We had 1000's well into the 90's in Canada. I got to hold one as a kid. Apparently 98% of them have fallen into mafia hands somehow which I find hilarious given our history. Especially since they can't get them back, want them back, and if used they have to be honoured. It must drive certain people crazy.
They fly pretty high and the antenna points towards the sky not the ground, and yes they do use specialised antennas. You'd much easier find a predator using radar.
Watch some of the videos on youtube, it's quite interesting. You can see that the predator is able to target and track automatically so the pilot basically just has to hit the button to fire the weapons and a hit is almost guaranteed. No need to have good reflexes or low latency. The pilots are in Nevada so the best case scenario is probably 100ms pings anyway.
For a lot of people when it "works" for them is when they discover they no longer need the drug at all and feel they know more about themselves. You describe it here:
"Most people realize that their psychonautic journey is at best leading them in circles, and at worst is causing their life to spiral down the drain. So they give it up, get a job without 9pm slack messages (or find a better way to adjust to stress), marry someone who isn't constantly on the verge of cheating, start doing regular exercise, and generally find a way to settle into a reasonably balanced life."
Perhaps this period of self examination is what leads so many to such similar conclusions?
https://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/education/harvard...