Did psychedelics Play a crucial role in the evolution of homo sapiens?

[Running Bear]

Mushroom spores are practically custom built to survive in the environment of space. Assuming spores are capable of being pushed into outer space by electrostatic forces, a mushroom species could potentially colonize the habitable planets. Mushrooms are non-invasive, and occupy the very bottom of the food chain since they primarily survive on decomposing organic matter, their survivability among alien worlds is very high. psilocybin enhances my 5 senses and gives me a competitive advantage over those who don't touch it. Do you think its possible that psilocybin mushrooms came from another planet and increased the size of the human brain? I asked this question once in the chat room and didn't get much feedback haha. It just seems like we evolved so quickly compared to other animals and that there must have been something that caused this to happen.

 

[entheogenic-gnosis]

Terence mckenna would agree with you at least...

It's interesting stuff...


-eg

 

[Running Bear]

Yes it is. Psilocybin mushrooms are amazing.

 

[ijahdan]

Maybe the spores could survive space, and it seems our species did make a quantum leap in our evolution at some point, but why would we have needed something from another planet to achieve this? There are many other sources of psychedelics whose seeds definitely wouldnt have survived a space trip.

I do agree that its likely psychedelics played a huge part in our evolution, especially the development of language, art, music and technology. More recently, the development of computers, understanding of genetics and subatomic physics has also been facilitated by psychedelics to some extent.

Lets hope this evolution continues!

 

[Running Bear]

but why would we have needed something from another planet to achieve this? There are many other sources of psychedelics whose seeds definitely wouldnt have survived a space trip.

I'm a burn out and have a big imagination. If any psychedelic would have been used by early man I think it would have been Mushrooms. That's my opinion...

 

[Chan]

Have you heard of

?

He covered all of your questions and more, 24 years ago.

Unfortunately, the deep archaeological record is poor at providing conclusive evidence of psilocybe consumption...but yeah, out on the savannah, I'd have eaten one!

 

[Running Bear]

Have you heard of

?

He covered all of your questions and more, 24 years ago.

Unfortunately, the deep archaeological record is poor at providing conclusive evidence of psilocybin consumption...but yeah, out on the savannah, I'd have eaten one!

I'm buying the book right now. Thanks Chan!

 

[universecannon]

The stoned ape theory has a lot of holes in it and is pretty out dated in some big ways.

Check out the forward linked here by Terence's brother Dennis which outlines how plant biochemistry in the ancestral diet can result in significant changes.

http://leftinthedark.org.uk/book

 

[inaniel]

also worth looking into is "the divine spark," essays compiled by and contributions from graham hancock. its a fun little read.

Amazon.com

 

[ijahdan]

If you think about it, our entire planet came from outer space originally. Probably picked up a lot of spores and stuff on its way into orbit, as it cooled down. Something caused the whole thing to come to life though...

 

[Nathanial.Dread]

No.

You can do genetic analysis of any fungus and see that it is a eukaryotic organism that shares a common ancestor with homo sapiens. Molecular biology has pretty much proved this beyond a shadow of a doubt.

As for the whole 'Stoned Ape Theory' it is also in my opinion BS and belies a misunderstanding of how evolution works. How exactly would eating mushrooms have altered the human genome in a way that would have done what TM claimed it did.

Furthermore, having eaten quite a few mushrooms in my day, I'd hardly consider the psychedelic state to be an adaptive one. Great for many things, but I certainly did not feel more capable of hunting gazelles while tripping. Rather, I felt mostly like I wanted to sit and smile a lot.

Blessings
~ND

 

[ijahdan]

But while your stone age ancestor was sitting and smiling, he may have had some interesting ideas, like growing his own food and domesticating those gazelles so he didnt have to keep chasing them.

Also, in what way do art, music, and culture in general have in helping provide for our basic survival needs?

 

[Nathanial.Dread]

But while your stone age ancestor was sitting and smiling, he may have had some interesting ideas, like growing his own food and domesticating those gazelles so he didnt have to keep chasing them.

