"Weed Makes Me Sufficiently Stupid And That’s What I Need Sometimes" - Dr Mike Israetel

Duration: 9:36 2091 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

Dr. Mike Israetel explains his personal use of cannabis, citing two primary reasons: it acts as a cognitive interrupt and alters his perception of reality. As someone who constantly contemplates serious work problems and grand universal questions, he finds that weed makes him "sufficiently stupid," effectively breaking his train of thought to stop the generative nonsense often produced by an overactive mind or AI tools like GPT. This mental reset allows him to relax at a deeper level while viewing the world through a quirky lens similar to being immersed in *The Lord of the Rings* universe, where everything feels "tripped out" and fun. While he acknowledges that cannabis can spark creative ideas for others, Israetel notes his own experience is inconsistent; sometimes high moments yield brilliant concepts, but often they result in nonsense or regrettable actions, leading him to prefer being either completely sober or extremely intoxicated rather than moderately impaired. A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the unpredictable nature of cannabis compared to alcohol and the media's tendency toward sensationalism regarding its effects. Israetel argues that while alcohol has reliable archetypes for how it affects people across different cohorts, cannabis produces wildly varying reactions depending on individual biology; one person might feel horny or tired while another feels energized. He criticizes mainstream media coverage of THC as intentionally exaggerated and compares this to a *New York Times* writer exposing the dangers of drinking scotch without acknowledging that alcohol does not cause violence in 50% of users, just as some narratives falsely link iPhones directly to slave labor reparations. This inconsistency is why he remains skeptical about specific strains or concentrates like shatter being universally recommended by enthusiasts who claim they are essential for a good experience. Israetel emphasizes his strict ethical stance against advocating for cannabis use while offering practical advice on responsible consumption if one chooses to partake. He does not espouse the practice but advises users to take it earlier in the day to avoid interfering with sleep, noting that using weed as a sleeping aid often results in lower quality rest similar to Michael Jackson's rumored habits or Bill Cosby's controversies which he jokingly references regarding name-calling. His personal protocol is rigid: he only uses cannabis when all work for the week is finished and on days off; if tasks remain incomplete, he views drug use as a "demon" that will haunt him with open loops of unfinished business. He warns listeners to monitor their own reactions and stop immediately if usage turns into something they dislike, distinguishing between psychological addiction—a desire to repeat an experience—and physical dependence, noting that taking a few days off usually clears the mind enough to resume use without issue. Regarding his specific consumption habits, Israetel exclusively uses edibles with doses ranging from 20 to 80 milligrams of THC, as his brain adapts rapidly and requires higher amounts for effect after just two or three consecutive days. He recounts a memorable incident in Hawaii where he accidentally increased his dose on a date, leading to total hearing loss that made him unable to follow conversations or hold thoughts until the song "Queens We Are The Champions" played repeatedly in his head for hours. Despite appearing red-eyed and disoriented externally, Israetel maintains an internal sense of calm because all his work is done, allowing him to drop the persona of "Dr. Mike." He concludes by promoting AG1 as a superior nutritional supplement he has used for over three years due to its rigorous formulation and holistic approach, encouraging listeners to try it with their money-back guarantee before discussing how this wisdom applies to modern life at drinkag1.com.

