Food Of The Gods: A Radical History of Plants, Psychedelics and Human Evolution

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What could genetic engineering make possible, like combining the positive or mind-altering aspects in one single plant? This divide, which McKenna also represents as being entirely black and white, is yet more baseless idealism, and a clear example of the "noble savage" trope. It may be true, as he asserts, that in small doses they help with visual acuity, while in large doses they help dissolve one’s ego and foster a sense of community. He ends the book with a manifesto and political blueprint for how to get there, which surprisingly, from my perspective, relies on taxation in large part.

But I think McKenna makes too strict an association between the use of drugs and visionary experience. In our culture, private drug taking is viewed as dubious; solitary drug use is viewed as positively morbid; and, indeed, all introspection is seen this way. Among his major premises is the theory that the human brain, and higher human consciousness, evolved in large part from early hominids’ use of mind-expanding hallucinogens—primarily magic mushrooms. The book covers a very wide range of topics, from the description of legal and illegal synthesized drugs, natural drugs, history of drug use, and it´s influence on human evolution and history.

This seems to suggest that Greek wines were more akin to extracts and tinctures of other plant essences than they were to wine as we know it today. We are clearly moving into a more visual culture, a shift which has its roots in the development of photography and then film and TV, which has happened, as far as I know, independently of, or at least in parallel to, psychedelic use. At the foundation of the American theory of social polity is the notion that our inalienable rights include “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It can get too specific in history topics and a little boring for me, but I’m sure some people love that. Terence will present a pseudo idea, and then ramble off into barely related topics until you want to die.

What cannot be contained are the effects that psychedelics would have in shaping the cultural self-image if all drugs were legal and available. i enjoyed the open minded approach towards often not conventional forms of thinking and really enjoyed the in depth arguments made for each point. I feel like if McKenna had his way, a mushroom experience would be a requirement for life, and nicotine and alcohol- society's "okay" drugs, would be considered the root of all evil.This was often combined with climbing very high mountains, which gives extra weakening to the brain by a lack of oxygen so that the sh** can kick in like hell. He was noted for his knowledge of the use of psychedelic, plant-based entheogens, and subjects ranging from shamanism, the theoretical origins of human consciousness, and his concept of novelty theory.