The Lost Art of Risk

Why Discomfort Makes us Feel Alive

Welcome to the Psychedelic Blog. I write about the Impact of Psychedelics on Grieving, Relationships, Culture & Death. This week, I’m exploring something that used to define aliveness — and now feels increasingly rare: risk.

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“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” — John A. Shedd (from Salt from My Attic, 1928)

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I stood on the edge of the bridge, staring at a patch of green grass on the mountainside ahead.

The instructor’s words from the safety briefing played on repeat in my head:

“This isn't a ride at Disney. This isn’t a passive experience. Jump with all your strength toward that patch of grass — or risk hitting the bridge on your way down.”

It wasn’t optional. To exert agency while the mind was under full-scale duress — that was the task. A skill I never needed to develop in the safe, padded modern world — but in that moment, it was a necessity.

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Because that's what real fear does: It forces a choice. Freeze, cling, hesitate — and you get hurt. Act boldly, commit fully — and you live.

Not just survive — live.

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Part 1: Why the Brain Needs Contrast

“The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Our brains are relative machines. They don’t respond to absolutes — only changes.

Why do trust fund kids often spiral into addiction? Because the absence of hardship rewired their brain to expect luxury as a baseline. Without contrast, even pleasure becomes dull.

Key Concepts:

• Opponent-Process Theory – Terror makes the euphoria sweeter

Opponent-Process Theory, introduced by psychologist Richard Solomon, suggests that every emotional reaction is followed by an opposing emotional response. Over time, the initial reaction weakens while the opposing response strengthens. This theory helps explain phenomena like the thrill of skydiving, where initial fear is followed by intense relief & pleasure.​

• Hedonic Adaptation – Your nervous system normalizes highs & lows

Hedonic Adaptation, also known as the "hedonic treadmill," refers to the tendency of humans to return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite significant positive or negative events. This concept explains why the joy from new experiences or possessions often fades over time, leading individuals to seek new sources of happiness continuously.​

• Contrast Principle – Sensation only has meaning in context

The Contrast Principle is a psychological concept that describes how our perception of something is influenced by comparisons with other recent experiences. For instance, a room may feel warmer after coming in from the cold, even if its temperature hasn't changed. This principle is widely used in marketing & negotiations to influence decisions.​

The Takeaway:

Without discomfort, comfort becomes meaningless. The brain needs contrast to feel anything at all.

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Part 2: The Case for Engineered Risk

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” — Vincent van Gogh

We are ancient beings living in modern cages.

Engineered risk — sky diving, bungee jumps, wilderness treks, high-dose Psychedelic journeys — acts as controlled adversity. It's how we recalibrate the nervous system in a world that’s too safe.

Key Concepts:

• Evolutionary Mismatch Theory – Our brains aren’t wired for constant safety

Evolutionary Mismatch Theory suggests that certain traits or behaviors that were advantageous in our ancestral environments may become maladaptive in modern settings due to rapid environmental changes. For instance, our ancestors developed acute stress responses to immediate threats, which were crucial for survival. However, in today's world, these same responses can be triggered by non-life-threatening situations, leading to chronic stress & related health issues.​

• Stress Inoculation – Small doses of adversity make us resilient

Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) is a cognitive-behavioral therapy technique developed by psychologist Donald Meichenbaum. It involves exposing individuals to manageable levels of stress in a controlled environment to build resilience. Through this process, individuals learn coping mechanisms and strategies to handle future stressors more effectively.​

• Hormesis – Voluntary discomfort builds long-term emotional regulation

Hormesis refers to the phenomenon where exposure to low doses of a stressor or toxin can have beneficial effects on an organism. In psychology, this concept implies that voluntarily engaging in challenging or uncomfortable activities (like cold showers or fasting) can enhance mental resilience & emotional regulation over time.​

The Takeaway:

If you don’t engineer real risk into your life, your brain will invent fake ones:
Anxiety. Doomscrolling. Addiction. OCD. Manufactured drama. Inventing that you have ‘trauma.’ So many problems facing the modern world are the result of a lack of risk.

The mental health of children in the West hasn’t just declined — it’s collapsed compared to just one generation ago. We just need to look back 20 years. Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide in kids have skyrocketed in a single generation. Why? Because we’ve coddled their bodies & overstimulated their minds. We removed hardship, worshipped safety, and handed them screens. Now we’re wondering why they’re anxious.

Discomfort was never the problem — it was the training ground for life.

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Part 3: Risk Physiology — What the Science Says

“Stress is the stimulus for growth. Without it, we atrophy.” — Dr. Andrew Huberman, Stanford neuroscientist

Study Highlights:

• Controlled Stress = Greater Resilience
  Skydivers report increased post-jump calm & presence. (can confirm).
  Cortisol dips below baseline afterward — proof of recalibration.

