Cisco techie ingests LSD to solve tough technical problems

"'When I'm on LSD and hearing something that's pure rhythm, it takes me to another world and into another brain state where I've stopped thinking and started knowing,' said Herbert who intervened to ban drug testing of technologists at Cisco Systems."

New York City:   Tue, 2/3/15 - 1:01pm    View comments
 

This evening at 7:00pm, I'll be attending the February 2015 NY Tech Meetup held here in Manhattan at the NYU Skirball Center For The Performing Arts.

Why?

Because I'm always curious to meet and learn from those individuals who're creating technology.

So imagine my surprise when I read the CNN Money article on a Cisco Meraki technical staff member, Kevin Herbert:

When Silicon Valley takes LSD

According to CNN Money:

"Herbert, who works at Cisco, has been in the tech sphere for decades. For him, geek-dom and psychedelics have intersected since the start of his adult life: The first LSD he took was created in an M.I.T. lab at and consumed at a science fiction convention.

"For people like Herbert, 51, Silicon Valley today feels a bit like the '70s all over again. Herbert drops acid three or four times a year and finds that it helps him solve work problems -- it's a way to 'hack' the limits of his natural thought.

"'There was a case where I had been working on a problem for over a month,' Herbert said. 'And I took LSD and I just realized, wait, the problem is in the hardware. It's not a software issue at all.'"

Furthermore according to Wired Magazine (9-years ago):

LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug?

"When Kevin Herbert has a particularly intractable programming problem, or finds himself pondering a big career decision, he deploys a powerful mind expanding tool -- LSD-25.

"'It must be changing something about the internal communication in my brain. Whatever my inner process is that lets me solve problems, it works differently, or maybe different parts of my brain are used,' said Herbert, 42, an early employee of Cisco Systems who says he solved his toughest technical problems while tripping to drum solos by the Grateful Dead -- who were among the many artists inspired by LSD.

"'When I'm on LSD and hearing something that's pure rhythm, it takes me to another world and into another brain state where I've stopped thinking and started knowing,' said Herbert who intervened to ban drug testing of technologists at Cisco Systems."

Related stories:

When Silicon Valley takes LSD

LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug?
 

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