In may 1999, the psychedelic bard terence mckenna returned to his jungle hideaway on hawaiis big island after six weeks on the road. I met terence on the big island in july 1988 at a physical immortality conference before he was very well known, but nonetheless a dynamic and inspiring, extremely articulate and compelling speaker. What is the best terence mckenna lecture for a beginner. Terence mckennas theory of evolution in humans main concept is that a hominid has tried in their diet psilocybin mushrooms, and the experience they integrated changed their mind in a way that led to us. The theory, which is known as the stoned ape theory looks at the question from outside the box.
For those not familiar with or now hoping to become more familiar with terence mckenna, he presented the stoned ape theory in his 1992 book, food of the gods, proposing that eating magic mushrooms pushed homo erectus to homo sapien by expanding his brain as well as his mind. The stoned ape theory has been proven wrong for a while now. Apr 03, 2019 the stoned ape theory presented by mckenna proposes that the evolutionary leap between homo erectus and homo sapiens was a result of a surprising addition to the human diet psilocybe cubensis magic mushrooms. Dear dan, thanks for your article on terence mckenna s timewave theory. Terence mckennas stoned ape theory of human evolution terence mckenna was the first proponent of this theory, which theorizes that as the north african jungles receded toward the end of the most recent ice age, giving way to grasslands, a branch of our treedwelling primate ancestors left the branches and took up a life out in the open. In his book food of the gods 1992, terence mckenna describes one of his many controversial ideas. In theory, these events took place around 100,000 bce. Was curious as to where the term stoned ape theory originated from because it cert. While interesting, it does have several holes on several fronts. A few more suggestions from lorenzo the psychedelic experience. The stoned ape theory offers an unconventional view of human. In food of the gods, ethnobotanist terence mckennas research on mans ancient relationship with chemicals opens a doorway to the divine, and perhaps a solution for saving our troubled world.
Terence mckenna a renowned mystic and psychonaut broke the traditional mold when he presented his theory of how humans advanced so quickly in such a short space of time. Apr 17, 2014 i see this theory to make some sense but not to be taken too seriously as mckenna is not an actual evolutionary scientist. Terence mckenna was the first vocal proponent of this theory, which theorizes that as the north african jungles receded toward the end of the most recent ice age, giving way to grasslands, a branch of our treedwelling 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. Terence mckennas stoned ape theory animated dangerous. Someone else who has some validcited information against terence mckennas ideas which i think is maxwellrockatanskys issue makes a criticism section. Food of the gods was a great book, and its good that we proved his ape theory wrong, we can move on from that now, and thats not. Does the stoned ape theory explain human evolution. The return of the stoned ape theory of evolution mysterious.
A manual based on the tibetan book of the dead citadel underground timothy leary. Terence mckenna is an ethnobotanist and he is widely known in psychedelics circles for his research in mans relationship with consciousness altering chemicals since ancient times. Mckennas stoned ape theory has not received attention from the scientific community and has been criticized for a relative lack of citation to any of the paleoanthropological evidence informing our understanding of. So it s safe to say they dont think highly at all of the theory. He spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including psychedelic drugs, plantbased entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, philosophy, culture, technology. Terence mckennaarchive 1 jump to navigation jump to search. The stoned ape theory section is built on numerous independent reliable sources, 2 of which which are analytical and critical of the theory and that critisism is included. In the book food of the gods, mckenna suggested that the evolution from humans early descendant homo erectus to homo sapiens had to do with the addition of the mushroom psilocybe cubensis to their diet. Apr 08, 2011 the truth about mobile phone and wireless radiation dr devra davis duration. Terence mckenna advocated for the stoned ape hypothesis. See more ideas about terence mckenna, mckenna, don miguel ruiz. Terence mckenna luminary learners project by psychdelicacy. The stoned ape theory presented by mckenna proposes that the evolutionary leap between homo erectus and homo sapiens was a result of a surprising addition to the human diet psilocybe cubensis magic mushrooms.
Psilocybin, the mushroom and terence mckenna spirit molecule. So its safe to say they dont think highly at all of the theory. Terence kemp mckenna terencekempmckenna is a legacy library. He is noted for his many speculations on the use of psychedelic, plantbased hallucinogens, and subjects ranging from shamanism, the development of human consciousness, and the novelty theory. Nov 16, 2018 the life and high times of psychedelic bard, terence mckenna fueled by a diverse curiosity for the nonordinary, terence mckennas journey into the mystery was one of a kind. Podcast 366 terence mckennas suggested reading list. Dec 14, 2014 stoned ape theory in 1992, mckenna published food of the gods, which, among other things, proposed the stoned ape theory, expanding the story of psilocybin from a temporal context of 6000 years, as outlined above, to at least 100,000 years in terms of stropharia and possibly more than a million years in terms of psilocybin mushrooms generally. Apr 03, 2000 mckenna s stoned ape theory has not received attention from the scientific community and has been criticized for a relative lack of citation to any of the paleoanthropological evidence informing our understanding of human origins.
