Terence K. McKenna (1995) Plants, Consciousness, and Transformation. two day workshop, April 8-9, 1995 in which Terence talks about a wide range of topics, including the evolution of consciousness, the role of psychedelics in prehistory, politics and his theory of the timewave. A very complete introduction to the latest thinking by this intellectual pioneer. Terence answers the questions: What are the psychoactive plants? How do they affect human consciousness? Why do they exist? The "Stoned Ape" hypothesis of human evolution: McKenna hypothesized that as the North African jungles receded and gave way to savannas and grasslands near the end of the most recent ice age, a branch of our tree-dwelling primate ancestors left the forest canopy and began to live in the open areas outside of the forest. There they experimented with new varieties of foods as they adapted, physically and mentally, to their new environment. Among the new food items found in this new environment were psilocybin-containing mushrooms growing near the dung of ungulate herds that occupied the savannas and grasslands at that time. McKenna, referencing the research of Roland L. Fisher, claimed that enhancement of visual acuity was an effect of psilocybin at low doses, and supposed that this would have conferred an adaptive advantage. He also argued that the effects of slightly larger doses, including sexual arousal, and in still larger doses, ecstatic hallucinations and glossolalia — gave selective ...