Apple pioneer Bill Atkinson was a secret evangelist for the ‘God molecule’

It was Bill Atkinson A computing pioneer who in the 1980s made Apple computers usable for ordinary people by turning code into windows, menus, and graphics.

But few people know that later in life he was a secret advocate for what is widely considered the world’s most powerful psychedelic: 5-MeO-DMT.

The hallucinogen, also called the “god molecule,” is a compound found in the toxic secretions of a Sonoran Desert frog called Encilius Alpharius (It is usually called Bufo Alpharius) It is known to bring about ego-death, complete dissolution of the senses, and a euphoric feeling of existential connection, all in a roughly 20-minute journey. Atkinson, who died of pancreatic cancer on June 5 at age 74, was a member of a close-knit private online community of 5-MeO-DMT enthusiasts called OneLight, where he went by the alias “Grace Inside.”

Several of Atkinson’s friends and fellow psychonauts told WIRED that their “beloved” Atkinson played a key role in helping people access smaller doses of 5-MeO-DMT, which could be made synthetically, as he believed they would increase the benefits of the potentially dangerous drug while minimizing the harm. “The same creative mind that influenced personal computers continues to profoundly influence human evolution through its efforts to make the miracle of bufo safer and more manageable,” says his friend Charles Lindsay, an artist who has worked with the SETI Institute, which works to find signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. “He has truly crossed the line. This requires a willingness to consider what could easily be considered absurd.” Or he adds: “Risy.”

Many people have reported benefits to their mental health thanks to smoking 5-MeO-DMT, and biotech companies are setting up advanced trials to test the drug as a treatment for depression and addiction. Former heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson, longevity expert Brian Johnson, and podcaster Joe Rogan talk about transcendent, life-changing experiences under the influence of the powerful drug.

But 5-MeO-DMT is still illegal in the United States, and although there are underground options, people often go to legal centers and retreats in Mexico to take strong doses.

Atkinson has taken “several hundred” 5-MeO-DMT trips, according to his friend Jamis McNiven, founder of the popular Silicon Valley restaurant Buck’s of Woodside. “No one hit it harder than Bill,” he says.

The experience of 5-MeO-DMT, with the dreaded ego death that awaits within seconds of smoking the molecule, can be frustrating, and a sometimes perilous period afterwards can lead to serious destabilization and permanent trauma. Comedian Chelsea Handler took a “scary” trip, which she said left her “feeling as sick as I’ve ever felt before”.