I've got a friend who, let's face it, loves his Buddha. The kid smokes bud like a forest fire. He's also extremely artistic. I often wonder how much of his talent he can attribute to rarely being sober.

But talented he is. He dreams up some of the craziest, most off the wall mind-blowing ideas I've ever heard. He can cast almost anything in a new light.

Personally I can't do pot. I get all kinds of nauseated and paranoid when I'm under its influence, but it seems to work for a lot of people. Will anyone else admit to using it to write crazy scripting ideas? And what's more, do you think it's fair to use it to come up with great ideas when much of the free world chooses not to utilize that "advantage?"

Haha... that's interesting.

I don't smoke, take any drugs, consume alcohol, or even drink coffee! I feel fine the way I am, and I'd like to stay that way.

Good question, my main man. Well I used to be a big pothead, and only did it for creative purposes w/ only the best friends unless i was drunk.

Now the thing you must realize is that pot doesn't make you creative per se, it unleashes the creativeness within you. I'm naturally creative, but I can be incredibly lazy when it comes to sitting down and forcing myself to think of ideas and put creative ideas together to form a solid story. Pot is a great tool for this. Sometimes its funner to be creative when you are stoned.

The way it works is it makes you see the world a lot more vividly, and makes everything so much more beautiful(for me atleast). Makes you notice things that you wouldn't have before. Makes people see things from a different perspective etc etc. It allows you to be artistic for hours. But if you're not naturally creative, and if you don't have the spark already in you, then don't expect anything special from it.

Pots a mild psychadelic, so it's not like it puts the thoughts in your head, just releases them from your own mind. This is why you see weed effecting people differently. Some people get really hyper and spit creative ideas out like it was nothing, some people get anxious, some people get antisocial, some people get depressed, some people can't handle the weird effects. Most everyone gets weird effects which are usually different from everyone elses. I have my own personal experiences which are individual, and noone I've met has had the same exact effects.

I don't smoke that much anymore, because frankly its lost much of its power on me. I will, however, treasure those moments I've shared with mary jane.
Some people may look at is as cheating, but I just see it as expanding your mind!
I also have been diagnosed as being clinically insane, but other drugs were involved in that little adventure.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FashtheStampede,

I think it just makes you stupid, in fact, I know it does, both based on first hand experience (though not much) and people I know who do it. I find it only does the opposite, it stops the create energy and flow. Most ppl I know who do drugs aren't motivated to get anything done or accomplished. I wouldn't call it cheating to use drugs, seeing as these ppl are only hurting themselves.

Drunk, yes. I've come up with several ideas when I was drunk and dryheaving...though those ideas tend to be forgotten the next day. But I knew this chick in my art 3 class who was like, "I don't do drugs, just acid," and she was about as "artistic" as they come. But I guess its different with everybody.

Drugs totally rule.

quote:

Originally posted by Hill Dawson Kane:
I think it just makes you stupid, in fact, I know it does, both based on first hand experience (though not much) and people I know who do it. I find it only does the opposite, it stops the create energy and flow. Most ppl I know who do drugs aren't motivated to get anything done or accomplished. I wouldn't call it cheating to use drugs, seeing as these ppl are only hurting themselves.

Hey you wanna make an omelet you gotta break some eggs.

I usually find myself in dementia. Things may be beautiful looking to some, but I find this world to be far from beatiful...rather strange looking. I channel many ideas, most are just random weirdness....some will work for film, others apply to other things; drawing. (I'd like to start painting) I do a lot of poetry/stories too

a bit of a Buddhist myself. but I tend to refer to myself as nothing (religious wise) ... or the the left hand path

HDK has a good point but it doesnt apply to all...but a lot of people I know who smoke marijuana don't do anything, they'll talk of plans for the future but nothing comes from it. Depression plays a huge part cause well, isn't not doing anything in life make you seem worthless?. ITs not that they can't do what they want to achieve, they just dont want to try, or expand their knowledge by reading a book on another's experience in what they want to do. but really, they can't seem to just START.

anyways..

your friend make any films, jhart? Or any of his work online, I'd be interested in viewing.

Well I have a pretty general view of what beautiful can be. Most things I consider beautiful are morbid and weird. Strangelookin can be beautiful too.