Also, in what way do art, music, and culture in general have in helping provide for our basic survival needs?

That wasn't the proposal the OP made. They suggested:

psilocybin enhances my 5 senses and gives me a competitive advantage over those who don't touch it. Do you think its possible that psilocybin mushrooms came from another planet and increased the size of the human brain?

Which is, to my mind, demonstrably untrue.

As for your proposal - it's certainly possible, although completely untestable. History suggests that agriculture emerged independently in many different parts of the world, among many different people, long after modern homo sapiens had entered the scene. Even if one culture stumbled on the idea in a drug-induced fugue, psychedelics aren't necessary for the insight.

Blessings
~ND

 

[ijahdan]

Yeah, I was talking about evolution in more general terms, referring more to the title of the thread than the OP's actual post. It is still a mystery why homo sapiens made an exponential leap in evolution, compared to other species' gradual adaptation to their environment. Im sure psychedelics played a crucial role in this shift, from ape to human, although as you rightly state, there isnt any tangible evidence to support this.

I also dont consider the psychedelic state to be some kind of 'stupor', rather a massive increase in clarity of awareness.

 

[ijahdan]

Sorry, I meant 'fugue', not stupor.

 

[KuantumKitty]

Mushroom spores are practically custom built to survive in the environment of space. Assuming spores are capable of being pushed into outer space by electrostatic forces, a mushroom species could potentially colonize the habitable planets. Mushrooms are non-invasive, and occupy the very bottom of the food chain since they primarily survive on decomposing organic matter, their survivability among alien worlds is very high. psilocybin enhances my 5 senses and gives me a competitive advantage over those who don't touch it. Do you think its possible that psilocybin mushrooms came from another planet and increased the size of the human brain? I asked this question once in the chat room and didn't get much feedback haha. It just seems like we evolved so quickly compared to other animals and that there must have been something that caused this to happen.

The other day I attended a lecture by Dr. Benjamin Beit - Hallahmi on the origins of religious beliefs and the evolution of man and the effects of entheogens. He seemed to also agree that human evolution was a result of psychedelic plant matter and the reason why there is so much resistance to it is due to social programming and learned belief systems passed down to us depending on where we live. The reason why these systems are strong is because if it were challenged and the observer realized all of his faith and beliefs were in fact misplaced that it would cause a lot of psycho drama. His conclusions was the human is programmed to have a religious experience and it seems to be the only truth in this world full of illusion.

 

[Chan]

Rather, I felt mostly like I wanted to sit and smile a lot.

Maybe that was the innovative adaptation, as formative societies began to coalesce out of warring clannish bands?

Just as we can't say it definitely happened, so we can't say it never happened. The truth, as so often, probably lies somewhere in between, and our ancestors will certainly have tried tried eating everything they laid eyes on at some point, albeit sometimes only once...

What we can say is that most of the ancient civilisations we know well, from Ancient Egypt onwards, had various cultish rites widely believed to be based around certain entheogenic preparations. So where did they get the idea from? There clearly was intelligent life before pharmacology, gas-chromatography and CT & MRI scanners appeared.

There are holes in the book, mostly through lack of evidence, but famously, absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.

It's legitimate - and fun - to speculate, provided one doesn't start reaching for preposterous insertions (e.g. Martian pyramid architects etc).

 

[Chan]

Check out the forward linked here by Terence's brother Dennis which outlines how plant biochemistry in the ancestral diet can result in significant changes.

http://leftinthedark.org.uk/book

That was exactly the book I was thinking of, when ND said:

How exactly would eating mushrooms have altered the human genome in a way that would have done what TM claimed it did.

As the authors show in great detail how dietary inputs can influence DNA transcription, in the current generation and beyond. I can easily imagine how psilocybin/psilocin etc might have some effects via this route...

We didn't invent sex, and we didn't invent music, so I really struggle with the idea that we alone have invented drugs

 

[dreamer042]

It is very much stressing credulity to believe that omnivores would not very quickly discover the psychoactives growing within their local bioregion.

