--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think I might have been stupid in some…" description: "\"I think I might have been stupid in some respects, it if weren't for my psychedelic experiences.\" — Kary Mullis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/kary-mullis-13943_has-beens_i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some_1301967.png" --- # I think I might have been stupid in some respects, it if… ![“I think I might have been stupid in some respects, it if weren't for my psychedelic experiences.” quote by Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/kary-mullis-13943_has-beens_i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some_1301967.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/kary-mullis-13943_has-beens_i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some_1301967.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/kary-mullis-13943_has-beens_i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some_1301967.png) > “I think I might have been stupid in some respects, it if weren't for my psychedelic experiences.” [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Admits that psychedelic trips may have contributed to scientific insight, despite feeling foolish. **In simple terms:** Psychedelics can spark ideas even if they seem silly. Key Takeaway Embrace unconventional inspiration. Themes science creativity psychedelics Mood curious analytical Type scientific inspirational When to use this quote - research brainstorming - artistic creation - problem solving Key Concepts neuroscience innovation Questions to Reflect On - What unconventional sources have helped you think? - How to balance doubt and insight? A Different Perspective Risk of unreliable conclusions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Psychedelic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychedelic/) [Psychedelic experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychedelic-experience/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I found that the breakthroughs for me, as I went through school, came through sexuality, explorations of consciousness, reading, loving, friends, time in nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-found-that-the-breakthroughs-for-me-as-i-went-through-school-came/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The first art in caves were really psychedelic experiences, and the reason that they were is because the tribal encyclopedia, the amount of information…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-rheingold/the-first-art-in-caves-were-really-psychedelic-experiences-and-the/) [Howard Rheingold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-rheingold/) > [Psychedelic experiences are beyond the reach of cultural manipulation, and discovering this and exploring it is somehow the frontier of maturity. Culture is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/psychedelic-experiences-are-beyond-the-reach-of-cultural-manipulation/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [All of you who have been through high dose psychedelic experiences know that it's very hard to carry stupid baggage through that keyhole. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/all-of-you-who-have-been-through-high-dose-psychedelic-experiences/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I've always been curious about people's psychedelic experiences, and I kind of had this assumption that I was going to have some kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larkin-grimm/i-ve-always-been-curious-about-people-s-psychedelic-experiences-and-i/) [Larkin Grimm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larkin-grimm/) > [LSD is a unique and powerful tool for the exploration of the human mind and human nature. Psychedelic experiences mediate access to deep realms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislav-grof/lsd-is-a-unique-and-powerful-tool-for-the-exploration-of-the-human/) [Stanislav Grof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislav-grof/) > [Psychedelic experiences and dreams are chemical cousins; they are only different in degree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/psychedelic-experiences-and-dreams-are-chemical-cousins-they-are-only/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Nobody stopped thinking about those psychedelic experiences. Once you've been to some of those places, you think, 'How can I get back there again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-garcia/nobody-stopped-thinking-about-those-psychedelic-experiences-once-you/) [Jerry Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-garcia/) > [Hearing is a subjective experience, but I never really understood that it's the same with seeing as well. I always thought that everything we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn/hearing-is-a-subjective-experience-but-i-never-really-understood-that/) [Robyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn/) > [The real secret of magic is that the world is made of words, and that if you know the words that the world is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-real-secret-of-magic-is-that-the-world-is-made-of-words-and-that/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I think that understanding man's place in nature is going to require integration of the psychedelic experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-think-that-understanding-man-s-place-in-nature-is-going-to-require/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Ultimately, I think, what the psychedelic experience may be is a higher topological manifold of temporality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/ultimately-i-think-what-the-psychedelic-experience-may-be-is-a-higher/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I see the psychedelic experience as a birthright, and we can't have a free society until people are free to explore their own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-see-the-psychedelic-experience-as-a-birthright-and-we-can-t-have-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our culture difinitely takes an egocentric dominator view. The fear of the psychedelic experience is quite literally the fear of losing control. Dominator types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/our-culture-difinitely-takes-an-egocentric-dominator-view-the-fear-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Nobody can have your psychedelic experience for you; you just have to screw your courage up and raise the cup to your lips or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-mckenna/nobody-can-have-your-psychedelic-experience-for-you-you-just-have-to/) [Dennis McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-mckenna/) ## More by Kary Mullis > [People don't realize that molecules themselves are somewhat hypothetical, and that their interactions are more so, and that the biological reactions are even