Wisdom, Psychedelics & Longevity
27 Apr 2025
“Carpenters fashion wood; fletchers fashion arrows; the wise fashion themselves.”
— Buddha
Recently I was asked to talk at the OWL conference on the Australian Gold Coast. OWL is an acronym for Optimising Wellness and Longevity, and for a while I had no idea of what my presentation would include, and how I was going to link psychedelics to longevity.
Ironically the longevity conference turned out to be short lived. In fact, it never got off the ground because of the threat of cyclone Alfred, but if you’re interested, here are a few of the things I was going to say.
The desire to live forever is not new. People have been seeking immortality since ancient times through such means as the Philosophers Stone and the Elixir of Life. Indeed, in their quest for longevity and perhaps immortality, more than one Chinese emperor died after greedily swallowing supposedly fabulous concoctions prepared by Taoist priests consisting of powdered jade, saffron, tea, ginseng, precious metals and who knows what!
Apart from my fascination with the immortals of the Pantheon, longevity is not something I’ve ever given much thought to, besides trying to stay healthy and engaged. Although I accept that an ongoing awareness of entropy and death is an important component in the art of living well, I have no desire to swallow 40 capsules a day, inject myself with the blood of young people and get stuck into lashings of testosterone.
Of course, most of us want to live as long as possible but its important to remember that without well-being, living a long time may not be much fun.
Research is showing us that years are certainly being added to our lives, but life is not being added to our years. Generally speaking, the dramatic increase in life expectancy we are seeing in countries like Australia, does not come with a proportionate increase in the quality of life for the elderly. As life expectancy increases so does disease, disability and dementia
So with that in mind, the following question arises: If you actually achieve longevity without significant morbidity, however you define it, what will you actually do with it?
There are several possibilities.
For some longevity will allow more time to accumulate power, riches and fame. Indeed, it’s often the very rich who are the ones behind longevity and immortality research. (The inferences here are that people with big egos fear death more than the humble, and in our secular age the promise of immortality traditionally made by certain religions, is now being provided by science.)
Or alternatively you could concentrate on hedonistic pleasures on the golf course, in restaurants and vineyards, and on cruises or world tours. All good stuff if that’s what you’re into.
But there is a third possibility which was well expressed by the 3rd century biographer of Greek philosophers, Diogenes Laertius who wrote:
Make wisdom your provision for the journey from youth to old age, for it is a more certain support than all other possessions.
Now not everyone agrees with such a statement, and I can understand that. But in our contemporary chaotic world where wisdom seems to be in such short supply, I want to make a humble stand for wisdom and ask whether psychedelic substances can play a role in helping some seekers of wisdom to find what they are looking for.
Before I attempt to answer that question let me confess to a conflict of interests in this regard.
I have to admit that I really appreciate wisdom. It fascinates me, and I think it’s an important foundation in any civilised society. I am happy to call myself a philosopher (a lover or seeker of wisdom), but I am certainly not wise myself! My own life story has many chapters where a fool has been the hero.
So, has wisdom anything to do with psychedelics? Let me start by describing what wisdom is, to the best of my limited ability.
The ancient Greeks described 3 types of wisdom, but I want to focus on only one. They described practical wisdom (Phronesis) which is the type of wisdom demonstrated by statesmen and politicians, (definitely in short supply at the moment) and Episteme which is the wisdom found amongst scientists and is the root of the term epistemology which is the study of knowledge.
Neither of those hit the mark for me. I’m much more interested in Sophia which is wisdom found in those who seek a contemplative life in search of truth. It involves asking the big existential questions to do with meaning, purpose and what it’s all about.
Western philosophy often equates wisdom to knowledge – the more you know, the more you understand the world. But as Eastern philosophers have been saying for a long, long time, intellectual knowledge usually leads to an endless cycle of questioning and problem solving and not necessarily wisdom.