As our distant ancestors left the forests for the grasslands and began moving throughout africa after the last ice age, about 18,000 years ago, the species switched to a more omnivorous diet. Mckenna proposed that psllocybin ingestion explains the doubling of brain volume in h. One problem i have was in looking where psilocybin mushrooms grow. Also, if the gorillas were eating mushrooms and losing their aggression, that is pretty crazy. This idea, known as the stoned ape theory, relates to how our ancestors evolved to produce language and create art. If we cant find a suitable one, then the stoned ape section should be removed per frind. Terence mckenna the fantastic life of the psychedelic bard. In his 1992 book food of the gods, mckenna proposed that the change from mans early ancestors primarily had to do with the increase of psilocybe cubensis in the human diet. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by librarything members from the legacy libraries group.
It suggests that the mushrooms conveyed selective benefits to consumers of the mushrooms, dissolving the egos of our ancestors and allowing them to form communities. He realizes this roller coaster and takes control of. His books, lectures, and lifelong fascination with the plants of the gods made him an icon of psychedelic culture in the 1980s, 90s, and beyond. The terence mckenna archives is a multipronged effort to collect, digitize, transcribe, store, and preserve the imprint of terence mckenna s presence from his birth in 1946 to his death in 2000 as well as the persistence of his influence into the present. Found a pdf link of terence mckennas book, the food of the. I took some time exploring terence mckennas stoned ape. Terence mckenna decondition yourself from the lie of history duration. The life and high times of psychedelic bard, terence mckenna. He was born in 1946 and grew up in paonia, colorado. What do you think are terences best lectures for a novice tripper to listen to. Timewave theory in terms of impact on mckennas oeuvre, this was probably the most significant of the mushrooms teachings. Mckenna also remarked in an interview that the stoned ape theory proposed in food of the gods was consciously propaganda, as a way to persuade people that drugs are natural, ancient and responsible for human nature and not alien, invasive and distorting to human nature.
Communication requires a transmitter and a receiver. The theory s title speaks for itself, this human origin story is especially appealing if you have firshand experience with psilocybin or if start using mushroom nootropics. In his book food of the gods, mckenna proposed that the transformation from humans early ancestors homo erectus to the species homo sapiens mainly had to do with the addition of the mushroom psilocybe cubensis in its diet an event which according to his theory took place in about 100,000 bc this is when he believed that the species diverged from the homo genus. Mckenna provides a revisionist look at the historical role of drugs in the east and the west, from ancient spice, sugar, and rum trades to marijuana. In a nutshell, the stoned ape theory says that magic mushrooms sped up the evolutionary process and that, ultimately, the psychedelic experience is responsible for the. Internet archive bookreader terence mckenna food of the gods. Terence mckenna terence kemp mckenna november 16 1946 april 3 2000 was a writer, philosopher, and ethnobotanist. He based his idea on a single study that he creatively misinterpreted as saying that psilocybin increases visual acuity in low doses something to do with motion detection. May 28, 20 a critique of terence mckennas stoned ape theory in his book food of the gods 1992, terence mckenna describes one of his many controversial ideas. Terrence mckenna s theory about evolution of consciousness in early hominids. The study in fact said no such thing, and the rest of the stoned ape theory is conjecture based on this. He had a hobby of fossil hunting in his youth, which helped him gain a scientific appreciation of nature.
His examples included psilocybin mushrooms improving visual acuity. The whole thing is a tad over 400 pages, and the actual time is 2 days. Joe rogan on terence mckennas stoned ape theory cosmic. Terence mckenna was born on november 16, 1946, and died on april 3, 2000. Oneness saturday, november 08, 2008 alex grey, dmt 5 comments joe rogan, who is more known as the host of fear factor is also actively involved in his own little big psychedelic adventures. Unfortunately, that theory, and likely many of the others mckenna presents, is nothing more i did not care for this book. Found a pdf link of terence mckennas book, the food of. Terence mckennas stoned ape theory of human evolution. Believing in the stoned ape hypothesis, which posits that our ancestors got high. The stoned ape theory offers an unconventional view of. Just as a background, i contribute to the terence mckenna transcription project where we get people to help transcribe his recordings and organize them chronologically. Seeking the stone was one of the first lectures of mckennas. Terence mckennas stoned ape theory is more plausible than it sounds especially in context of the emergence of human mind and language development. Mckennas stoned ape theory understanding evolution.
His examples included psilocybin mushrooms improving visual acuity so hunters could hunt more. The search for the original tree of knowledge a radical history of. Terence mckenna was a psychedelic author, explorer, and showman. The man has obviously gone pretty far up in the universe of psychedelia, and i am not very experienced, so theres an obvious vast gap in wavelengths. Ive seen some terrence mckenna videos in the past and find him to be a very interesting person. The main character is going backandforth between insanity and lucidity. The terence mckenna archives is a multipronged effort to collect, digitize, transcribe, store, and preserve the imprint of terence mckennas presence from his birth in 1946 to his death in 2000 as well as the persistence of his influence into the present. The very idea of doing such is inconceivable, by what it threatens for terencelings.