more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/people-don-t-realize-that-molecules-themselves-are-somewhat/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [My father, Cecil Banks Mullis, and mother, formerly Bernice Alberta Barker, grew up in rural North Carolina in the foothills of the Blue Ridge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/my-father-cecil-banks-mullis-and-mother-formerly-bernice-alberta/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [My mother often mailed me articles from 'Reader's Digest' about advances in DNA chemistry. No matter how I tried to explain it to her,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/my-mother-often-mailed-me-articles-from-reader-s-digest-about/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Religion is inwardly focused and driven only to sustain itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/religion-is-inwardly-focused-and-driven-only-to-sustain-itself/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Natural DNA is a tractless coil, like an unwound and tangled audiotape on the floor of the car in the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/natural-dna-is-a-tractless-coil-like-an-unwound-and-tangled-audiotape/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Do we care about these people that are HIV-positive whose lives have been ruined? Those are the people I'm the most concerned about. Every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/do-we-care-about-these-people-that-are-hiv-positive-whose-lives-have/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [I love a microphone and a big crowd; I'm an entertainer, I guess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/i-love-a-microphone-and-a-big-crowd-i-m-an-entertainer-i-guess/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Science consistently produces a new crop of miraculous truths and dazzling devices every year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/science-consistently-produces-a-new-crop-of-miraculous-truths-and/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Here's a bunch of people practising a new set of behavioural norms. Apparently it didn't work because a lot of them got sick. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/here-s-a-bunch-of-people-practising-a-new-set-of-behavioural-norms/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [People realize this man knows what the hell's going on and nobody else does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/people-realize-this-man-knows-what-the-hell-s-going-on-and-nobody/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Science, like nothing else among the institutions of mankind, grows like a weed every year. Art is subject to arbitrary fashion, religion is inwardly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/science-like-nothing-else-among-the-institutions-of-mankind-grows/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [I'm not politically correct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/i-m-not-politically-correct/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Fish don't know much about water, and people didn't know much about air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-people-didn-t-know-much-about-air/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [My mother would give my brothers and me a pile of catalogues and let us pick what we wanted for Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/my-mother-would-give-my-brothers-and-me-a-pile-of-catalogues-and-let/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [They can't pooh-pooh me now, because of who I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/they-can-t-pooh-pooh-me-now-because-of-who-i-am/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) [Explore all 48 Kary Mullis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) ## More Has beens quotes > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. 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The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Gambling has held human beings in thrall for millennia. It has been engaged in everywhere, from the dregs of society to the most respectable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-l-bernstein/gambling-has-held-human-beings-in-thrall-for-millennia-it-has-been/) [Peter L. Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-l-bernstein/) > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [A lot of people have been saying 'The 100' reminds them of 'Lord Of The Flies,' 'Lost' and 'Battlestar Galactica,' and all of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-avgeropoulos/a-lot-of-people-have-been-saying-the-100-reminds-them-of-lord-of-the/) [Marie Avgeropoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-avgeropoulos/) > [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I don't want this to be a distraction. This has been distracting enough. I'm not going to rehash this going forward. I'm sure other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayson-werth/i-don-t-want-this-to-be-a-distraction-this-has-been-distracting/) [Jayson Werth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayson-werth/) > [Once I committed to acting, this has been it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-hudson/once-i-committed-to-acting-this-has-been-it/) [Ernie Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-hudson/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. 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Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) Browse all 17,972 Has beens quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think I might have been stupid in some respects, it if weren't for my psychedelic experiences.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kary Mullis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some-respects-it-if-weren-t-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Has beens" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some-respects-it-if-weren-t-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/kary-mullis-13943_has-beens_i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some_1301967.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/kary-mullis-13943_has-beens_i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some_1301967.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/kary-mullis-13943_has-beens_i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some_1301967.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think I might have been stupid in some respects, it if weren't for my psychedelic experiences.” — Kary Mullis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Kary Mullis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think I might have been...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some-respects-it-if-weren-t-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/i-think-i-might-have-been-stupid-in-some-respects-it-if-weren-t-for/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```