the German philosopher Hegel. He went on to do important work in the philosophy of religion and provided a wide-ranging account of The Varieties of Religious Experience<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>in a book of the same name that was based on his lectures.<\/span><\/p>\n In the earlier history of nitrous oxide is the British chemist and inventor Sir Humphrey Davy, who came upon it when investigating surgical gases. Davy gave it the name ‘laughing gas’, because of its effects on him, and was a huge fan, giving<\/span> demos at the Royal Institution where he would take it himself or give it to others. He openly espoused its enjoyable qualities and introduced it to others, many of whom he converted, including the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.<\/span><\/p>\nHistorical Influence<\/h2>\n