If you haven't tried it, you'll probably not understand this but...
Drug use, and especially LSD use, causes an altered perception of reality. That perception can be hard to reach in other ways, and in some cases, it can be entirely unreachable. Yes, you can option those altered perceptions by changes of lifestyle, hanging with new people, observing others, or meditation, but it can be a very slow process.
As an intellectual, high doses (~400ug) of LSD essentially turn you into a baby in an adults body. Otherwise simple tasks such as unlocking a phone and dialing a number, while holding a drink in the other hand, become extremely difficult to achieve. The problem in part is you can't focus on more than one thing at once, so while you're trying to unlock your phone, you forget you're holding a drink.
This altered reality gives the intellectual a way to essentially dumb themselves down while testing or designing something. Want to find the design problems with your checkout process? Drop LSD and record yourself trying to make a purchase, I guarantee you'll get frustrated with what should otherwise be a simple task. Want to design a better phone app? Drop LSD and it shouldn't take long to realize how complex your original design is to the uneducated.
On the matter of self realization, the altered perception can be useful to discover what really matters. Go find yourself a nice spot on a quiet beach, or at a camping spot, drop some LSD and suddenly drunk people, politics, religion, all become foreign annoying concepts that aren't worth dealing with. While on it you start to appreciate the simple things around you, like warmth, water, music, the beauty of nature. For weeks after, you can hold onto those new found appreciations; and hopefully change your perception long term.
Or if you're not intellectual, then drop LSD and enjoy the crazy shit you see. Whatever floats your boat I suppose.
