Stoned Ape Theory

[Diode-Man]

10,000 years ago an ape like creature consumed a psychedelic mushroom and saw "God." He went to all his ape like friends and showed them what he had eaten, they all saw this "God" together.... and evolution of the mind began!

Do you agree or disagree?

 

[cosmictraveler]

Let me try some of those "psychedelic mushrooms " before I can determine if this could be a good theory or not.

 

[Diode-Man]

Well put. Can't know until you've tried it.

 

[drumbeat]

Many animals eat rotting fruit and try other things to get drunk/high.

You statement seems a bit over the top though. How do you mean 'evolve their mind'?
Isn't that just learning?

 

[Diode-Man]

Many animals eat rotting fruit and try other things to get drunk/high.

You statement seems a bit over the top though. How do you mean 'evolve their mind'?
Isn't that just learning?

Well, the average animal that is alive has such a small amount of conscious awareness, the chances that a drug would evolve the mind of a squirrel as compared to an ape must be far different. One day the ape eats a mushroom and realizes he's not just alive, but aware of being alive!

 

[Me-Ki-Gal]

Well, the average animal that is alive has such a small amount of conscious awareness, the chances that a drug would evolve the mind of a squirrel as compared to an ape must be far different. One day the ape eats a mushroom and realizes he's not just alive, but aware of being alive!

It sounds possible to Me. Yeah I to heard animals like to get high and it is a natural inclination for mammals to seek out drug induced states of being . The gals at Delphi that Alexander hung out with are suspect for being drug induced . Heard that on the discovery channel . Psychedelic states do alter state of mind that is for sure , been there,definitely not doing it tomorrow, at least not by taking psychedelics . Maybe a little High on Mike like Charley Sheen is on Charley . That is if He is still Clean super Man Charley . Get a real Job Charley , Go hook up with Sean Penn and swing a hammer in Haiti would you already . Sorry side tracked

 

[Me-Ki-Gal]

I think it was Meat that Grew the human Brain that made it possible to think self awareness . I also think it took a long span of time for the effects of eating meat to grow the brain to modern man size.

 

[spidergoat]

If you are interested in this theory, read "Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution" by Terence McKenna (1946 - 2000).

According to McKenna's hypothesis, among the new food items found in this new environment were psilocybin-containing mushrooms growing near the dung of ungulate herds that occupied the savannas and grasslands at that time. To support this hypothesis, McKenna referenced the research of Roland L. Fisher.[citation needed] The cited work by Fischer does not mention paleo-anthropology, Africa, or the ice ages.[18][19][20][21] Echoing Fisher on the effects of psychedelics, McKenna claimed that enhancement of visual acuity was an effect of psilocybin at low doses, and supposed that this would have conferred an adaptive advantage. He also argued that the effects of slightly larger doses, including sexual arousal, and in still larger doses, ecstatic hallucinations and glossolalia — gave selective evolutionary advantages to members of those tribes who partook of it. There were many changes caused by the introduction of this psychoactive mushroom to the primate diet. McKenna hypothesizes, for instance, that synesthesia (the blurring of boundaries between the senses) caused by psilocybin led to the development of spoken language: the ability to form pictures in another person's mind through the use of vocal sounds.

About 12,000 years ago, further climate changes removed psilocybin-containing mushrooms from the human diet.[citation needed] McKenna argued that this event resulted in a new set of profound changes in our species as we reverted to the previous brutal primate social structures that had been modified and/or repressed by frequent consumption of psilocybin.[source]​

 

[Diode-Man]

If you are interested in this theory, read "Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution" by Terence McKenna (1946 - 2000).

According to McKenna's hypothesis, among the new food items found in this new environment were psilocybin-containing mushrooms growing near the dung of ungulate herds that occupied the savannas and grasslands at that time. To support this hypothesis, McKenna referenced the research of Roland L. Fisher.[citation needed] The cited work by Fischer does not mention paleo-anthropology, Africa, or the ice ages.[18][19][20][21] Echoing Fisher on the effects of psychedelics, McKenna claimed that enhancement of visual acuity was an effect of psilocybin at low doses, and supposed that this would have conferred an adaptive advantage. He also argued that the effects of slightly larger doses, including sexual arousal, and in still larger doses, ecstatic hallucinations and glossolalia — gave selective evolutionary advantages to members of those tribes who partook of it. There were many changes caused by the introduction of this psychoactive mushroom to the primate diet. McKenna hypothesizes, for instance, that synesthesia (the blurring of boundaries between the senses) caused by psilocybin led to the development of spoken language: the ability to form pictures in another person's mind through the use of vocal sounds.

About 12,000 years ago, further climate changes removed psilocybin-containing mushrooms from the human diet.[citation needed] McKenna argued that this event resulted in a new set of profound changes in our species as we reverted to the previous brutal primate social structures that had been modified and/or repressed by frequent consumption of psilocybin.[source]​

I find it interesting that I came up with this theory before I ever read about it from McKenna! I think I'll give his book a read.

 

[chimpkin]

Hmm...I don't know if psychedelics usage made much permanent change in my consciousness...

