Does Cannabis (Marijuana) Use Increase Creativity? | Dr. Andrew Huberman

It certainly makes you pretend you're a real medical doctor more shamelessly.

yes, it increases creativity, but as you need more and more, that positive aspect goes away and it becomes harder and harder to become creative, and eventually you become far less creative than you would be had you not smoked to begin with

Hell Yeah! Make those test on creative people... Photographers... 🙃 Or actors...

One thing I felt like wasn't taken into consideration enough was the amount of cannabis the user is consuming on a regular basis. 🙃 He, rightly so, spoke often comparing individuals who experience fear and anxiety from using cannabis and those who experience relaxation and anxiety relief from using it. My caviot is that the mode of use and how often it is used makes a big difference in my experience. Narrowly speaking, there are two kinds of cannabis users, the "wake and bakers" and the "weekend tokers." I've personally been on both ends of this spectrum, and my anecdote is that too much cannabis turns cannabis into something you are simultaneously afraid of being without, and eventually afraid of using, while on the other end of this, using it in "sparing moderation" does in my experience increase my creative ability. Again, the whole chicken-egg argument is something up to debate, but my point I wanted to get across was that responsible habits make a big difference in experience. 👍

Marijuana made me more creative hands down. I've never been very creative without it. Marijuana is indeed very useful for creativity.

It's not that complicated, marijuana can make people more creative, point plank period. I don't give a crap about biased experiments. I've seen it over and over and over again with people who were friends etc, it can make you more creative no doubt. Enough of the BS. I've composed many creative vocal melodies on pot while not being able to compose to save my life while off cannabis.

idi nahui

Im starting to think and learn that cannabis always seems to encourage being more accepting of what is, which is a double-edged sword and can become dangrous. It is helpful if you are going through trauma and NEED to be accepting of what is to get through, but it becomes dangerous when you dont need it anymore and continue to smoke, then you become accepting of "what is" meaning you never try to get better. I think self awareness is the most important thing here

Weed is a "godsend" for me. Tried learning to play piano during the pandemic. Made some progress but was getting alot of tensions and pain (back, wrist) and got stuck. Tried smoking a little before practising just to see and sure enough tension melted away, I cold focus way more, movements more fluid, sounds became more alive and starting playing just a bunch of different patterns that I never played with before. Was able to PLAY more as opposed to more rigid practising and such. Since I starting smoking a little before playing my progress has gone through the roof. No more pain, Im starting to write songs and improvise and just enjoy it more. Can focus for over an hour easy each time as opposed to before where my mind would wonder a lot more. Anyways, to each their own. For me, a little sativa (don't want to be lazy or tired so no Indica) before playing and I'm in the zone. Plus, its legal here in Canada :)

There are crucial points left out of these conflicts: 1. What were the sample size for these studies for/against? 2. What tests were used? 3 (MOST IMPORTANT). How freely available was the data used for these studies, as well as the scripts/analysis plans used to determine results?

Yes u are most likely correct

i liked it to make it exact 420 likes, haha

I definitely feel more creative when I'm high. So if I get high at 4pm, I'm all creative and happy and energetic. Between 8am and 4pm though, I feel like shit. Lethargic, tired, low-energy etc. and certainly not creative.

If I'm not in the habit of smoking, I'm more energetic, more happy and creative enough. If I then get high, I'm super creative. Then I come up against the law of diminishing returns and when I'm high I'm probably a little more creative but also more inert.

I am not a regular cannabis smoker and when I did for like 10 times in 2 months or something like that I noticed that u take more time to process things under its influence.When I am sober I can think much faster many things and probably that's why I don't have the whole picture of them(so less creative) but when I did smoke it made my brain slower on processing maybe that's why I had to imagine more and be more creative. Hope this helps the study area or anything

No it doesn't n I see it every day . Liar. Top stars say it screwed music up n took longer. Im creative without it. I use hemp like the ancients . No THC high . Demovangelis - cosmic garden renewal. Demovangelis - the duty of 3 in 1 on Google. No Audo tune or computers. Old school. I do all instruments n write songs with no outside help. No plagiarism like pot heads

I was working on Receurdos de la Alhambra on guitar and progress was slow. I took 20mg of THC and an hour layer I was playing better than ever. I could play the notes to their value at a tempo I was having trouble with when I had no THC in my system. THC seems to have helped me get over the hump with that piece of music.

