Our country’s supposed to be about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (this means access to our meds, Obama!), but have you ever run across the concept of cognitive liberty? It’s basically the idea that a person has the right—as long as they’re not hurting anyone—to alter their state of consciousness through whatever means they chose without negative repercussions from The Man. This might be meditation or yoga and prayer. For others, it’s through the use of mind-altering substances (hint: cannabis or hallucinogens like LSD). To put it another way, you’ve heard of freedom of religion and freedom of expression, right? Well, cognitive liberty is about freedom of thought, freedom to do anything you want to do your mind without having to deal with hassles from law enforcement or the government.
Cognitive
This word means of or having to do with cognition, which is the scientific term to describe various mental processes such as memory, conceptualization, problem-solving and information processing. It comes from the Latin term cognoscere (‘to know” or “to recognize”).
The Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics
This scholarly Davis-based group coined the term “cognitive liberty” in 2000. This group states that it is concerned with “the unlimited potential of the human mind” and aims to protect freedom of thought.
Timothy Leary
This LSD guru came up with two “commandments” during his psychedelic proselytizing. They are: Thou shalt not alter the consciousness of they fellow man” and “Thou shalt not prevent thy fellow man from changing his or her consciousness.” (Matt Tapia)