I'm given to understand some people find a very small LSD dose helps them to figure out math. Considering the wobbly status of my brain chemistry, I may or may not try something similar when I go beat my head against al-gibberish...a learning disability leads to contemplating desperate measures?
Considering the visuals from cacti products are particularly supposed to be geometric, while 'shrooms seem to distort one's time-sense and the visuals are more circular in nature...that suggests what ought to be tried?

But basically psychedelics...I'm given to understand, cause a serotonin/dopamine dump, as well as working as a novel neurotransmitter-that rather overwhelms our brain and can fry it...as in induce permanent depressive episodes in people who weren't prone to them, or psychotic episodes, again in people who weren't having them.

And maybe that's the dosage. My happy pills, if I took a whole bunch of them, would frak me up royally. Maybe a microdose of psychedelics has a different effect than a "party" dose.

I think we grew more brain because the smarter we got, the more fatty foods we were able to get, and the more fatty foods we could eat, the more brain we were able to grow...reinforcing feedback loop. I doubt psychedelics had that much effect on brains themselves.

Now influencing our culture??? That's a whole different trip, man.

 

[baftan]

10,000 years ago an ape like creature...

You must be joking. 10,000 years ago human beings were busy with inventing agriculture. By the way what does "ape like creature" actually mean or refer to? We are still biologically belong to apes; what is the border between being a human and being an ape?

They were not very different from us:

 

[chimpkin]

His evolution time-scale's a bit off...we probably did our final evolving 200k years ago, if I'm remembering correctly?
*Meh*.

 

[John99]

10,000 years ago an ape like creature consumed a psychedelic mushroom and saw "God." He went to all his ape like friends and showed them what he had eaten, they all saw this "God" together.... and evolution of the mind began!

Do you agree or disagree?

...i think apes sample what they eat and dont really like getting into altered states. therefore they would just take a nibble and toss it. thats my understanding.

although there is the possibility that some hallucinogenics were consumed especially if mixed with food. maybe a sustained low dosage.

 

[spidergoat]

I read somewhere that primates have a natural fear of mushrooms. I couldn't find anything on the web except for this:

Sara is a 10-year old black and white Capuchin who participates in our educational program. At first, we thought she was sick
because she would not eat mushrooms; however, whenever the mushrooms were removed from her cage, she flew down and grabbed
her banana but would fly to the top again when they were replaced in her cage. We soon realized that she was simply afraid of them—
she will threaten a mushroom with a full open mouth and bark at it, presenting an excellent opportunity for children to observe her
facial expressions and hear her vocalizations during the sanctuary’s educational presentations. She also sometimes throws food at the
volunteers and will clean out her cage if an empty box is placed in front of it.

 

[The Esotericist]

Nah. . . I go with the genetic and archeological evidence. We know from our history that we manipulate populations of plants and animals for our own designs and purposes, seems we are pretty much the result of somebody else's use as well. And why not? If we came here and wanted a to design a laborer, we'd probably start out messing with our own DNA and that of bonobo's, chimp's or orangutan's, right?
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vida_alien/slavespecies02.htm

 

[Ophiolite]

Unfortunately I had to vote no because of your silly timescale, which has also been pointed out by chimpkin.

 

[Spud Emperor]

I reckon it's a yes from me.
I have done psillocybin mushies with my dog once. It was a complete hoot, the dog was off his 'nana (as was I). He was definitely seeing the world differently.
I don't doubt the earliest humans did psychoactive drugs (humans just can't seem to get enough of them in general) and I don't doubt it gave them pathways to different levels of thought.
I've certainly taken thoughts and feelings from various benders and applied them in normal life.

 

[cosmictraveler]

Still awaiting my Shrooms!

 

[Me-Ki-Gal]

Still awaiting my Shrooms!

Go get your own , Let go of my eggo . Mushrooms are dangerous as hell . There are many different types that will kill you in a heart beat . When I was young I just happened to be friends with the son of the leading mushroom expert in the world at the time . Professor at University of Davis Calif. ( Aggies ) We would go mushroom hunting and that sucker would blow my mind . There are types of mushrooms that look just like silisibems ( spelling ?) but with just slight differences the average person could not detect . Very dangerous . People die all the time from eating the wrong mushrooms . Even picking Morels you need to know something about mushrooms before you go romping in the woods eating em up. He would say if you touch the back side of that mushroom and just smoke a cig that little bit of trace of mushroom will make you sick.

 

[keith1]

10,000 years ago an ape like creature consumed a psychedelic mushroom and saw "God." He went to all his ape like friends and showed them what he had eaten, they all saw this "God" together.... and evolution of the mind began!

Do you agree or disagree?

Too many variables to make a concrete conclusion, I would venture further:

Factor in "Romulus/Remus" and "Tarzan" animal-human interaction, observation, and prehistoric pharmacology exploratory methods, folklore, and the rye ergot poisonings, and madness (rarely, if at at all seen as insightful, until after LSD25 synthesis by Hofmann-1938/ingested accidentally1943), Carlos Castaneda/Yaqui techniques/journals (hinting to a "separate reality", rather than a god belief).