Analysis of a very brief survey of mystical experiences in the adult Internet-using U.S. population
##Abstract Many people report having had mystical-religious experiences. The prevalence of these experiences has increased over time, which suggests changing cultural factors may contribute the experience. I conducted an online survey of 6,209 adults to determine how common different activities, including drug use, were before the onset of a mystical-religious experience. 19.6% (1,045) reported having had a mystical-religious experience and were asked a follow-up question on their activities before the experience. The most commonly endorsed pre-onset activity categories were: Prayer, meditation, or contemplation (37.2%); Being outdoors in nature (19.6%); and Religious ceremony, practice, or ritual (16.1%). Less commonly, respondents reported fasting (5.7%) or drug use (4.7%). A large percent (35.2%) reported not engaging in any of these activities before their experiences. Psychoactive drugs and nature are precedents to mystical-religious experience that are not selectively associated with traditional religious institutions and deserve additional study.
##Key take aways
About 8 in 1,000 Internet-using adults in the United States have had mystical-religious experiences after drug use.
About 33 in 1,000 have had mystical-religious experiences associated with being outdoors in nature.
The relationships between these activities, which are not selectively associated with traditional religious institutions, and mystical-religious experiences deserves further study.
##Reading the full manuscript on the project The manuscript can be accessed here: https://github.com/mattbaggott/mystical-survey/blob/master/results/Baggott%20mystical%20survey%204March2015.pdf
##Getting the raw data The complete dataset can be downloaded here on github or through Google Consumer Surveys. The link for the latter is: http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/view?survey=gt5qusl5lv4fk
##Citing this project People using these data are requested to cite the manuscript, which is in pdf format in this repository:
Baggott, Matthew J. 2015. A brief survey of drug use and other activities preceding mystical-religious experiences. Preprint (Version 1.0 March 4, 2015). https://github.com/mattbaggott/mystical-survey/blob/master/results/Baggott%20mystical%20survey%204March2015.pdf