I do agree that a lot of potheads are unmotivated dumb losers(often dirty and smelly hippies), but these people are expendable. They give pot smokers a bad name.

And I would never consider tryin to do something constructive in terms of going out and making a movie while I was stoned or high. Unless i was on speed. Because truth is, weed, while promoting creativity(for me), still dulls things like motor skills and such. I just use it for the basic artistic stuff, IE brainstorming, writing, drawing storyboards, making music, and it makes lightwave3d a whole lot more fun to work with.

In the end though it effects everyone differently. So if you find that it dulls your creative side and makes you a dumbass, then that sucks for you.

Drugs don't make you creative but alot of creative people do drugs.

I gave up on drugs a few years back as they began to make my soul feel ill. But I think the reason alot of creative people use is because creativity itself, just like drugs, is a way to escape or heighten reality or to battle simple boredom.

Experimentation happens but at a certain point you have to be able to get into the creative haze without the use of chemicles or you'll be like every other pot smoking knucklehead with big ideas and no ability to pull them off.

Like Dali said "I don't do drugs, I am drugs."

I'm sure you can find many alternative ways get ideas. I just listen to music.

smoking pot just makes everything seem funny to me. i never come up with ideas, infact when i plan on smoking for the purpose of coming up with ideas i end up just not doing anything. so i dont do it anymore.

quote:

I'm sure you can find many alternative ways get ideas. I just listen to music.

All the way man. Listening to music is my #1 way of stirring up some new ideas.

I agree with the music thing.. Paul Thomas Anderson writes to music so that's good enough for me. Although it's recently been found that Shakespeare was a toker... so maybe it is good. I would just say be careful because it can probably lead to some pretty bad ideas, like Catwoman or reality tv

I agree with the music thing as well. I'm a die-hard emo kid minus the whole emo look. Take your average breakup. Say I've been with the girl for six months. This sort of breakup, though it happens to thousands of people every day, is enough to ruin my life. Instead of letting things go I dwell on them and squeeze out every ounce of feeling I can which I then transfer into my work.

A good portion of my friends either smoke, deal, or shoot some sort of drug. I'm the boyscout of the group. I don't get messed up for creativity's sake; rather just to woo naive girls into thinking I'm far cooler than I actually am.

As far as my friend goes, yes, he and I both made a film. Well, two films, but on the first one we really were just learning to use the equipment. The concept is still trippy ish though. The second film won our school's student film festival and we shot it in a week. It's kind of my baby; I had complete control of everything and it was actually an ode to my toking buddy.

The idea for the first film is so trippy that I plan on reshooting it, perhaps this fall or spring.

I've yet to post the "good" film. I've got the copy sitting right here in front of me; I just don't know why I haven't brought myself to submitting it. I think I'm going to get on that tomorrow. Yeah.

More thoughts on this? I think of smoking weed to generate ideas comparable to taking steroids in professional sports, but maybe not to the same extreme. Is it cheating?

Umm, I wouldn't compare weed to steroids even if it is in the creative sense. Weed's just not powerful enough to make a big difference. Other drugs however could put your mind in an unfair advantage, like being on some sort of speed. But even those don't make that big of a difference. You either have it or you don't. Psychadelics could put you at an advantage by simply adding intense psychological experiences thus adding years of wisdom to your soul thereby allowing you to write something better, more intense, and on another level. The great thing about film though is that it's not a sport. It's an art. You can't cheat in art unless you steal someone else's work.

In film there IS no such thing as an unfair advantage. If you're smarter, funnier or more creative, whether or not you had to get high to be so, that's perfectly fine.

That said, I tend to agree with whoever said if you need drugs to make you creative you're done for, cause you won't be able to do anything with your ideas once you're drugged out.

quote:

Paul Thomas Anderson writes to music so that's good enough for me.

George Lucas writes to music. Enough said.

Pot is more comparable to a supplement such as protein(hehe) rather than steroids. It can't and never will be a substitute for creative talent.

From what I've seen, all the ideas that came from being high are "crazy", "complicated", and "confusing". But they are all the same. Some interchangeable things here or there, but they are all the freakin same.