Complex life may only exist because of millions of years of groundwork by fungi

Post by L_226 » Sat, Jun 01, 2019, 8:44 AM UTC

nomel wrote: post #90

mistermann wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It surely is in some ways. But in other ways, it sure seems like they have some sort of a special "relationship" (for utter lack of a better term) with consciousness. Out of curiosity, have you tried them before?

> It surely is in some ways. Yes, I agree. I'm not convinced, from a system perspective, that disturbing a system by poking its most intimate internal parts, and in an unusual way, means that the disturbance was directly required or a part of the emergence of the system. I will admit that this perspective is mostly logically pedantic and, perhaps naive, disregards the universal usage of psychedelics throughout human…

> This is like claiming that dripping drops of water on a circuit board, and observing that the electronics misbehave, somehow links it to the emergence of circuit design.

Almost like claiming that smashing subatomic particles together might give insight into the relationships between and properties of said particles?

In my experience LSD is far different from Psilocybin, in that it "feels" more artificial, definitely does not give the same feeling of belonging to a greater organic whole that you may get with mushrooms.

Terrence McKenna has a theory on the evolutionary contributions psychedelics might have made: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna#%22Stoned_ape%...]

Post by mistermann » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 5:30 PM UTC

nomel wrote: post #90

mistermann wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It surely is in some ways. But in other ways, it sure seems like they have some sort of a special "relationship" (for utter lack of a better term) with consciousness. Out of curiosity, have you tried them before?

> It surely is in some ways. Yes, I agree. I'm not convinced, from a system perspective, that disturbing a system by poking its most intimate internal parts, and in an unusual way, means that the disturbance was directly required or a part of the emergence of the system. I will admit that this perspective is mostly logically pedantic and, perhaps naive, disregards the universal usage of psychedelics throughout human…

> Any raw structural changes from the use wouldn't be passed to your offspring, leaving mostly social advantages.

Not necessarily structural changes as a direct result of usage (but maybe), but I can easily see social changes resulting in structural changes via greater evolutionary success being passed down, as you note in your next sentence. This stuff is extremely complicated, we only have a rough idea of how it all works, and much of what we "know" is actually just theory.

> What's that social, or perhaps functional, advantage?

I would put my money on the notion that they promote things such as greater "wisdom" and behavioral strategies (via thoughtful meditation while normal neurological filters are reduced) resulting in more peaceful and successful coexistence between people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_gating https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/brain-babble/20150...

> No, just LSD.

Functionally more or less the same thing I would say.

Re: Complex life may only exist because of millions of years of groundwork by fungi

Re: Complex life may only exist because of millions of years of groundwork by fungi