Details:
- author: Michael Pollan
- full title: This Is Your Mind On Plants
- narrator: Michael Pollan
- genre: scienc, nonfiction
- topics: #science #plants #coffee #opium #mescaline
- publisher: Penguin Random House UK Audio
- publish date: 08.07.2021
- timing: 7:37:00
My Rating of the Audiobook:
- content: 💙💙💙💙
- narration: 💙💙💙💙💙
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| Goodreads |
Excerpt from the Book:
Of all the many things humans rely on plants for - sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber - surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, to fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Like most people, I use a couple of plants this way on a daily basis. Every morning without fail I begin my day by preparing a hot-water infusion of one of two plants that I depend on (and dependent I am) to clear the mental fog, sharpen my focus, and prepare myself for the day ahead. We don't usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use of it as an addiction, but that is only because coffee and tea are legal and our dependence on them is socially acceptable. So, then, what exactly is a drug? And why is making tea from the leaves of Camellia sinensis uncontroversial, while doing the same thing with the seed heads of Papaver somniferum is, as I discovered to my peril, a federal crime?My Thoughts:
This time, an international bestselling author Michael Pollan introduces us to three drugs derived from plants and their effects on humans: opium, caffeine, and mescaline. He also shares his experiences with these three plants.
I am, like many, a caffeine addict, and I'm aware of it. But even though I'm not interested in the consumption of other substances, I find this audiobook to be very interesting. This Is Your Mind On Plants is a mix of science, history, and memoir. It is full of facts, myths, and personal experiences of the author. Narrated by the author himself and his narration is very good and engaging.
About the Author:
Michael Pollan is the author of seven previous books, including Cooked, Food Rules, In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire, all of which were New York Times bestsellers. A longtime contributor to the New York Times Magazine, he also teaches writing at Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley. In 2010, TIME magazine named him one of the one hundred most influential people in the world.