• Natural Euphoria & Emotional Repair
  High-risk sports trigger dopamine & natural opioids.
  Breaks depressive neurochemical loops.

• Risk & the Default Mode Network
  DMN deactivation during high-stakes activities mirrors what happens on Psychedelics.
  Translation: risk quiets the ego & unlocks presence.

Risk temporarily suspends the self. What’s left is awe, flow, and a feeling of being fully here.

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Part 4: My Story — Why I Keep Jumping

“Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” — Helen Keller

Skydiving at 18,000 feet. Bungee jumping into a canyon. Communing with the world’s most potent Psychedelic in the Mexican jungle. Not for the thrill. Not for the story. But because in that moment, I’m more alive than I ever am in comfort.

The Pattern:

• Before: Terror. Mind screaming.

• During: Dissolution. Full surrender.

• After: Stillness. Gratitude. Rebirth.

That’s not adrenaline addiction. That’s nervous system recalibration.

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Part 5: Misogi — Ancient Rituals of Voluntary Suffering

“You were never meant to live a life of avoidance.”— Michael Easter, The Comfort Crisis

As described in The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter, Misogi is an old Japanese tradition of doing something so hard it nearly breaks you — but doesn’t.

The rules:

• It must push you to your limits.

• You can’t be sure you’ll succeed.

• No audience. No reward.

Just you vs the threshold.

Today’s version? Swim a mile in freezing water. Climb a mountain alone. Do a heroic dose of Psilocybin with no music, no guide, no exit plan.

Engineered risk isn’t recklessness. It’s spiritual necessity.

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Photo by Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash

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Part 6: Microdosing Is Not a Substitute for Courage

“It’s not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It’s because we do not dare that things are difficult.” — Seneca

Microdosing Psilocybin is everywhere now. A bit more focus, a bit more calm, a gentler week.

Useful? Yes. But also a trap.

The trap is believing you're doing the work — when really, you’re just smoothing the edges of a life that might need blowing up.

Real transformation requires real risk. Microdosing is safe. Ceremony is sacred.

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Part 7: The War on Discomfort Includes Psychedelics

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” — Joseph Campbell

Even Psychedelics are ceding ground to our culture’s obsession with comfort:

• The very compounds designed to shatter the comfort matrix are now being stripped of their trip.

• Scientists are racing to develop non-hallucinogenic Psychedelics — no ego death, no fear, just tidy neurochemical outcomes. Pharma-optimized sedation.

• Ayahuasca nasal spray is in development. That’s right — adjustable-dose Ayahuasca, tailored for convenience.

To steelman the case for nuance: yes, there are people who could benefit from molecules like DMT but can’t risk being launched into mania. For them, non-psychedelic Psychedelics will be a godsend. And the ‘traditionalists’ who insist we only use these medicines like indigenous tribes did ignore how many people suffered because of undiagnosed mental illness. We can — and should — do better.

That’s not my concern.

My concern is the countless others who would benefit from a real journey — but won’t. Because it’s safer not to. Because it doesn’t scare them. But some people need to be scared. Some people need risk. Without it, they may never wake up.

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Part 8: Psychedelics, Fear, and the Biology of Aliveness

"Risk is the rhythm of transformation. Without it, we mistake safety for meaning." — Aurelius Sinclair

Emerging science offers a new layer to the conversation. A 2025 study published in Nature (covered by Forbes) reveals that Psychedelics disrupt brain-immune signaling pathways that promote fear. In plain English: these compounds don’t just alter perception — they modulate the body’s physiological response to threat. Which means the “risk” of a Psychedelic experience isn’t just metaphorical. It’s biological. Fear lives in the nervous system. And Psychedelics work, in part, by loosening the immune-encoded grip that fear holds on us.

But here’s the twist: if we eliminate the fear entirely — if we neuter the trip — we may be throwing out the mechanism that makes it healing in the first place.

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Closing Thoughts

If you don’t engineer real risk into your life, your nervous system will invent it for you.

• I still remember how good the morning after my 18,000-foot skydive felt. A simple cup of coffee brought immeasurable joy. Why? Because the morning before, I was plummeting toward the earth, one layer of Kevlar away from certain death. It didn’t just thrill me — it rebooted me. It reminded me that fear, when chosen, is sacred.

• Bungee jumping was a tale of two drives. On the way there: nerves, dread, an inner monologue on repeat — Why the fuck are you doing this? But the drive back? Pure euphoria. Windows down. Music blasting. Good vibes. A body humming with aliveness.

• My most recent Bufo ceremony catalyzed an intense fear. Something about being deep in the jungle, knowing I was about to surrender all agency, rattled me to my core. But once that smoke filled my lungs, a deep peace washed over me — and on the other side, the most profound bliss I’ve ever known.

Comfort is easy. But feeling alive takes courage.
It takes the jump. The fall.
And the choice to face yourself fully — and do it anyway.

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