Theory on the Dawn of Sentience - a possible effect of the ingestion of Entheogenic plants.

Hi ATS,

I wonder, have you ever heard the theory that our ability to speak intelligible words & phrases evolved as the direct result of our domestication of dogs, perhaps up to 30,000 years ago..? Fascinating theory, and quite plausible I believe.

When considering that theory recently, I got to wondering about the development of sentience in Homo Sapiens, and came to the conclusion that there must have been a wave of a somewhat singular transitory incidents being repeated among the members of a few particular clans, which, as a result of 'whatever', then went on to cross the boundary divide from animal consciousness, to full-on "I think therefore I am" sentient consciousness.

Now, cards on the table, I'm a Christian, and I believe in God, I believe He directs the course of our evolution in myriad ways. But as part of my ruminations on the grand tapestry of nature & our deep connections to it, in terms of plants which are de facto 'designer drugs' - those which heal maladies in the human & animal body as though they were tailor-made for the job - I also got to thinking about the role of entheogenic plant substances in prehistoric times, in terms of their effects on our primitive consciousness. Knowing the way that such substances can unlock aspects of mind, alter our perspective on the external & internal world, and so on, I wonder whether perhaps a particular clan (or several) went through a phase of consuming entheogenic substances as a result of the suggestions of one of their number who had accidentally unlocked his mind by eating something perhaps he wouldn't have eaten if he'd known what it was, etc.. And then this experimental usage had the effect of unlocking sentience for larger numbers of the clans, where before had been only advanced animal consciousness.

Would that be so hard to believe? I mean, the dawn of consciousness probably wasn't a thunderbolt to the brain from on high - it was, however, the crossing of a liminal-type boundary in our conscious experience, a matter of degrees from animal to sentient - could the use of entheogens have had the effect of tipping the scales at the perfect moment, altering their outlook & capacity to reflect on self, in context of being a part of a bigger whole? Knowing how our DNA can be rewritten based on a number of external & internal factors, in terms of 'epigenetics' - genetic alterations during the course of an organism's lifetime - then perhaps the transcendence of animal consciousness by ingestion of entheogens had the effect of switching on or off a number of genes which then ensured that their newfound sentience was passed on naturally to the next generation..? I posit that 'out of Africa' & similar dawn-of-the-species migrations, only occurred after this seminal transitiion from animal consciousness to sentience occurred, when 'their eyes were opened', so to speak, and they collectively thought "What's out there, I wonder?" - and so began the great adventure...

Anyway, that's my theory, and although I oppose reckless recreational drug use, I think that to study & understand the incredibly vast potential of consciousness, there are anthropological justifications for exploring the use of such substances in certain circumstances.

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

I don’t buy the part about dogs and language, however I do think dogs gave us the edge to be the apex predators..

Once you paired wolf hearing, smell , speed and ferocity with human intelligence and tool building.. no other animal stood a chance..

B) we absolutely could have eaten some form of psychedelic, exc that gave us what we view as Intelligence and is responsible for the “brain burst” however many years ago.

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

Terence McKenna suggested similar stuff about consciousness but 30kya for developing intelligible words and phrases is crazy considering the technology and art that led to human survival to the upper paleolithic.

You dont develop a whole bunch of diverse tech and art over thousands of generations without languages to go with them.

What Skalla said. Stoned-ape theory and all.

a reply to: skalla

It's a good point - having scratched at my memory, I think it was probably nearer to 100,000-150,000 BP for the development of speech.

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

Is their a biological reason to think speech came very late???

Seems to me dolphins and other animals have speech, so why would speech be a recent manifestation for humanity?

a reply to: JoshuaCox

Good question.
I can speak to my wife without even saying a word.
It's hard to say where languages started.

Sentience?
I have a no and yes answer.
No, I think that gradually increased with evolution.
As for the plants they still hold an important place with Shamans who deal with spiritual matters.
Ordinary people don't participate in using those plants.
Yet the abilities of the shamans and their sentience has been bolstered by them.

"Mushrooms and Mankind" by James Arthur is an interesting read.

The doors of perception can be opened in many ways. The spirit molecules are a quick and dirty way to expanded conscienceness, self awareness, and psychosis. Call me crazy but some plants exhibit sentience imo.

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” Bill Blake

a reply to: Bluntone22

I doubt we are even the first species to have human level speech..

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

I think you underestimate animal consciousness. Also, I believe human style sentience probably started to develop maybe even earlier than homo erectus. Many will not agree.

Drugs have some influence upon culture but I don't see them as a primary trigger for development of sentience. The primary cause is likely just necessity.

i think its more likely drugs just trigger that part of your brain associated with feelings of profundity

Read the book ‘Supernatural’ by Graham Hancock if you’re interested in this subject. 500 pages of extreme depth on the subject of entheogens and our earliest ancestors; in relationship to consciousness expansion. One of my favorite books.

I tend to think that humans getting smarter had a lot to do with our ancient ancestors figuring out how to farm. So instead of eating meat all the time, they also had a chance to boost their diets with concentrated carbohydrates from grains and sugars -- also beer and wine. Carbohydrates make for quick energy boosts to body and brain, which may have stimulated early humans to think a little harder about cool stuff like their place in the universe.

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

God and religion itself are byproducts of hallucinogens and humans failing to understand that they are just merely experiencing altered senses due to a foreign chemical reaction in their head.

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

Based on your theory, other animals also would have had this same experience and many did not (not to the same degree as humans anyway - except maybe dolphins?

Very interesting theory.

I wonder if they have tested this theory on primates and other animals.

Thanks for sharing,

I believe the biology of the human brain first had to provide the means for the "chemicals" to affect the brain. The receptors had to be available to allow the brain to interact with the chemicals in the mushrooms or other naturally occurring stimulants. So where did / or how did the receptors come about.

If other species / animals have the receptors then they as well could have been affected. Otherwise the chemicals may be present in the systems of the animals but would not affect the animal.

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

Don't buy that stuff ... we all consider us, to be different from the body we live in. We see ourselves, as a "soul".

The "I" in Human beings, the stuff that makes us different from the animal kingdom. Is a parasite, riding in an "monkey" Suit.