The Stoned ape theory by Terence Mckenna
Right then, in a nutshell.
There are some facts:
- The human brain has doubled its size in a lousy 1 milion years. There is no other organ in the entire fossil record, that can compete with this. Note that this organ is THE organ that came up with the theory of evolution
- Psilocybin when taken in very small doses, below the psychedelic treshold, have the effect of increased visual acuity. Which means, you can see better. This has been proven by someone in some university sometime halfway the previous century. I’ll try to find the exact name and all but anyway, this fact has been proven.
- Psilocybin when given in moderate doses to primates, have the effect of increased sexual arousal
- Psilocybin in high doses, will initiate a profound, lifechanging experiences in the majority of people (given correct set and settings).
- ALL primates, have a male dominant social structure (think Bush and you see what it meant
)
Assumptions:
- psychedelic mushrooms have been used for thousands of years (I wanted to present this as a fact since a lot of arheological evidence points to this. Mushroom statues but also wall paintings (3000BC) that epict a shaman like figure, painted with a psychedelic pattern, tens of mushrooms growing out of his body).
- Our early ancestors will have looked below cow shit looking for food (beetles and such). This can still be observed with many primates on our planet.
- A psilocybin mushroom, the dung loving ones that are still present in the Amazone, could easily attain the size of a dinner plate, they stick out as a sore thumb and its very safe to assume that primates looking for food, at some Point have tried them out (more about this later)
- Archeological evidence seems to indicate, that at some Point in early human history, there actually was a partnership society which differed completely from male dominator society.
The theory
Well at some Point it is assumed that where currently the Sahara is, there actually was rainforest like we still have in the Amazon. Primates, our ancestors, lived happily in the trees. At slome Point, due to climate changes, the rainforest started to disappear and made place for grassland. Our ancestors had to come up with a new strategy for surviving including but not limited, to their diet.
So they descent from the trees, looking for food. Grassland introduced ungulate animals which produce dung that certain psilocybe species just love to grow on. At some point, Terence argues, they must have been confronted with psychedelic musrhooms growing on dung and have tried them as a food source. IF this happened, and it doesnt require any imagination at all to see this, then this group of primates would have a couple of advantages over primage groups that didnt take the mushroom into their diet:
1) Increased visual acuity, means they became better hunters. This a big advantage.
2) Increased sexual arousal meaning, they had more succesful copulations which is another advantage because that means more offspring.
No evolutionary biologist has ever taken into account the diet of our ancestors having a prominent effect on our evolutionary path.
I think he makes a lof of sense. And it would explain the doubling of the human brain in such an impossible time.
Terence was no biologist but his brother and co-author, is a respected neurobiologist.
Now where is the bullshit in this theory? I read it the first time 17 years back and tried to debunk it but it only starts to make more sense to me.
Right then, in a nutshell.
There are some facts:
- The human brain has doubled its size in a lousy 1 milion years. There is no other organ in the entire fossil record, that can compete with this. Note that this organ is THE organ that came up with the theory of evolution
- Psilocybin when taken in very small doses, below the psychedelic treshold, have the effect of increased visual acuity. Which means, you can see better. This has been proven by someone in some university sometime halfway the previous century. I’ll try to find the exact name and all but anyway, this fact has been proven.
- Psilocybin when given in moderate doses to primates, have the effect of increased sexual arousal
- Psilocybin in high doses, will initiate a profound, lifechanging experiences in the majority of people (given correct set and settings).
- ALL primates, have a male dominant social structure (think Bush and you see what it meant

Assumptions:
- psychedelic mushrooms have been used for thousands of years (I wanted to present this as a fact since a lot of arheological evidence points to this. Mushroom statues but also wall paintings (3000BC) that epict a shaman like figure, painted with a psychedelic pattern, tens of mushrooms growing out of his body).
- Our early ancestors will have looked below cow shit looking for food (beetles and such). This can still be observed with many primates on our planet.
- A psilocybin mushroom, the dung loving ones that are still present in the Amazone, could easily attain the size of a dinner plate, they stick out as a sore thumb and its very safe to assume that primates looking for food, at some Point have tried them out (more about this later)
- Archeological evidence seems to indicate, that at some Point in early human history, there actually was a partnership society which differed completely from male dominator society.
The theory
Well at some Point it is assumed that where currently the Sahara is, there actually was rainforest like we still have in the Amazon. Primates, our ancestors, lived happily in the trees. At slome Point, due to climate changes, the rainforest started to disappear and made place for grassland. Our ancestors had to come up with a new strategy for surviving including but not limited, to their diet.
So they descent from the trees, looking for food. Grassland introduced ungulate animals which produce dung that certain psilocybe species just love to grow on. At some point, Terence argues, they must have been confronted with psychedelic musrhooms growing on dung and have tried them as a food source. IF this happened, and it doesnt require any imagination at all to see this, then this group of primates would have a couple of advantages over primage groups that didnt take the mushroom into their diet:
1) Increased visual acuity, means they became better hunters. This a big advantage.
2) Increased sexual arousal meaning, they had more succesful copulations which is another advantage because that means more offspring.
No evolutionary biologist has ever taken into account the diet of our ancestors having a prominent effect on our evolutionary path.
I think he makes a lof of sense. And it would explain the doubling of the human brain in such an impossible time.
Terence was no biologist but his brother and co-author, is a respected neurobiologist.
Now where is the bullshit in this theory? I read it the first time 17 years back and tried to debunk it but it only starts to make more sense to me.