thINK #1

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, a massive "article" written by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, contains several powerful literary instances of his prowess as a writer ("gonzo" equaling "shocking"). One of the most striking excerpts from this "novel" is about the length of a paragraph; details his and his apparent attorney's literal car-full of intoxicants, more than two-thirds being illegal substances. These two are (almost) always intoxicated, going for great lengths without food, water, sleep (deprivation being the poor man's hallucinogenic), as well.
What would drive a man to push his body so hard, to abuse it with mind-altering, body-deteriorating substances?
Thompson's somewhat comedic, usually disturbing view ("beer" goggles being forced upon the reader as the author dons them) is entertaining and enlightening; pertains to aspects sobriety may cause the majority to overlook. As a journalist, this may have been his only motivation for punishing his body so: to write a piece that would force the readers to continue 'til no more pages remain (pain being universal, fodder for great art). Drug use/drinking/"fasting" is not uncommon among those who...
How to finish this sentence? There has not been identified any characteristics shared among all those who willingly seek an altered state of consciousness (though emotional problems and precarious perceptions (prior to use) are apparently common in these).
Ancient peoples would inebriate themselves to get in touch with a "universal force"-their gods. Holy men, past and modern, do so in the pursuit of enlightenment. Peer pressure, poor living conditions-little supervision; all factors contributing to addiction to these substances.
Any number of possibilities can be named.
I believe one of the most prominent reasons, though, is because reality simply isn't appealing to those who partake.
As stated by James Keenan of "Tool," if you desire for a "cure" to be found, you must destroy your favorite records, as the artists who made them were "r...eal ****'in high," (though this is not always true, of course; a generalization); but one of many ways to say that several aspects of life we take advantage of today have become so because of altering consciousness. Religion is a prime example (Greeks, civilizations prior (and after)).
I believe Cayce, "the other Nostradamus," was at least somewhat intoxicated while writing prophecy, despite the means by which he achieved this supposition (as the aforementioned Holy men and maybe even Nostradamus himself). I find him to be quite a "genius"-more so than Thompson because the drug use, if it indeed existed, was not flaunted by Cayce (subtlety is the key)-agreeing with several of his philosophies. He wrote that everyone has the capacity to do what everyone else (/he) can (/could) do, if willpower is honed and the desire exists. I may be guilty of plagiarism, though I wrote my/this philosophy prior to knowing of Cayce (writing without intoxication though).
I believe life is a journey, a point emphasized by Thompson despite the drama caused by the ever-approaching deadline and hectic-ness; the vehicle we find ourselves in (not a collective body) must be pushed to the limits to know what each of us is capable of (as retardation plagues several of us, in one way or another). The pursuit of enlightenment (/the knowledge of (how to obtain)), apparently able to be achieved through deprivation or gluttony, as it were, is ideal, otherwise a life is wasted. Opening your mind via secular means to escape secular bonds communally, as the filthy, dirty, hippies, would be a utopia; result in the end of the world.
What would drive a man to push his body so hard, to subject it to mind-opening, body-relieving substances?
The will/desire to live
(as we are all sadistic, prolonging Mother's and Father's punishment as long as possible, never wanting it to end).