Post: #25

(10-03-2017 03:38 PM)sterling_archer Wrote:  All because he started to induce psilocybin mushrooms into his diet. Terence McKenna explained this so called "stoned ape" theory. Basically, when pre historic man started to eat these mushrooms, he started to get visions, and suddenly developed art, burial rituals, better weapons and such. Of course bigger brain came out to be because of that.

He (McKenna) also claimed that ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms is responsible for human evolution, reasoning that eating mushrooms increases visual acuity and therefore allowed men to hunt more successfully. It's a nice theory, but there's no scientific basis for this whatsoever. Eating mushrooms improves your eye sight? Maybe improves your ability to see inanimate objects swirl and breathe, not sure how helpful that would be while tracking down a buffalo unless throwing your atlatl into its aura would improve your kill rate.

He also claimed that eating mushrooms led to more reproduction through enhanced sexual arousal. Again a bit hard to believe - lower primates don't have a high enough sex drive? Why would this lead to enhanced fitness?

I enjoy alternative history and I'm open to different interpretations, but in this case I'm not sold.

Good primary sources and discussion here: http://www.lycaeum.org/~sputnik/McKenna/...heory.html