The ‘Stoned Ape‘ theory of human evolution was proposed by American psychonaut Terence Mckenna in his book ‘Food of the Gods’ to explain the rapid development of the human neocortex.
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 about 100,000 BCE. One of the effects that comes about from the ingestion of low doses is improved visual acuity. According to McKenna, this would infer an evolutionary advantage to early human hunters.
In higher doses, McKenna claims, the mushroom acts as a sexual stimulator, which would make it even more beneficial evolutionarily, as it would result in more offspring. At even higher doses, the mushroom would have acted to ‘dissolve boundaries,’ which would have promoted community-bonding and group sexual activities that would result in a mixing of genes and therefore greater genetic diversity. Generally McKenna believed that the periodic ingestion of the mushroom would have acted to dissolve the ego in humans before it grew to destructive proportions.
In this context, he likened the ego to a cancerous tumor that can grow uncontrollable and become destructive to its host. In his own words: ‘Wherever and whenever the ego function began to form, it was akin to a cancerous tumor or a blockage in the energy of the psyche. The use of psychedelic plants in a context of shamanic initiation dissolved – as it dissolves today – the knotted structure of the ego into undifferentiated feeling, what Eastern philosophy calls the Tao.’
The mushroom, according to McKenna, also gave humans their first truly religious experiences and, as he believed, were the basis for the foundation of all subsequent religions to date. For example, he proposed that the biblical Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was actually an entheogenic mushroom.
Another factor that McKenna talked about was the mushroom’s potency to promote linguistic thinking. This would have promoted vocalization, which in turn would have acted in cleansing the brain (based on his theory that vibrations from speaking cause the precipitation of impurities from the brain to the cerebrospinal fluid), which would further mutate the brain. McKenna posits that after this transformation took place, the species began moving out of Africa to populate the rest of the planet.
The Daily Omnivore 