The stoned ape theory was founded by none other than the american author, lecturer, ethnobotanist and psychonaut terence kemp mckenna. The legend of terence mckenna is with us even today, living through discussions, messages, videos, podcasts, pictures and all communication within the psychedelic community. It appears that the source for the criticism paragraph in the stoned ape theory section of this article, a critique of terence mckennas stoned ape theory by sam woolfe, is the blog of a guy who works for a libertarianleaning magazine in london called the backbencher. In 1992, a new book, food of the gods, opened my eyes to tms theorizing from his experiences tripping, including stoned apes, his now famous or infamous theory of how psilocybin mushrooms, eaten by ancestral hominids in africa, catalyzed the evolution of homo sapiens. Food of the gods by terence mckenna is a classic on psychedelic plants. Terence mckennas last trip he had less time than he knew. They need to be capable of understanding each other, and be able to trust each others transmissions and receptions. In fact, there are many interesting theories throughout the book, the most famous of these being the stoned ape theory. In other words, it was in a sense fabricated to promote his own agenda. Does darwins theory of evolution refute terence mckenna. Terence kemp mckenna november 16, 1946 april 3, 2000 was an american 2 one of the leading authorities on the ontological foundations of shamanism, 3 and the intellectual voice of rave culture. Id suggest anything that focus on the stoned ape theory, some of his other theories are too out there. Concerning terence mckennas stoned apes reality sandwich. I never knew he had a theory about gorilla evolution, however.
Take a look, and click on some links to uncover some of his theories, including the stoned ape theory. Mar 28, 2011 in 1992, a new book, food of the gods, opened my eyes to tm s theorizing from his experiences tripping, including stoned apes, his now famous or infamous theory of how psilocybin mushrooms, eaten by ancestral hominids in africa, catalyzed the evolution of homo sapiens. Im sure the theory needs a lot more basis and experiments to fully back it up, however. In 1992, mckenna published food of the gods, which, among other things. You also let terence stoned ape mckenna define the terms. Books by terence mckenna author of food of the gods. What do anthropologists think of the the stoned ape theory. The stoned ape theory and the dawn of human consciousness. See more ideas about terence mckenna, psychedelic and psychadelic art. Terence mckennas stoned ape theory of human evolution the. I took some time exploring terence mckennas stoned ape theory. Berkeley for two years before setting off to see the world. Terence kemp mckenna november 16 1946 april 3 2000 was a writer, philosopher, and ethnobotanist.
Briefly the stoned ape theory posits that psychoactive psilocybin mushrooms in the diet of prehomo sapiens primates catalyzed the change homo sapiens. Fueled by a diverse curiosity for the nonordinary, terence mckennas journey into the mystery was one of a kind. The search for the original tree of knowledge a radical history of plants, drugs, and human evolution mckenna, terence on. Sep 17, 2011 food of the gods by terence mckenna is a classic on psychedelic plants. It is an animation of terrance mckennas stoned ape theory which is the theory that protohominids munched on mushrooms and this caused the mysterious rapid expansion of the neocortex that eventually differentiated us from the other monkeys. For more content like this check out our community page here at facebook. Dear dan, thanks for your article on terence mckennas timewave theory. Terence mckenna never mentions stoned ape theory or stoned ape hypothesis in his body of work.
My introduction to terence mckenna was through his stoned ape theory, explained by paul stamets on the jre podcast. Where tattersall remains stumped and where mckennas theory offers. Stoned ape theory great appeal and intuitive strength. The search for the original tree of knowledge a radical history of plants, drugs, and human evolution terence mckenna. Sep 19, 2016 terence mckennas stoned ape theory is more plausible than it sounds especially in context of the emergence of human mind and language development. Terence kemp mckenna november 16, 1946 april 3, 2000 was an american ethnobotanist, mystic, psychonaut, lecturer, author, and an advocate for the responsible use of naturally occurring psychedelic plants. If youre simply saying, on the other hand that terence inspirees are afraid to look at that research because of the inconvenient truth that awaits thats different. Terence mckenna s stoned ape theory during the 1990s, terence mckenna proposed a unique explanation for the leap of intelligence between the homo erectus and homo sapiens. Terence mckennas stoned ape theory of human evolution terence mckenna was the first vocal proponent of this theory, which theorizes that as the north african jungles receded toward the end of the most recent ice age, giving way to grasslands, a branch of our treedwelling primate ancestors left the branches and took up a life out in the open. Also, if you want to recommend lectures by other speakers feel free to do so. Biology stack exchange is a question and answer site for biology researchers, academics, and students. Terence mckennas stoned ape theory psychedelic mushroom. Mckennas stoned ape theory has not received attention from the.
He is noted for his many speculations on the use of psychedelic, plantbased hallucinogens, and subjects ranging from shamanism, the development of. Jul 14, 2017 lockley, the author of a book called how humanity came into being, has one major issue with mckennas reasoning. It sounds outlandish at first how could eating mushrooms possibly make such a huge difference that homo erectus doubled its brain. He spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including psychedelic drugs, plantbased entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, philosophy, culture. Terence kemp mckenna terencekempmckenna librarything. Later on this idea was given the name the stoned ape hypothesis.
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