Nemra

I thought that it was a spider-mimicking leaf. Lol.

@Leo Gura, have you taken datura?

@Xonas Pitfall, why and how did Homo sapiens, before being Homo sapiens, get advanced cognitive abilities? What allowed them to be able to develop their cognitive abilities more than other animals? I assume Homo sapiens were more or less like any other animal previously, cognitively speaking. Essentially, my question is, what makes or allows any animal to go the route of cognitive development?

Just saying that humans evolved the way they did because it benefited them doesn't say much for me in this case. Humans could have survived the same way without ever radically changing in terms of cognitive abilities. Why would humans even develop to have abstract thought or to be able to contemplate reality? What would the benefit be if they could have survived like other animals?

So, what would you say has had a significant effect on the evolution of humans needing to make claims about reality?

Maybe, I don't know. Don't the things any surviving thing consumes in long-term effects/changes them? Why do humans even need to fill themselves with concepts that they think describe reality? Why and how did humans evolve to even care about such a thing, even if they don't care about truth? I wasn't claiming that mushrooms are the sole reason, but they might be a significant one.

I read in his Wikipedia that he didn't prefer synthetic psychedelics because they didn't evolve with humans, which, to be honest, is quite absurd to me. Setting aside the stoned ape theory, do you think there is a connection between psychedelics and the human experience or is the connection so trivial that it isn't something to consider that has been affecting humans long-term?

@Leo Gura, lately, I have been watching interviews and lectures by Terrence McKenna. He has been suggesting that psilocybin-containing mushrooms have a lot to do with making us different from other animals in terms of cognitive abilities. I don't know how much of that is true, but it sounds reasonable. I think there has to be a connection between early use of psychedelics and the need of humans to fill themselves with concepts that they think describe reality. What do you say?

@Vibes, as a beginner in the world of psychedelics, I am starting to realize how much power intention has when using them. If one does not want the truth and is mesmerized by beliefs, it seems that psychedelics would be of little to no help to break outside from beliefs.

My question was aimed at Jesus-shmesus believers.

The real question is, why isn't Leo being revealed? Lol.

@Leo Gura, to me, the intriguing thing is that psychedelics can reinforce one's beliefs. It seems it can make what is happening in one's experience so stark, obvious, and ever-present that can make one believe that operating on beliefs has always been superior. So if one is filled with beliefs, they will be more entrenched in it. What do you say?

Belief is a nasty thing; it corrupts your experience if you stop or don't start deconstructing it.

Dirty Pictures - Alexander Shulgin: