Terence Mckenna - The stoned ape theory

[TheSkyCactus]

Take a few bong rips and this shit makes all the sense in the world

[asvpxvett]

If you have ever actually taken mushrooms then you will be able to understand the thought process and the way your mind tends wander off into uncharted waters.... do mushrooms!!

[zpridgen]

I absolutely adore Terence McKenna. That being said, this is not a theory. This is a hypothesis.

[nickpitts]

I almost wish I could listen to this from a non-trippers point of view so I could see how it DOESNT make sense

[boskocurich]

I would like to share my own personal experience and my standings within Mr.Mckenna's theory, I would also like to hope and say that if proven right, we can count on a future, one day where we will see Mr.Terence McKenna as a true humanitarian of our time and revolutionary, without any blind worship or pointless institutions. During my LSD trips I wanted understand why nature was communicating to me a certain way, the ferns would dance in joy as I rode my bicycle around my block and open up a path that seemed to be going on for eternity, when I stopped and took time to appreciate the surroundings, the trees would look with curious eyes and seemed to whisper to each other, the sky lit in bright purple and blue that afternoon and the clouds seem to form shapes at will, it was a sublime and one of a kind moment, most life changing. I know this was a change of chemicals in my brain, but isn't what we experience everyday life the same thing really?

I believe his Stoned Ape hypothesis holds truth not only because the science behind it makes excellent sense, but it also helps put together the long lost human puzzle piece of how we became fully conscious in a way so profound and unorthodox that really makes us question our purpose here in the universe, that is if we even had any to begin with. A true slap of reality comes to us in the sense where he objectively points out how really dumb we are collectively and how lost we are individually, because we choose to look everywhere and anywhere but near ourselves for clues, for we think we must of come from somewhere, a place so divine it can only await us after death, for with human complexity, we demanded to have these "musts" such as a persona, a sense of identity, and we look to what we can first cling unto for comfort, but in truth we're just part of nature, we somehow forgotten we sprouted up from the ground, we're nature's children, we came from a single common source just like all animals, plants that were our "past" and is our current standing.

I say that in the midst of trying to find god, aliens and other outside sources to give meaning to this reality, we have blindly ignore the endless possibilities and variety that nature can provide us with, for I now can began to craft another part of reality that I seemed to be missing, a picture of reality that hadn't crossed my head before until then, it was so simple, in a way sinister towards us, but perhaps our sense of reality was always meant to be constricted by earth's biology itself for even birds cannot fly above the atmosphere and survive. The sensation of talking to nature and experiencing it is one I will never forget, I have a different way of looking at things, I am overall more calm when I find my place in nature for a few times a day. I would like to point out that of course this is all based on experience, I've always considered myself a somewhat very Scientific person to an extend where I can still let ideas flow in freely, always curious, reading and informing myself everyday and I'm quite certain that the world can be explained logically one day only if we are willing to listen and observe without bias.

When tripping LSD from what seemed to be a "wanting a joyride" type of attitude turned into this memorable trip that put me from an observers point of view, I for once was able to analyze things properly, I saw how fixated I had become on making sure my credit score was good, paying my debts off, working and looking for the next business opportunity to come across, and being unfair to my parents, I remember images of my mother taking care of me, these memories all so fond of my past came back to remind me what I've forgotten. At the first stages of tripping I laughed for what seemed an hour hysterically in my room once I said this to myself "...we made it all up"..the monetary system, politics, everything that takes part in our society which is tangible or not, problems, conflict, it is all human creation, and that upon our pompous self realization of the great potential in complexity that our brains could offer, we decided to play creator, "gods" as we call them, we interacted with the elements and we formed many complex creations, you can clearly see that we have walked two steps technologically ahead of our bodies and that true self identities have been morphed and dictated by human cultures, and humans have been puppeteers to themselves, the near and far sighted leading the blind. Deep inside that laughter was that echoing of another being that seems to be part or knows myself in an intimate way, an honest agent helping me make sense of it all, I was confused, but somehow relived, everything seemed so right and made sense without having to put much thought into it, but after my trip I decided to look into theories about possible human evolution through the help of psychedelics consumption, I felt that what we call reality is only bounded what our senses allow us to observe and experience and I felt this "barrier" being removed, I was seeing life via a different filter, or yet I was seeing life how it truly is supposed to be. Then I came across this explanation of his and it really spoke to what I experienced during my trip, if I felt this why couldn't have our ancestors?

Our ancestor's reality was meant to be limited by their senses that were tuned over the years by a Darwinist environment, meaning we were crafted by evolutionary circumstance of life itself to be complex enough to survive and adapt and make sure we kept on passing lineage yet not smart enough to become self reflective, however that was when we hit the wall of our biological limit, our evolutionary process seemed to be heading down a replica path that of Dinosaurs, for we were doomed to loop in the cosmos as apes till the end of our species, for when the next global calamity was to hit in the future, in silence we would go without having what we can call the "opportunity" to ask, where we are? who are we? and why are we here?

