cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/241900
A leader in the US white nationalist movement realized he wanted to change his extreme beliefs after he took the psychoactive drug MDMA as part of a scientific study.
The man, who is referred to by his first name, Brendan, was enrolled in an MDMA study in February 2020, which investigated whether the drug could increase the pleasantness of human touch, according to an adaptation of the book “I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World” by Rachel Nuwer, published by the BBC.
After the experience, Brendan returned a form to the researchers and wrote: “This experience has helped me sort out a debilitating personal issue. Google my name. I now know what I need to do.”
The researchers looked up Brendan and discovered he was a white supremacist, who had lost his job after being revealed as the leader of a white nationalist group. Brendan had attended the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017.
Immediately they were concerned as to what “sorting out an issue” might refer to, but when they tracked him down, Brendan revealed that what he needed to do was simply love, as opposed to something more sinister.
Makes sense.
It temporarily boosts your empathy. In the right setting, this can result in deep introspection and amazing clarity–the defensive walls in your psyche are torn down and your ego is supressed. It’s difficult to lie to oneself in that state.
While the empathy may fade, the lesson it instills seems to stick.