The "Stoned Ape" theory of human evolution

[quantam110]

what if there is no missing link?

Perhaps the most famous of Terence McKenna's theories and observations is his explanation for the origin of the human mind and culture. McKenna theorized that as the North African jungles receded toward the end of the most recent ice age, giving way to grasslands, a branch of our tree-dwelling primate ancestors left the branches and took up a life out in the open — following around herds of ungulates, nibbling what they could along the way.

 

Among the new items in their diet were psilocybin-containing mushrooms growing in the dung of these ungulate herds. McKenna, referencing the research of Roland L. Fisher Ph. D.(College of Optometry and Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University)[12] [13] [14] [15], claimed enhancement of visual acuity as 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 a physical sexual arousal (again, not reported as a typical effect in scientific studies) — and in still larger doses, ecstatic hallucinations and glossolalia — gave evolutionary advantages to those tribes who partook of it. There were many changes caused by the introduction of this drug to the primate diet. McKenna theorizes, 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 the mushroom from the human diet, which McKenna argued to result in a new set of profound changes in our species as we reverted to pre-mushroomed and brutal primate social structures that had been modified and/or repressed by frequent consumption of psilocybin. However, in McKenna's theory, the psilocybin-induced dominance of humans over other species remained, despite our supposed retrograde evolution.

 

McKenna did not attempt to defend his hypotheses through rigorous scientific evidence; he self-consciously identified as a type of shaman, or ethnobotanist. McKenna and his followers view his theories as speculation that is at a minimum scientifically feasible and arguably gifted by special knowledge due to psychedelic plants. His hypothesis that psilocybin induced a phase change in human evolution is necessarily based on a great deal of supposition interpolating between the few fragmentary facts we know about hominid and early human history. But perhaps its most significant problem is its inconsistency with natural selection (the central concept of evolutionary theory) which cannot favor any variations, no matter how adaptive, unless they result from an allele or genetic factor. A live recording of his "Stoned Ape" theory can be found on the CD Conversations on the Edge of Magic (recorded live at the Starwood Festival).

[Realitycheck]

"Urghhhh. Arghhhhh. Ughhhhhh." (Dude, let's make a language.)

[bascule]

Perhaps the most famous of Terence McKenna's theories and observations is his explanation for the origin of the human mind and culture.

 

Terrence McKenna is awesome, but his "stoned ape" hypothesis is hardly his most famous.

 

Have you never heard of "Novelty Theory" or Timewave Zero?

 

The basic tenet of novelty theory is that the universe is coalescing towards some sort of teleological attractor at the end of time.

 

Please note that none of Terrence McKenna's ideas are remotely defensible scientifically. They're all conjecture.

[foodchain]

"Urghhhh. Arghhhhh. Ughhhhhh." (Dude, let's make a language.)

 

 

 

Actually its not quite like that. I have heard of this stuff before and not just from this guy. It basically equates across the board into the idea that various chemical compounds that today thanks to modern intelligence are illegal for various reasons have similar properties to neurotransmitters that allow the human brain to function the way it does. So basically what you have is some encounter with an animal that eats this stuff and obtains the effects plus so much more basically. I don’t find the idea completely wack as organisms have or can incorporate from the surroundings. What I think is wack about it is that science probably has no way if will ever have a way to test such really, so its basically pointless past being conjecture as already point out. I think if you really want to down this idea though scientifically you would have to be able to trace the evolution of the brain really, in which I am sure you would be able to end the idea that apes eating mushrooms and making gods is a bit of a myth, as in the human brain being conscious of its surroundings at a human level with no real organized system of logic that exists today for instance would on its own be a trip.

[Realitycheck]

Animals have ways of communicating with each other. Evolvement of a spoken language is no surprise. There's no reason why one should think that psilocybin would be required to facilitate it.

 

I understand where you are coming from. Again, there's no way of knowing. However, somebody else made an issue out of it.

[stormwarrior]

I dont think we evolved from apes or dogs or fish or birds. It doesnt follow religious belief or even creation stories. Sure its a possiblity and its interesting to imagine but it isnt something that can be proven without a doubt. The many followers of the religion called evolution have run into blockades with the theories they have suggested. I think we do evolve though in some senses like from being a baby to being a man to being an old man to being venerable to being dead and beyond. The word for that is aging though not evolution. I like the idea of evolving linguistics and find that historical linguistics evolved in recorded history from minority to majority for english speaking people. Its very interesting to me that most the world speaks english and languages all point to english as being the top spoken language on earth. But what is the second most common language?

would it surprise you to know spanish is the second most common spoken language? A sister language of english they are very similiar, the third most common language is french. Also sister language to english.