I'd like to inquire about something important. As someone involved in game development, my passion lies in crafting imaginative worlds filled with non-existent creatures. I'm intrigued by the concept of providing players with immersive journeys that allow them to truly engage with these fictional realms. My approach is akin to an author meticulously penning a novel. Now, onto my query: During the moments just before I fall asleep, I experience something remarkably peculiar. A multitude of vivid images flash before my eyes, corresponding to whatever concept I'm focusing on. For instance, if I'm contemplating a city among the clouds, the intricate details of the buildings, the texture of the walls, and even the vibrant hues all become remarkably clear. These dynamic images move, and there's a sense of substantiality to everything. My question is, what underlies this experience? What processes occur within my brain? It doesn't appear to be a mere transfer of memories from short-term to long-term storage. Could you shed light on what's happening? What am I unlocking in this state? Just to clarify, I'm not alluding to substance use, as I don't engage in such activities.

In summary, weed smokers are just more happier and open minded. We are less stress and don’t get burn outs. Just chilling and being productive while flying on the cloud 9 ~ doubleog

It may not increase creativity in everyone but it ABSOLUTELY without a doubt increases mine. It's really is incredible. Not all weed increases my creativity, but certain strains have a marked effect. (I'm still working out which ones work best). My biggest problem though is how fast I forget. I need to carry a little notebook around with me or something. I know that not every "great idea" I have when I'm high is an actual great idea but if it's 1 out of 10 then I could have, on average, 5 genuinely great ideas every time I smoke pot! The stuff I'm working with now that seems to be really effective is called "Apples and Bananas" in case anyone was wondering.

So, the short answer is yes, indirectly.

I make music and I have to say cannabis does increase my creativity by a lot…. Even though I’m the type of person that does get anxiety from smoking it if it’s too much but even in that anxious state it enhances my creativity by a lot like if I’m making music it would transform that anxiety into pure creativity if that makes any sense …. I guess it’s just a very subjective thing and everybody reacts very differently…

@zach7074 yea same before I stopped smoking I was going hard until fear and discomfort started to overwhelm me and I couldn’t make music as good as when I didn’t smoke as much. I’ve observed the more you smoke the more suppressed creativity becomes because your mind was tricked to only associate whatever task your doing with weed because you were under the influence while doing whatever

I'd love to see a neurologist who specializes in studying things specifically like this chime in. In many people's experience, Cannabis provides access to creative connections we just don't make sober. I'm a writer and have experienced this first-hand many times. The ideas I come up with for my stories while I'm high are far better than the more limited ones I come up with while sober. There's something Cannabis does (while high) that just removes barriers. So it basically just allows us to travel our own minds deeper and probe to find connections we wouldn't have consciously made before. But if it's not already in our brains, it isn't going to be accessible. That said, we can watch and read things and "input" material into our brains while high or not to help bolster our own database to further our creativity. It also likely depends person to person. Not everyone who gets high is "open" to new experiences or perspectives. I know a lot of people who get high who are not open at all and are rigid thinkers even while high.

Am I the only one watching this after being high ?😅😂

Andy does not like pot😂😅

true.
i know this from my own experience
i always said that weed does not make you more creative.
its gets u easier in a creative state.
it does decrease anxiety short term.
i believe long term, for everybody, it will increase anxiety by "10 fold"

So weed gives the symptom of creativity (openness). So its creative in the moment!

I would love to be a study subject for marijuana

you should smoke and then talk about it.

From the looks of the comment section you all completely missed the conclusion of this video lmao

Keith Richards, Joe Walsh, Jimmie Hendricks. To name a few guitarist that used Sativa

So basically, while it doesn't make you more creative per se, it does removes the 'filter' of creativity. That about right?

Love rhe topicl Can someone point to a reference or study mentioning "the criteria of creative brainstorming", as mentioned? What are the "criteria of a thought being truly novel"? Very curious to read/know more about this. Thanks!

Thank You Dr. Huberman. I am wondering if i can share with you my experience with canabis ( How i can communicate with you, i have interest in the subject matter), i think there is more than creativity only, there is a higher state of clarity in the thinking process.Thanks.

I remember talking to a very successful musician (really successful, getting awards, being on MTV, etc.) He told me that he wrote the best song texts when he was smoking weed. Being in the business for decades and still being successful it worked for him.....