You've all eaten psychedelics, based on your own experiences, can you really doubt they played a role in the development of art, music, language, religion, and self-reflection?

In "The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss" Dennis Mckenna discusses how the use of psychedelics could act as a catalyst to language formation which is likely the epigenetic factor at play in hominid evolution:

For years I’ve argued in lectures and writings that psychedelics, probably mushrooms, accidentally or deliberately ingested by early primates, triggered synesthetic experiences that formed the critical foundations of human language and cognition, the association of inherently meaningless sounds or images with inherently meaningful symbols and ideas. Spoken or written language is a synesthetic activity that takes place effortlessly and automatically in the process of understanding a language. In speaking, the vocal apparatus produces “small mouth noises,” small puffs or explosions of air that are inherently meaningless. But because we have learned the language, we all participate in the consensus that certain meaningless noises are associated with inner, visualized images or symbols that, as cognitive constructs, are imbued with meaning. These images and symbols, seen by the mind’s eye and associated with symbolic import, supply the “meaning” to various vocal expressions. In reading, the process is similar, except that a written symbol or word evokes an inner perception of the sound that is associated with the written word or symbol, and this, in turn, evokes an inner visualization of the meaningful symbol or word associated with that sound. Is this not also synesthesia?

What I’m suggesting, in effect, is that early on in the evolution of the human neural apparatus, the ingestion of psychedelics triggered the invention of language. I am not arguing here that psychedelics somehow affected our genes, at least not directly; rather, that they are teaching tools. Creating and using language is an acquired skill, dependent on an ability to discern meaning—significance—in images, sounds, and symbols. Psychedelics taught us how to do that; and, they are still teaching us! Once a small group or primates had acquired that skill, it could be easily taught to others, especially with the aid of the psychedelic teaching tools.

 

[Psybin]

It is very much stressing credulity to believe that omnivores would not very quickly discover the psychoactives growing within their local bioregion.

You've all eaten psychedelics, based on your own experiences, can you really doubt they played a role in the development of art, music, language, religion, and self-reflection?

In "The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss" Dennis Mckenna discusses how the use of psychedelics could act as a catalyst to language formation which is likely the epigenetic factor at play in hominid evolution:

For years I’ve argued in lectures and writings that psychedelics, probably mushrooms, accidentally or deliberately ingested by early primates, triggered synesthetic experiences that formed the critical foundations of human language and cognition, the association of inherently meaningless sounds or images with inherently meaningful symbols and ideas. Spoken or written language is a synesthetic activity that takes place effortlessly and automatically in the process of understanding a language. In speaking, the vocal apparatus produces “small mouth noises,” small puffs or explosions of air that are inherently meaningless. But because we have learned the language, we all participate in the consensus that certain meaningless noises are associated with inner, visualized images or symbols that, as cognitive constructs, are imbued with meaning. These images and symbols, seen by the mind’s eye and associated with symbolic import, supply the “meaning” to various vocal expressions. In reading, the process is similar, except that a written symbol or word evokes an inner perception of the sound that is associated with the written word or symbol, and this, in turn, evokes an inner visualization of the meaningful symbol or word associated with that sound. Is this not also synesthesia?

What I’m suggesting, in effect, is that early on in the evolution of the human neural apparatus, the ingestion of psychedelics triggered the invention of language. I am not arguing here that psychedelics somehow affected our genes, at least not directly; rather, that they are teaching tools. Creating and using language is an acquired skill, dependent on an ability to discern meaning—significance—in images, sounds, and symbols. Psychedelics taught us how to do that; and, they are still teaching us! Once a small group or primates had acquired that skill, it could be easily taught to others, especially with the aid of the psychedelic teaching tools.

His point about language is actually interesting, and - to indulge it - one could postulate that, once language became established and somewhat widespread, natural selection might favor offspring with better capacity to learn language if it was a desirable trait for survival (which it clearly is, since it allows information about how to survive to be preserved through generations).