Leary-Lettvin debate

The Leary–Lettvin debate was a May 3, 1967 debate between Dr. Jerome Lettvin, a medical doctor and professor at MIT, and Dr. Timothy Leary, a licensed psychologist, about the merits and dangers of the hallucinogenic drug LSD. It took place in the Kresge Auditorium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Timothy Leary focused on how the interpersonal process might be used to diagnose disorders and patterns found in human personalities. He proposed that psychedelic substances, used at proper dosages, in a stable set and setting could, under the guidance of psychologists, alter behavior in beneficial ways not easily attainable through regular therapy. Subsequently he had developed a following of admirers for the philosophy turn on, tune in, drop out. This was commonly understood to suggest that taking psychedelic drugs (in particular LSD) was valuable to average people.

Trained by neurologist Denny Brown, Jerome Lettvin was a psychiatrist, neurologist, neurosurgeon, and neuroscientist with deep clinical experience and was a passionate advocate of individual rights. Having been the head of only 7 doctors controlling the 7,000 patients in Manteno State Hospital, he had direct experience diagnosing a large number of unusual neurological conditions along with their treatments, useful drugs, and their effectiveness.

Leary was scheduled to debate another MIT professor at Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus. On the day of the debate, the scheduled professor bowed out, leaving the organizers scrambling to find another professor who would take his place. Lettvin was considered a poor candidate because of his lack of conventionality and for his regular advocacy on behalf of students. The organizers exhausted all other candidates and then came to Lettvin's laboratory in Building 20 to plead for a last minute appearance. From the middle of an experiment on a frog's optic nerve, in his shirt sleeves, he was offered a tie to wear and went to Kresge for the debate with no preparation.

...
Wikipedia