Summary

The article examines the impact of cannabis on creativity and productivity, finding that while it may enhance creativity under certain conditions, it generally does not improve productivity and can even hinder it.

Abstract

Cannabis use has become prevalent among university students and professionals, particularly in creative and productive roles. The article delves into the effects of cannabis on productivity, comparing it to microdosing on LSD or ayahuasca, which have been associated with increased productivity and creativity. However, cannabis typically does not boost productivity, with high-profile individuals like Elon Musk and Seth Rogen exemplifying differing experiences. The strain of cannabis and its THC to CBD ratio also play a role in its effects. Creativity, on the other hand, might be positively influenced by cannabis, with some studies suggesting that it can enhance divergent thinking, although excessive use may have the opposite effect. The article concludes that the relationship between cannabis, productivity, and creativity is complex and influenced by various factors.

Opinions

The author does not advocate for or against cannabis use but seeks to explore its effects on creativity and productivity.
Microdosing on psychedelics like LSD has been linked to positive impacts on productivity and focus.
High THC levels in modern cannabis strains may lead to increased anxiety and reduced medical benefits, potentially decreasing productivity.
Studies suggest that cannabis can enhance creativity to some extent, particularly in terms of divergent thinking.
There is a debate on whether the perceived increase in creativity is genuine or an illusion, with some research indicating that daily use of potent cannabis could impair divergent thinking.
The article references a 1978 study that compared hypnotic induction and cannabis use for creativity enhancement, finding that low doses of marijuana improved performance on creativity tests.
The consensus among scholarly articles is that while cannabis may not conclusively enhance creativity, it is possible that it does under specific conditions and dosages.

Does Being High Make You More Creative & Productive?

Or is this just another urban myth to justify cannabis consumption?

In recent years, cannabis has been used a lot among university students and working professionals, especially from those ones that have jobs that involve creativity and productivity.

In this article I will not be arguing for or against the usage of marijuana. The sole purpose is to explore the plant’s effect on our creativity and productivity levels.

Productivity

Unlike microdosing on LSD and such, smoking cannabis isn’t likely to make you more productive. Rather, it might just have the opposite effect — laziness. In a recent article, Ayahuasca’s Craze in the USA, I explored a subtopic on how professionals in the Silicon Valley and Manhattan have started microdosing on LSD and ayahuasca to increase productivity and creativity.

Microdosing on these psychedelics has been considered to have a positive impact on your body. Effects include increased productivity, focus, and creativity, and an overall better daily life.

However, as for weed, generally you shouldn’t expect to have higher productivity levels after smoking; although, there are some exceptions. If you’re someone like Elon Musk, cannabis would be your worst enemy at the workplace. When he was a guest at Joe Rogen’s podcast, he said:

“I’m not a regular smoker for weed. I don’t find that it is very good for productivity.”

However, if you’re someone like Seth Rogen, marijuana would be your biggest friend when it comes to productivity. During a podcast session with Dax Shepard, Rogen said:

“Marijuana is something, honestly, that has facilitated a lot of my functionality, which I would argue was quite high throughout the majority of my life.”

So, we see that although weed is generally considered not to boost your productivity, it may sometimes depend on the situation and person. One also really important factor is the type of strain you’re smoking.

The general assumption is that the indica gives you the “chill” vibe and slows things down for you, making you relax more, whereas the sativa makes you feel more energetic, and so on.

However, that may not be the case anymore. Some studies have argued that, due to the process of creating hybrid cannabis strains, it has become impossible to trace a pure indica or a pure sativa strain. Everything’s mixed.

Moreover, there’s been arguments that, due to today’s increasing demand for stronger and stronger psychedelic substances and experiences, cannabis’ THC levels have become way higher than the CBD ones. The potency of the former one has increased from 2% in the 80’s, to 12% in 2014. This means that, as the levels of THC increase, the smoker may experience higher levels of anxiety and lesser medical effects.

Further, higher levels of anxiety might mean you’d be all over the place and would not be able to concentrate while you work, thus decreasing productivity.

Creativity

Smoking weed doesn’t affect your productivity and creativity levels the same way. For productivity, the argument may be leaning towards that cannabis does not help you work more, however, for creativity, the opinion is split.

A study in 2014 argued that, although not conclusive, smoking pot might enhance creativity to a certain level. However, highly potent cannabis, if smoked daily, may impair divergent thinking.

“In particular, the frequently reported feeling of heightened creativity could be an illusion.”

Another study argues that psychotomimetic symptoms are produced after smoking a joint, which may lead to the connection of concepts that are initially seemingly unrelated. This is an aspect of divergent thinking considered primarily to creative thinking.

I’ve dug deep into the internet and I found a scholarly article dating back from 1978. Its authors explored two different approaches to enhance creativity — hypnotic induction and smoking weed.

A questionnaire from 1971 was given to 150 cannabis smokers. The findings? The individuals consistently reported verbal impairments and “temporal sequential tasks,” however they experienced positive effects on their nonverbal holistic tasks, namely depth perception and the synthesis of perceptual patterns.

This is argued to be in a consistence with a hypothesis that states cannabis facilitates the right cerebral hemisphere (related to creativity), but impedes the functions of the left one (related to logic).

“Consistent with the notion of a right hemispheric-creativity link, they observed better performance on the divergent (creativity) tests for subjects given low doses of marijuana than those given no marijuana.”

However, this is the only paper I found to be in consistence with the argument that cannabis usage enhances creativity. The other scholarly articles all took the save side and argued something of the sort: “It may enhance divergent thinking, associated with creativity, but there’s nothing concrete. Nonetheless, excess dosage might impair these effects.”

The Bottom Line

So, does being high increase your productivity and creativity levels? My answer to this would be: “It depends.” It would depend on the situation, individual, type of pot, and so many more variables. Even so, increased creativity would be more likely than increased productivity.