Top all-time · #14663
Erik Davis
Personal blog · techgnosis.comculturephilosophy
Erik Davis writes Techgnosis, a personal blog at techgnosis.com about culture and philosophy. Since 2010, 5 different Hacker News readers have linked it 11 times, most often “Larry Wall on religion and Perl culture (1999)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-25, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (1) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
The only linked page is an interview with Larry Wall, on Perl and what makes a good 'glue' person, which a commenter cites to support a point about skills and interests.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 1 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Erik Davis is an American writer, scholar, journalist, and public speaker whose writings range from rock criticism to cultural analysis to esoteric explorations of California’s history.
Most-linked posts?
- Larry Wall on religion and Perl culture (1999)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2010-09-20
What Hacker News says?
I'd encourage you to have a listen to Erik Davis' "Expanding Mind" podcast.[1] Erik Davis is, to my mind, the most interesting and intelligent of the post-McKenna visionaries/psychonauts. He's at the same time much more critical than most of his predecessors, and very open to an interested in extraordinary experiences and what he calls "high weirdness". [1] - https://techgnosis.com/category/podcast/
Comment linking /category/podcast/
on “A Psychedelic Renaissance”Submitted Larry Wall on religion and Perl culture (1999) as a story · 31 points
HN discussionA lot of people come to Buddhism through psychedelics, and some use them to enhance their practice. Check out Erik Davis' article "The Paisley Gate" : https://techgnosis.com/tantra-of-psychedelics/
Comment linking /tantra-of-psychedelics/
on “Michael Pollan on Psilocybe Azurescens”Submitted The Paisley Gate: The Tantra of Psychedelia as a story · 1 points
HN discussion"It's cheaper, safer, longer-lasting, and most certainly a higher-quality experience once properly learned." A lot of people say this, but most of them have never tried psychedelics at all, much less had high-dose, strong trips. In those cases, I'm not sure they know what they're talking about. There are others, like Ram Dass, who definitely have had strong trips, and many trips at that. They tend to have a much mor…
Comment linking /tantra-of-psychedelics/
on “LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley”Submitted Synthetic Meditations: Cogito in the Matrix as a story · 1 points
HN discussionErik Davis also hosts one of my favorite podcasts, Expanding Mind : https://techgnosis.com/category/podcasts/ Highly recommended for anyone interested in religion, spirituality, mysticism, gnosticism, counterculture, high weirdness, psychedelics, or the occult.
Comment linking /category/podcasts/
on “Sacred Retreats of California (2013)”Submitted Divine Intervention: An Interview with Perl Creator Larry Wall (1999) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionI agree. In addition to skills, this can be expressed in terms of interests, as Larry Wall did in this interview: http://www.techgnosis.com/wall1.html WALL: I not only want Perl to be a good 'glue' language, I want Perl people to be good 'glue' people. FEED: What makes a good 'glue' person? WALL: Let me distinguish two different kinds of joiners. You have people who will join a movement and be totally gung-ho about…
Comment linking /wall1.html
on “What are your disruptive skills?”Submitted The Paisley Gate: The Tantra of Psychedelia as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Paisley Gate: The Tantra of Psychedelia as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
