Stoned Ape Theory
If you’re a big movie fan or a big fan of the old classic movies, you might be familiar with Kubrick’s magnum opus, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
While I’m neither a big fan of Kubrick's work (probably because I don't understand it quite well) nor that movie, in particular, I can vividly remember the scene at the start that made me question the standard theories regarding the evolution of our brains.
At the movie's start, Kubrick shows us a collective of our primal ancestors gathered around a tall black monolith. Screaming out of excitement (or fear), they place their palms upon the monolith to seemingly celebrate the unknown artifact. The monolith is of unknown origin, presumably from somewhere beyond the Earth. In the next scene, one of the primates takes some kind of bone and uses it for the first time, marking the start of our ancestors' use of tools.
The monolith itself could be a representation of the first cognitive evolution that made our species the dominant one on our planet but could also represent a concrete piece of technology that made that first cognitive enhancement possible.
While evolution is always a slow and gradual process, it is quite interesting to fantasize about the possibilities that make our brains the most complex system in the universe.
One such theory is the Stoned Ape Theory.
“According to the 'Stoned Ape Theory, ' developed by Terrence McKenna and his brother Dennis McKenna, a community of proto-humans might have consumed the magic mushrooms they found in the wild. That act could have profoundly changed their brains.”
In his book “Fantastic Fungi,” McKenna proposes that various changes happening in the environment (like rainforests receding into grasslands and so on) forced early humans to experiment with different food sources.
One of those new food sources was psilocybin.
In one of the first blog posts I ever wrote, I explained the effects of psilocybin:
Psilocybin is a prodrug found in many fungi species. The term prodrug means that a certain substance does not achieve full effects unless it’s metabolized or transformed into another form. Psilocybin, when taken orally, has to be converted by the liver to a chemical compound called psilocin to achieve its full effect. Psilocin has mind-altering effects similar to other psychedelics such as LSD, mescaline, and DMT. The most common effects of psilocin use include euphoria, visual and mental hallucinations, changes in perception, a distorted sense of time, and perceived spiritual experiences.
Of course, psilocybin is not the only compound in “magic mushrooms” with mind-altering potential, but it is one of the most studied today.
McKenna argues that the use of these mushrooms gave our ancestors psychedelic experiences that became the base of today’s religion and spirituality. Mushrooms also aided with focus that is essential in hunting for food and enhanced sexual arousal, which leads to a higher reproduction rate.
The argument that there was only one big change that propelled our ancestors’ brains into this complex machine of today is incredibly flawed. Even more so when that single change is a hallucinogenic property of a mushroom. The reason why many scientists criticize McKenna’s theory is that many more theories seem much more plausible, especially in the timeframe of our early ancestors.
One such theory is the one that speculates that the brains of our early ancestors grew tremendously bigger because we began to cook food for the first time.
Protein found in meat coagulates when cooked and is far easier to be absorbed and utilized by our bodies. Cooking provided exactly that, a method of protein coagulation that supplied our bodies with far more energy to build those new neurons and propel us into the future. Not to mention the benefit of more easily chewing the cooked meat compared to raw meat.
Many theories like the one above could explain how and why our brains grew so much in a relatively short time. We have a few organs that are necessary for our survival, so why was the brain the one that took most of the energy instead of our muscles, for example?
Although the brain accounts for only about 2% of our weight, it requires about 20% of our body’s energy.
The reason for that is the brain’s ability to solve complex problems like navigating the landscape in search of food, forming alliances with other members of the tribe, and (rarely) other tribes, but also planning for the future. Some would argue that the rapid development of the brain is the biggest gamble of our species. A bigger brain means a bigger head. Combine that with the narrowing of the birth canal due to the evolution of upright walking, and you have a real problem with delivering newborns. Instead of putting those “evolution points” into bigger muscles or an exoskeleton, evolution puts all of our stats into intelligence. Evolution took a huge risk with our species, and as you can see, the payout is immeasurable.
Because of our big brains, we formed complex social bonds, communities, and tools that skyrocketed our ancestors to the top of the food chain, with no animal coming close to us.
Even though the Stoned Ape theory is not supported by the scientific community due to a lack of archeological or genetic evidence, it remains a fascinating hypothesis that makes us think of our ancestors and the development of our most powerful machine- our brain.
Summary:
Inspired by the monolith scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, which symbolizes a mysterious leap in human evolution, the Stoned Ape Theory is a speculative idea proposed by Terence and Dennis McKenna. It suggests that early humans may have consumed psilocybin mushrooms (found in the wild) as a new food source due to environmental changes. This, they argue, led to profound changes in the human brain.
Psilocybin, once metabolized into psilocin, induces hallucinations, euphoria, and altered perception, effects McKenna believed enhanced focus, creativity, sexual arousal, and even spiritual experiences. He theorized that this could have contributed to the development of religion, language, and abstract thinking.
However, the theory is widely criticized by scientists due to a lack of evidence and the implausibility of a single factor driving such complex brain evolution. More accepted explanations include the advent of cooking, which made nutrients more bioavailable, and the shift toward social cooperation and long-term planning, all of which better explain the brain's rapid growth.
Ultimately, while the Stoned Ape Theory is not supported by hard evidence, it remains a thought-provoking idea about how psychedelics might have influenced the evolution of the human brain.