[iNow]

I dont think we evolved from apes or dogs or fish or birds. It doesnt follow religious belief or even creation stories.

You seem to misunderstand evolution by natural selection. We evolved from similar ancestors. It's not like one day an ape crapped out a human. We are just very distant "cousins." In fact, this same relationship spreads to all life.

 

Sure its a possiblity and its interesting to imagine but it isnt something that can be proven without a doubt. The many followers of the religion called evolution have run into blockades with the theories they have suggested.

Can you tell me ANYTHING that can be proven without a doubt? I may be mistaken, but I think Heisenberg showed this isn't possible.

 

Also, it really rubs me wrong when someone who disbelieves or disagrees with evolution uses the "it can't be proven" argument. Talk about double standards. Where was the last "proof" of the religious stories for creation you saw? Hypocracy at it's finest.

 

I think we do evolve though in some senses like from being a baby to being a man to being an old man to being venerable to being dead and beyond. The word for that is aging though not evolution.

You just said it yourself. You are switching the meaning of the word here mid-stream. This is "develpment," and some tenets of evolution can apply to the process, but only moments ago you were talking about evolution in a much different context. It is much different to discuss the evolution of humans as a specie via natural selection than it is to discuss the development of a single human being from birth to old age to death

 

I like the idea of evolving linguistics and find that historical linguistics evolved in recorded history from minority to majority for english speaking people. Its very interesting to me that most the world speaks english and languages all point to english as being the top spoken language on earth. But what is the second most common language?

would it surprise you to know spanish is the second most common spoken language? A sister language of english they are very similiar, the third most common language is french. Also sister language to english.

 

Emphasis mine. Maybe in the US, but not the world. Mandarin (Chinese) eclipses English by having nearly four times the number of speakers on the planet than does English. See data below which supports this.

 

I concede that English has tended to be the language of most businesses and companies, but primarily beause those companies originated in the US, or most have a significant number of stakeholders in the US. The internet has followed this trend as well, but I'd advise that this will "evolve" also.

 

Here is link with some numbers in place, and also a graph for clarity:

 

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/worldlang.htm

 

 

http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm

 

[Phi for All]

I dont think we evolved from apes or dogs or fish or birds. It doesnt follow religious belief or even creation stories. Sure its a possiblity and its interesting to imagine but it isnt something that can be proven without a doubt.

Proven without a doubt like religious beliefs and creation stories?

The many followers of the religion called evolution have run into blockades with the theories they have suggested.

Cute trick but science is not a religion. Religion requires faith in the unobservable. Science measures and attempts to understand the observable. And the theory of evolution has no "blockades" in it. Lack of complete understanding doesn't mean the theory is wrong.

I think we do evolve though in some senses like from being a baby to being a man to being an old man to being venerable to being dead and beyond.

Evolution doesn't work on a single being, it only works if that being has offspring so it can pass along successful traits.

I like the idea of evolving linguistics and find that historical linguistics evolved in recorded history from minority to majority for english speaking people. Its very interesting to me that most the world speaks english and languages all point to english as being the top spoken language on earth.

It isn't though. Mandarin Chinese has twice as many speakers as English does.

But what is the second most common language?

would it surprise you to know spanish is the second most common spoken language?

Wrong again, Spanish is fourth after Hindustani.

A sister language of english they are very similiar, the third most common language is french. Also sister language to english.

French is ranked tenth in commonly spoken languages. I don't know which tract you picked up this info from but it's clear you need some different sources.

[dichotomy]

McKenna theorizes, 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.

 

Sounds plausible to me. I can vouch from a single personal experience that psilocybin containing mushrooms are amazingly powerful hallucinogens. Psilocybin's effects on consciousness and creativity deserves continued research. I'll personally volunteer to blow my mind for science... when I'm well into my 70's.

 

cheers.

[insane_alien]

i see you're of the same mind as me. stay reasonably clean of drugs and that till your in your seventies and then be high on everything

[gcol]

Only five years to go....something to look forward to perhaps

 

Should I begin to line up my suppliers now? But then again, half a century ago a friend, high on some halucinogen, believed he was a fly. He tried to crawl up a wall and fell with luckily non-permanent injuries. Good job he did not live in a high-rise with a balcony. Perhaps I wont bother after all.

[dichotomy]

i see you're of the same mind as me. stay reasonably clean of drugs and that till your in your seventies and then be high on everything

 

Yep, cautious until I'm pretty much guaranteed to be a gonner!

 

Can you imagine a whole generation of psychodelic septuagenarians!

 

Only five years to go....something to look forward to perhaps

 

Perhaps I wont bother after all.

 

No man, do it! Otherwise you will regret it