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Stoned Ape Theory
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Stoned Ape Theory
Critical Thinking Assignment
Stoned Ape Theory
Hypothesis
In this class, as the name suggests, we talk about evolution. One of the most fascinating hypothesis of evolution is most well-known as the Stoned Ape Theory. It claims that the evolution of conciousness can be attributed to early humans' consumption of magic mushrooms. This hypothsis attributes the emergence of language and self-reflection to psilocybin, the active psychadellic ingredient in mushrooms.
What would be a counter argument?
Stating the Claim
When analyzing different information it is important to know what other claims have been made. This way, we can evaluate other options, and make sure that we understand the information: we are rejecting. For this specific question, the counter argument is simply "magic mushrooms" had absolutely no effect on the evolution of early homo sapiens.
When was this unnaccebtable/acceptable?
Questioning the Claim
This article, published by howstuffworks? in 2021, explains the claims of the Stoned Ape hypothesis. The article also attempts to address some missrepresentations of this theory. This article claims that although mushrooms were not the only factor, they may have been a factor in the creative explosion and evolution of cognition in humans.
Another key factor to think about when evaluating a claim is time. Everyting has context and with different times come different contexts. Since this specific theory includes drugs, it is vital we understand what was the political opinion on drugs during the time of research, and could that have affected how others viewed research. This hypothesis is for events of the beginings of evolutions of humans, therefore, we also need to see how opinions have changed from way before this publication all the way to today.
How do we see this affecting our future?
This question allows us to investigate how we will move on with this information if we decide its true. How will our lives change if moving foward we believe that psyllicibin could evolve our minds? Would this affect psychotherapy, drug scheduling, or overall opinion on drugs? Should this theory be true, would that imply that everyone should have access to psychedelic mushrooms in order to access the higher brain function that our ancestors found.
Quick Fact Check
Before I begin to answer more complex questions, I would like to make sure that there we establish a factual foundation. Lets be sure there is truth to these statements.
Further Information Needed
- What is psylicibin?
- How does it affect our brain?
- Did the same mushrooms exist then?
- Did they have access to them?
- Is there hard evidence to support this?
Answering the big three?
When looking at other articles relating to this hypothesis I came across one that was soley focused on providing critiques to the thory. It blames the doubling in brain size to the fact that it was needed for more complex motor skills to do things such as build tools. Woolfe takes the stand that the doubling in brain size is synonomous to the further advancement of cognition. He believes that the environment and the need to succeed is what drove our evolution. The problem with this counter argument is thatg it doesnt disprove this theory. This counter argument allows for both "sides" to be correct. It does however, it does do an excelent job at exposing the lack of evidence.
The next critical question asked was to consider when this was/wasn't acceptable. In 1971, the Controlled Stubstance Act listed psylicibin as a schedule 1 drug. Due to this research is extremelyh limited. the United States also enacted the War an Drugs around the same time. This drastically affected public opinion on drugs as a whole. It is possible that these political decisions have just simply limited us on our abilitgy to find or even search for the evidence needed to support this hypothesis. It also has certaintly affectede our ability to consider it it as a real possibility, due to the stigma of drugs, society would never admit that drugs were beneficial.
The last question we needed answers to is how would this affect us. The firest one being that if we could prove psychadellics improved human cognition, scheduling would be challeneged. This would cause several different oppurtunities surrounding mushrroms to be opened up. Also, this would be extremely helpful for further medical investigation. Recently, psilocybin has been used in clinical studies for things such as treatment resistant depression.
Gathering Info
The Facts
Fact or Fiction
Psilocybin is a naturally occuring psychadelic prodrug that affects perception.
The drug increases random brain activity and alters perception of color, sound, and perception.
Mushrooms did exist several many million years ago. It is highly possible that they were available to humans for consumption during prehistoric times.
Due to early groups following cattle, it may have been possible that people may have consumed the mushrooms that frequently grow on manure. Therefore, the likelihood is that mushrooms were easily accessable.
Unfortunately, there is no hard evidence to support this theory.
Woolfe, Sam. “A Critique of Terence McKenna's 'Stoned Ape Theory'.” Sam Woolfe, 21 Jan. 2022, https://www.samwoolfe.com/2013/05/terence-mckennas-stoned-ape-theory.html.
Freeman, Shanna, and Nathan Chandler. “How Magic Mushrooms Work.” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 8 Mar. 2023, https://science.howstuffworks.com/magic-mushroom.htm.
Extremely informative and easy to read, but defdienertly tailored to draw attention. It is written to be reead noty to only share the information.
This source provided information for the counter argument. This information is from a blog which is not required to be peer reviewed, therefore information gathered from here should be researched before be trusted.
Carhart-Harris, Robin L, and Guy M Goodwin. “The Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Drugs: Past, Present, and Future.” Neuropsychopharmacology : Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Oct. 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5603818/.
Source Eval
The Other Sources
Psilocybin Fast Facts, https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs6/6038/index.htm.
Rodríguez Arce, José Manuel, and Michael James Winkelman. “Psychedelics, Sociality, and Human Evolution.” Frontiers in Psychology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 29 Sept. 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8514078/.
Trustworthy source for the future of medicine, but is definietly biased in trying to convince people that they are beneficial.
Usually, this source is a safe choive because it is government approved information, however it might be biased. This is because they are not only trying to share information, but also attempting to prevent drug use.
Wonderful source. Mostly unbiased. Focuses primarily on explaining the history and what we know. Mostly a review on other literature.
What we learned
Analyzing
Overall, many parts of this theory are supported by research. This does does alter our perception of psychedelic drugs, which in theory could force us to alter our behavior towards them. However, there is little physical evidence to lead to this exact explanation. Essentially, this theory is unsupported, however it cannot be disproved. There a lack of substantial additional explanations or evidence for the relatively rapid development of human conciousness and mental capacities. Therefore this theory cannot be dismissed, but it is likely one piece to a much bigger puzzle.
Final Thoughts
Although this theory is incredibly interesting, it lacks enough evidence to deem it unfallable. If we accepted everything that could have happened as fact, we would never learn the truth. Until more research is done to show evolution with the aid of psychedelics, it is unlikely that this theory will ever gain traction. After reviewing other sources, I believe it is much more likely that sheer neccesity and "survival of the fittest" drove evolution. Lastly, although this theory isn't much more than a conspiracy, it does suggest the possibility of medicinal and mental elevating properties of hallucinogens.