Referencing the research of Roland L. Fisher, McKenna claims the enhancement of visual acuity was an effect of psilocybin at low doses and suggests this would confer adaptive advantage. He argues that the effects of slightly larger doses, including sexual arousal, and in larger doses, ecstatic hallucinations & 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 to primate diets. He hypothesizes, for instance, that synesthesia (the blurring of sensory boundaries) 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 human diets. He argues 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.
Referencing the research of Roland L. Fisher, McKenna claims the enhancement of visual acuity was an effect of psilocybin at low doses and suggests this would confer adaptive advantage. He argues that the effects of slightly larger doses, including sexual arousal, and in larger doses, ecstatic hallucinations & 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 to primate diets. He hypothesizes, for instance, that synesthesia (the blurring of sensory boundaries) 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 human diets. He argues 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.
Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge: A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution
336
Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge: A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution
336Paperback(Reprint)
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780553371307 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Random House Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 01/28/1993 |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 336 |
| Sales rank: | 13,299 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.50(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.30(d) |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Explore More Items
Michael Pollan’s Food Rules prompted a national discussion helping to change the way
Winner of the James Beard Award
Author of How to Change Your Mind and the #1 New York
The three groundbreaking books from our most trusted guide to food, now brought together for the first time
In a few short years, Michael Pollan has completely transformed America’s
Connections and Symbols provides the first systematic analysis of the explosive new field of Connectionism that is challenging the basic tenets of cognitive science.
Does intelligence result from the
"Sweeping, erudite, sharply argued, and fun to
In this Pulitzer Prize finalist and national bestseller, one of the world's leading cognitive scientists
A provocative history of violence—from the New York
Food. There's plenty of it around, and we all love to eat
In this entertaining young
In May 2001, a group of men attempted to
Luis Alberto Urrea's Across the Wire offers a compelling and unprecedented look at what life is like for those