I am always both intimidated and envigorated by large quantities of
brilliance when they are unmitigated and uncontrolled. I have found this, strangely enough, very often in the
drug community.
Some of the most truly thought-provoking conversations I have ever heard or engaged with some of the most brilliant people I have known have occured in places that we would prefer for police to not be present.
Suddenly, the shifting social rules in that space allowed for rambling discussions of philosophy, religion, spirituality, and literature. We could spend hours discussing the way that On the Road changed my life or how utilitarianism was really just another way of commodifying human beings.
We could really, truly learn and speak and listen without fear or discomfort. We could finally be free to interact, to find the chemestry that fit the people in the room.
Yeah, sometimes you'd get the dull, the mundane, even the occasional inane conversation, but the gamble seemed to be worth it because, as much as the insanely dull conversations seemed to happen, sometimes you got lucky. Sometimes, you would get something bright and astonishing.