So here's where I have great mental peril, if this hypothesis is correct then essentially under the right circumstances we have seemed to just like a video game character would; "level up" while other species previous to us were never placed in such favorable yet harsh circumstances that never allowed them to climb a step in the ladder of consciousness. Who ever knew that Mushrooms and Plants just might be the missing link and culprit that we were looking for all along? for the kingdom of flora and fauna conspired together and it changed us profoundly forever. However before laying down such conclusions we must keep in mind that the following applies:

"If life is unique only to this planet and oddly enough even if it isn't, let's just say that for sake of argument, life is still in a primitive state in other planets somewhere or even more bizarre would be that intelligent life already roams the cosmos, hundreds, thousands years ahead or even maybe behind (Yes there is a possibility we got a head start compared to newer planets in the universe.)"

Putting such scenario into prospective we're going to assume the rules of biological life operate exactly the same elsewhere in the cosmos with an an unknown variation of biological counterparts to that of earth and why wouldn't it? we in habit the same realm as other potential intelligent beings, or do we? Now to point out the conclusion:

Conclusion points to black and white (two opposing factions or forces) must exist to in order become grey (reality) for there is no reality without one or the other, so whatever strange force bounds us infinitely together across the vast cosmos has the same rules in which nature will follow and manifest life upon, such as plants and animals like us. So maybe we can say that embedded within all living life is the code or will to live, to expand and multiply, but strangely enough has what we call "death", "the end" play an equal important crucial role in this balance, it needs us to die so the new can arise, its an inevitable process which we are to play part in, but hold no say, from the time of birth we're bound to its rule (cells from infancy to current age die and are replaced everyday, as we age we're not changing but dying and being reborn at a small scale). In other words we're appearing and disappearing constantly, and if this universe holds true to this hypothesis then everything is and will never be more than that, we live within something greater that has no outer edge for I think that the concept of "outside" is a human reference point to describe anything external within the context in which is spoken to, but holds no real place or relevance in the universe, outside is just outside, an illusion crafted to locate ourselves and provide a point of reference, but the universe is just is, and everything that happen will happen because it is all, we're just seeing order gives clarity in this world of chaos, and we're now in the moment were its happening, let's enjoy it.

[th_qunox_chld]

I believe consciousness is older than just "a few million years old" my experience with psychedelics is consciousness is eternal and human consciousness is a fragment of a higher state of consciousness all connected with one another, in fact our whole reality is conscious energy

[TheRealRaz]

2018 and this still makes more sense than any other theory of our origins. Timeless.

[dillonhamilton]

Even if you’re 50/50 convinced, or even a little less, you still have to admit it is some cool-ass, creative, original, somewhat pioneering, philosophical thinking that is interesting as hell to listen to and appreciate.

[saltycupcakes]

i wonder if other animals such as reindeer in lapland culture eating amanitas develop similar conscious awareness that we dont know about

[joshkinsman]

i wouldve loved to have a conversation with this man

[DumbDino]

Dude sounds like Mandark from Dexter's Laboratory lol

[naval]

this theory makes more sense than the biblical heaven crap.

[enzodriver]

I love Terence. His voice and his ability to speak was incredible. Very smart man

[Fungi]

This could also be the reason why shrooms feel so familiar could it be that it’s in our genetics the high of shrooms

[samuelgaldieri]

“Religiously profound doses” lol that’s one way of putting it

[spiritinflux]

Outstanding. I just realised there is a quote in this on an album I haven't listened to in years. One I used to LOVE :D
Mudvayne L.D. 50

[HassanEido]

So.. Many animals also eat doses of mushrooms and yet only humans evolve a consciousness.. So many logical leaps there in that hypothesis.. But it's fun to listen to this guy

[zabelicious]

Well done TMk, connecting the dots: nutrition, epigenetics, evolution theory, consciousness, neuroscience, psychedelics, shamanism, behavior, psychology, nature, anthropology...

[thomaspotterismyname]

Ok once our ancestors found psychedelics they used them as tools that's why tribes had certain tonics they used as spiritual tools because they knew the power of psychedelics and after society was put in place by first world countries they realized that if everyone was tripping they couldn't take advantage of the "lower class" or have a hierarchy in society because in reality every living thing is equal in value and human and psychedelics shows us that that's why they're outlawed not because they are truly bad for us

[castaway]

Interesting hypothesis.  There exists a matriarchal tribe in Asia where each woman takes five to seven husbands.  And each man has only one wife, that he shares with five to seven other men.  The wife will spend a few  nights at each husbands home, but, she lives in her mothers home as do all of her offspring.  None of the men know who the father is, but, they all share in raising the children.  There is no warfare or strife in the tribesmen.