Do y'all think that smoking marijuana actually benefits the mind? Some posters have recounted that their thoughts become more creative, but are they any more insightful, or useful?
It does benefit me to some degree, but it can also make some things more difficult... though that's usually due to excessive use. Once or twice a week would probably be mostly unnoticeable, as far as negative effects go. But once every day, or more, and some part of your thinking processes slow down a bit. It's not really that you're stupider, but you do feel a bit more oblivious to a lot of external things, and some things can just slip by your awareness, because you're too preoccupied with something else. This is often called "being a burn-out," at least around here.
I don't find it that bad, though. I'm able to cope with it quite well. I just find that getting stoned all the time is something people ideally shouldn't do, but other than that, I find the negatives to be quite innocuous. As far as drugs go, it's one of the good things about cannabis. You smoke, and at worst you experience a bit of mind-fog the next day. It's not particularity unpleasant, but neither is it particularly desirable. I don't find it negatively effects my
intelligence, but I do become less observant or aware of external reality. Though one can also dispel this effect, to some degree... it mostly just hinges on willpower, in my experience.
As far as benefits go, beyond just the creativity, I would definitely say it makes me more insightful. It tends to make me less perceptive of my surroundings, but my internal thoughts become very focused. My Ni will lead me along a path of realizations and tangents and associations, and it tends to be more direct than my normal way of thinking. I follow thoughts more throughly to their conclusion, my thoughts hold my attention in a much fuller way, and I'm able to examine them in a somewhat different way from the norm. Though the associations and creativity aren't always super insightful, I think this mostly has to do with the person doing the thinking, than specifically the drug's effect on thinking.
I find it increases my focus on my thoughts to a very significant degree, it can aid in visualization and imagination, and it often illuminates some associations or memories that are sort of on the fringe of my mind. I've had many "aha!" moments when high, where I discovered some awesome new cornerstone in the plot of some story I'm writing, or something... and it just totally came out of left field, and I didn't even know I had it in me. And I generally always value these insights just as much when sober, so I generally find them to be credible.
Sorry, I sound like I'm advocating drug use. I just find it works for me, to some degree. It's not like I'd be lost without it, but it's certainly an extra supplemental something that can add to the magic of life. And I'm also able to fit it quite nicely into my creative pursuits.
I read an article somewhere that said cannabis helps people become more in-tune with their naturally held values, and other aspects of their life-goals or personality. Unfortunately, I cant find the article now, and perhaps it exaggerates this effect a bit, to convey it's point (perhaps due to society's view of the use of weed...) but in my experience, I find there to be some truth to this. Weed does tend to make me more in touch with my inner self and my values, though it's not overpowering, and it is somewhat subtle.