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why do you use weed uh two reasons one I tend to be a pretty serious thinker in my own head and I think about work and Grand problems of the universe all the time weed makes me sufficiently stupid and interrupts my train of thought enough and uh a lot of the generative nonsense that comes out of the GPT and you know like the IDE bubble machine in your brain right you've seen you've seen us slack yeah sure that's what that is um I'll that comes up with so much nonsense that I can regress to not taking it so seriously and I can relax at some kind of deeper level of like ah the brain's going to do his brain's all junk at this point which is uh interesting also weed makes me see the world in a really quirky way and it's kind of like being immersed into like a Lord of the Rings Universe where I'm like whoa everything's kind of tripped out and it's just fun and uh so that's what I do with weed I don't understand how people work on weed sometimes I'll have really good ideas I quickly write down and later inspect and they're either nonsense or like oh [ __ ] that really was a good idea but like when people are like yeah man like I work High I'm like what the [ __ ] creative and blah blah the way I go about doing weed is also a bit strange I am absolutely uninterested ever in being a little bit High I want to either go to the [ __ ] moon or be Stone sober that's it so if you ever catch me high and a few people I got high last weekend and walked around an Arbor Michigan with my wife I was trying to show her like hey I went to undergrad here and heals all the cool stuff cuz the undergrads are back first week and I just got like Dr Mike like eight times in a row and uh it was totally cool but also like I was high as [ __ ] so like people start talking to me I'm like I I'm Dr Mike I'm on the internet for something people seem friendly that's nice yeah and then at first when I first started happening to me like you know a year ago I was like holy [ __ ] nowadays I'm like cool but it's also like everything can be a little bit scary especially attention the people and I love that cuz normally I'm like you know uh things don't phase me much anymore and my I'm 40 years old I've seen a lot of crazy [ __ ] so like I just don't get that like who but on weed I do so it's fun I'm not defending marijuana as an ethical practice or something like that I think uh the vast majority of media you'll see on marijuana is intentionally sensationalistic and tries to wildly exacerbate its negatives um it's just the nature of media in general and I always think of like there's like some New York Times writer that's writing the expose on THC all times while having a scotch and you're like all right cuz alcohol doesn't cause 50% of people to become violent or anything or the the person talking about reparations that are needed from an iPhone that was used with [ __ ] slave labor out of China Che that one out um so an interesting Insight that I learned last year about weed in particular one of the reasons that I think it is quite contentious in a way that alcohol isn't is that alcohol has very reliable effects across cohorts on how you feel you drunk I have a pretty good understanding of what you drunk feels like because of what I've felt like when I'm drunk weed is not the same you speak to 10 people you'll have 10 different uh makes me horny it makes me tired I want to get up and do the whatever yeah all them all those really all of them um but you know for me I I just don't really enjoy it and then every person that loves weed goes no man you need a sativa hybrid [ __ ] Hipp blah blah you've got you've got to get the it's because are you doing it are you trying it with concentrate are you doing it you you got to do shatter and I'm like bro look I just I'm one of those people for whom I don't know maybe I'll try it again at some point in future and see if it works for me or something but yeah it's not reliable across the board the the effect it has on people whereas I think alcohol even if people's behavior is very different some person gets angry some person gets sad some person gets whatever I think the way that they feel there's only a few archetypes really corre for the most part is that whereas for weed there's like you know sure sure and I'm like people you know now nowadays that I've uh largely from your help have gotten more popular um people some fraction of people seem to assume that anything you do and talk about is something you espouse and recommend and like I am absolutely I I do not espouse marijuana consumption if it's some [ __ ] that fits in your life the the only thing I have to say about it is take it earlier in the day so it doesn't interfere with your sleep most people be like but I use it to sleep and then it's actually a lower quality sleep which might be s exactly something like that the Michael Jackson method I'm kidding too soon oh I was referring to his use on himself right mixed metaphors should I have brought up Bill Cosby too soon also too much I call him William we're on first first name basis okay uh I don't advocate for people to do weed so I say uh just don't let her interfere with your sleep and um make sure you finish all your work and be responsible about it I only ever do weed on times I have off I'm finished all my work if I haven't finished my work for the day or for the week I oh I'm not taking any drugs because I still have to finish my work it it's a demon that will haunt me and I will have a real bad time that open loop is [ __ ] oh hell no so as soon as I put everything away I finish up weed totally cool enjoy and the other thing I would say is uh notice how it's affecting you and if it's something that turns into something that like you don't like but you still do [ __ ] stop doing it uh there'll be a few day period if you do some serious weed where you kind of want to do it again uh I would even say it's it's like a psychological addiction it's not physical it's not even it's barely an addiction it's kind of like how should I do weed again you give it a couple days you're going to feel a little bit more clearheaded feel right as rain and the next time you want to do weed you can do weed no problem um I do weed like a few times a week uh usually almost always on the weekend what's your delivery mechanism Edibles exclusively okay uh what's your dose uh so my brain adapts rapidly to weed so if I do it for two or three days in a row I need to up the dose to get the same effect cuz again I'm only trying to get super [ __ ] up um anywhere between 20 and 80 Mig [ __ ] me yeah yeah but remember you're like oh my God how can you still like handle yourself I can't that's the whole point yeah I mean I can the only still know not to [ __ ] in the street but barely the only time I ever took more than 10 milligrams of Edibles was when I was traveling in Hawaii and I went on a date with some chick and she was like super hot oh lovely whatever but I just didn't know what was going to happen when I went to 20 Mig from 10 and 10 was like do before the date yeah Chris you're my man fun just you did she know or no no oh my God she's like why are you nervous you're like why are you in my head talking to me she's like what uh the opposite happened which was uh about halfway through the meal that we were having my hearing completely stopped my hearing just stopped working and I was like she was there and that's when I realized listening to the woman on a date doesn't matter because it went great was one and the same yeah exactly it was just like it always is uh so and I was like [ __ ] like I can't hear and I couldn't hold on to any thoughts obviously uh and then I heard uh Queens We Are the Champions playing dope that'll play in your head and I thought full on schizophrenia that's interesting Queens We Are the Champions is playing and then she finished speaking and I think I said something that presumably but you don't remember what you said because as soon as it left your mouth you had no idea that's scary then Queens We Are the Champions played again and for the next two hours all I could hear was Queens We Are the Champions I couldn't hear anything else so I exited the date took myself into bed and laid and listened to Queens We are the champions for another hour and a half and uh was it Pleasant listening kind of I guess but also kind of a bit like what the [ __ ] is going on were you attributing an anxiety emotion to that process of being so okay I got you a little that's like my superpower is uh I'll be completely [ __ ] up and useless to the world but I don't give a [ __ ] totally chill because like all of my work has been done I can flip off having to be Dr Mike and I'm just like Mike I guess potato I mean if you ever talk to me and you catch me high almost certainly you'll be like his eyes just look more red he's really kind of the same but it's not the same on the inside over the span of about a year I tried 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ag1 travel packs and that 90day money back guarantee by going to the link in the description below or heading to drink a1.com slod wisdom that's drink a1.com SL modern wisdom if you enjoyed that clip with Mike you will love the full length podcast in all of his bigheaded bold Glory right here come on press it