As the philosopher Alan Watts emphasised, objectifying reality, standing back and seeing yourself as separate from your environment, (the scientific approach), is illusory in the search for wisdom.
“One can only attempt a rational, descriptive philosophy of the universe on the assumption that one is totally separate from it. But if you and your thoughts are part of this universe, you cannot stand outside it to describe them. That is why all philosophical and theological systems must ultimately fall apart. To “know” reality you cannot stand outside it; you must enter into it, be it, and feel it.”
— Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity
The picture of the sage or wise person as a static aloof individual sitting on a mountain top in deep contemplation misses the point for most of us who live in the hurly burly of today’s chaotic world.
A truer conception involves individuals who are much more vital, dynamic and creative, who live their lives to the full whatever their styles of being-in- the-world are.
“The Chinese, who know more of wisdom than any other race, designate the wise by the combination of the symbols for wind and lightening; wise, with them, is not the serene old man bereft of all illusions, but he who, like the wind, rushes headlong and irresistibly on his way and cannot be stopped nor laid hold of at any station of his career; who purifies the air in the manner of lightening, and strikes when there is need for it.”
— Hermann Keyserling, The Recovery of Truth
With this in mind, the gaining of wisdom implies the metaphorical act of diving into life. It involves energetic struggles, lively encounters, defeats and successes, and in particular a willingness not to believe in too much because beliefs aren’t facts, they are thoughts or things you would like to be true. But they don’t necessarily have anything to do with truth.
So, wisdom is not about certainty (or fundamentalism for that matter), but rather the active development of mental flexibility and fluidity in a world where change is the only sure thing. Such an understanding also helps us to develop a sense of humour which is really just a joyful awareness of the unfathomable ridiculousness and transience of our human existence.
Ultimately the search for wisdom is not about answers but questions. Its about constantly questioning where you are. And if you’re lucky, one day you might wake up to discover that what you’re left with is not a bunch of answers, but rather an overriding sense of awe and wonder.
To quote Goethe:
“The highest to which man can attain is wonder; and if the world makes him wonder, let him be content; nothing higher can it give him, and nothing further should he seek for behind it; here is the limit.”
Or Einstein:
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. They to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder, and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead; their eyes are closed.”
Now wonder and awe are not the same thing. Wonder is about curiosity and a desire to understand the unknown, whereas awe is usually characterised by a feeling of reverence or humility in the face of something vast or powerful or beautiful. The two words however are often used interchangeably, but for our purposes lets accept that a sense of wonder may lead to a sense of awe.
The Jewish philosopher Rabbi Abraham Herschel in his book “God in Search of Man” writes that awe is NOT simply an emotion, but a way of understanding, or a way of living with the mysteries of life. In other words, it is a resolution to the search for truth and wisdom.
“Awe is itself an act of insight into a meaning greater than ourselves”.
Heschel abhors the human tendency to take things for granted. Rather he advocates questioning, curiosity, and the embracing of mystery. People with a well-developed sense of awe are open to new ideas, to the beauty of the world, to what language can’t describe, and to the absurd.
His main message is that truth and awe dwell in radical amazement.
The other and equally significant downstream effect of awe and wonder is the movement away from an egotistical approach to life where we may be overly preoccupied with our own fate and see much of life as a competition we need to win.
Rather a profound realisation that we are part of something bigger than ourselves tends to enhance humility and feelings of connection and compassion. We come to understand that humans all share essential qualities, and that paradoxically, there can be liberation in our interdependence and our ability to collaborate.
In other words, awe and wonder may awaken the better angels of human nature. And this does not only involve the relationships we have with one another but with all living things and the natural world in which we live.
So, wisdom is very special. It’s not about cleverness or the accumulation of knowledge. It’s about being civil, humble, generous and amazed. Its about a harmonious relationship between reason and feeling so that neither dominates the other.
Or as Dante wrote in his Paradiso: its about “intellectual light full of love”, where intellectual light refers to a state of enlightenment and understanding.