Im thinking im a divergent. I see and hear things in all different directions all at the same time and understand them in a blink of an I. ❤ It!

Also yes

I've played guitar around 47 years and can guarantee it increased my creativity, same with art and invention. With all these, I could be stuck, take a toke and get all kinds of insight/innovation that was otherwise unavailable. The amount you use is critical! Just enough to open your mind is good. Get stoned and you're fucked, more is not better!!

Creatively?yeah bob Marley 😃

see my anxiety skyrockets on it, as i get reeeeally existential anxiety (heightens my sensitivity to the absurdity of existence and the unknown), but i do get pretty creative on it. so i usually drink a little with it which quells the anxiety and then i really enjoy the way my mind works.

Did you know?
Raphael Mechoulam "the godfather of cannabis research 1962" isolation of THC, the main active principle of cannabis. In 1963 the USA federal government studied funding his research.

I am an artist and I think that “openness “is right regarding cannabis. What I have observed is my execution has gotten better but my creativeness is the same. It seems to have knocked out repeating common mistakes by allowing self correction .
It allows me to drop self imposed restrictions like “no I won’t do this because I will do it poorly “. Now I am able to just go ahead and draw and fix it in one continuous flow. I can also make better observations in colour and composition. I feel I know what the painting needs to make it better.
I seem to be able to visualize so well With cannabis I can nearly copy onto paper what I imagine because the mental image doesn’t fade out.
I am a regular user but I think the improvement is permanent even if I never had cannabis ever again.

I type more muses/jokes under the influence, weirdest part it suddenly happened one month after several years of use.

I can say from my own experience as someone who is writing a novel, that cannabis absolutely does enhance my creativity and not only opens my mind to new ideas, but those ideas also come to me as well; often seemingly out of nowhere.

It doesn’t make me more relaxed and often it can make me far more of an anxious and cynical person and despite Huberman’s conclusion, this can enhance my creativity by making my writing take on a sharper and more scathing edge – which definitely tints the style, but I can’t deny that it makes my writing take on a fervour and sense of life to it, that otherwise wouldn’t be there.

I've tried it all and none of it increases creativity for me and that sucks . I become very useless

Law of diminishing returns. Look into the energy and history of the plant in more primitive settings.

The answer is politics.

Cannabis starts off like that, but once you do it all the time, for many years without a break, then probably not as much. I can't imagine these studies can really say from just what we see in people who have used weed such a long time. The basic problem some run into, is they rely on it basically all the time, until it becomes symptomatically almost like any other addiction. However its NOT on the same level as addicts to heroin, methamphetamine, crack etc, in which debilitating symptoms of illness get further complicated by a deadly physical dependency. Weed doesn't destroy so many that way. Weed isn't a gateway, to those addictions either on its own. Weed does complete links in the brain important for the creating process, of music especially, but also art or dance. Ive known of many writers who claim they find their work to be on a higher level if they used weed. My first time back on it since using only a few times was tough, in my later 40s. So i went slow, and as I predicted, had one anxiety fit that caused vomiting. Oh well its the cherry, so i wanted that to go ok, and it got easier. Right away I picked up a guitar and started feeling around the frets, while watching my fingers in a mirror. It was really sth else, all this connection of music just making up song after song, I was like wtf am I doing, this is great. Trying to leave weed for the first time, when you started the first time, earlier in life, it can be very hard to shake, but as you come back to it with newer eyes, better stuff, and a safer more mature approach, its been workable. I didn't smoke much after I did the first "big quit". Theres a type of excitement that goes with it in younger years, I mistook at times the experience surrounded by such youthful optimism as being the work of the drug, when it was really only partly. for instance I experimented at 16, became a full time user by 19, and continued with very few breaks till I was 30. I still smoked it once in awhile, but I had my first few real panic and anxiety trips, and one serious blackout. I was in patient in a lunatic farm for about a year at the beginning, was coping with heavy weight of anxiety from my life, and became wary of what I was doing. I was going into a stronger dependence on opiates as it had clearly gotten too heady for me to do much else. Im now in a midground, using it very sparingly to buy my soul back from methadone, and it isn't easy.

I was always an average student but when I started weed I became honor roll student ! It does increase my creativity and it makes me do things ! It also can make me lazy