The psychonaut and the lab rat are two sides of the same pathetic coin.
In Milner’s experiment, the rat ignored food, water, and sex just to press a lever that shocked its brain with pleasure. It chose a dopamine loop over survival until it collapsed. The modern drug user does exactly the same, just with more expensive branding.
They claim to be "expanding their minds," but they are merely pawing at a chemical lever. Whether it’s a wire in the hypothalamus or a molecule on a receptor, the result is identical: the surrender of agency for a manufactured spark. They are biological machines caught in a feedback loop, trading their humanity for the same cheap twitch of satisfaction that killed the rat.
In the end, the "explorer of consciousness" is just a rodent in a self-imposed cage, starving their soul to keep the electricity running.
Psychedelics aren't addictive though