This type of wisdom, wisdom that evolves or gradually develops, is sometimes called emerging wisdom. It is said to have several practical components including the ability to navigate complex social situations through insightful decision making, good emotional regulation, strong pro-social and pro-environmental behaviour, developed self-understanding associated with empathy and compassion, and a comfortable acceptance of uncertainty and impermanence.
So, what’s all this got to do with psychedelics?
Well Carl Jung when referring to psychedelics apparently said:
“Beware of unearned wisdom.”
Whether he actually said this or not doesn’t matter. The fact is that the gaining of wisdom usually does not come easily or quickly. And the wise are never in a hurry.
Yes, psychedelics can take you to the mountaintop in a hop but the view from there may not always be clear or instructive. It may even be frightening or scary. And even if beauty and wonder are revealed, once you come down to earth what will you do with the memory of the experience?
Will you tell everyone what a great time you had and hope for a repeat, or will you eventually forget what happened.
Or will you be inspired to capitalise on what you experienced and set out on a course of learning and deep consideration which may one day lead to wisdom.
Whether or not people who take psychedelics ultimately become wiser is impossible to answer. I would say in the majority of cases the answer is no. The best I can say is that remains a possibility.
Psychedelics are a technology, a technology that’s been around for a long time. Like any technology psychedelics can be used wisely or unwisely. Ultimately that depends on the person using the technology.
To illustrate this, consider the technology of a microscope. Such an instrument is useless without proper training and preparation. You can use a microscope as a paper weight or as an attractive doorstop, or you can use it to discover things which you may or may not be looking for. That in turn depends on your field of investigation and your intentions
Similarly, psychedelics can deliver ecstasies without insight or just an unpleasant confusion of sensations and imagination. Mystical experiences occur in the minority of individuals many of whom do not necessarily use those experiences to gain lasting insight.
So, I don’t believe that psychedelics are necessarily going to lead to a wiser or better world especially when one considers such things as spiritual bypassing, the commodification of psychedelics, and the use of psychedelics as ego enhancers and technologies of manipulation.
To sum up, psychedelics are for some people powerful enhancers of consciousness, but they do not necessarily promote wisdom. In my opinion the best they can do is potentially set certain individuals off on a path in the search for insight and hence wisdom.
I therefore agree with Jung. There are no short cuts in the gaining of wisdom.
Or as Einstein said:
“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it”.
I have already made the point that in these troubled times wisdom seems to be in short supply. If we look around the world today what we so often see are elderly leaders making a great hash of things including democratic ideals, equality, religion, human rights, and the natural world in which we live. Little wonder that younger generations just about everywhere are at best struggling to make sense of things and at worst wrestling with despair.
Humans are ideal-forming beings. When people live in service to an ideal their lives are often fulfilled and positive. Young people in particular seek intensity that reaches into their core.
Ethical and moral values, such as those from Plato—truth, goodness, beauty, equanimity, justice, harmony, joy, and love—can be sustaining. Although challenging to uphold, they also offer ideals to strive for.
But when ideals are abandoned, when most things come down to the transactional and the commodified, disillusionment sets in.
This is where the role of the wise elder is so important – wise men and women who live by example and who are prepared to mentor and teach.
Genuine mentoring is never arduous but always a pleasure, or as Wordsworth wrote in the Prelude:
“What we have loved, others will love, and we will teach them how.”
The one thing effective mentors have in common is that what they teach is far less important than how they teach. And how they teach is by example. The wise teacher teaches not so much the subject as themselves.
Unlike many valued things in our world, wisdom is not a commodity to be hoarded but rather an invaluable attribute which can be shared and passed on for the benefit of the many.
The world urgently needs more wise elders. Not silly old selfish fools who may be blessed with longevity but contribute little to the well-being of our world.
Long live wisdom, not silly old fools!
By Dr Nigel Strauss