Is Clarke/Kubrick's monolith really psilocybin?

Scientific studies seem to show that it increases brain activity, especially alpha and theta activity.

I have frequently heard from drug users the argument for using hemp for all sorts of things from fuel to clothing, to paper, and although agreeing with the theory, usually find the motive for validating hemp usually comes from smokers of the plant. I have yet to hear someone who doesn't use it leisurely defending it's use in practically.

Recently I heard a theory about psilocybin, and psychedelics, as possibly being the catalyst for the difference between humanity and animals.

I seem to find only info on the possibility of apes using psilocybin and that possibly being the catalyst that advanced us to a higher evolutionary level in places like High Times, however.

I find the theory interesting, and wonder if there is any legitimate scientific curiosity regarding this.

I have yet to hear someone who doesn't use it leisurely defending it's use in practically.

As for psychedelics and schizophrenia: as I understand it, certain psychedelics do alter brain functioning, making it seem more like the functioning of a schizophrenic person. I do not see this as a negative of using psychedelics: the drugs do wear off after a while.

Psychdelics are great for philosphizing, but then again philosophy is not great for survival. If some damn dirty ape tripped on some mushrooms a few hundred thousand years ago, I'd bet his friends stole his food while he laughed at the sky, and then he starved to death without bearing children.

I'm not saying that it isn't possible, but judging from my experiences, psychodelics do not assist one in performing the tasks needed for survival.

Have you ever tripped?

Likely that ape would have gone over to the females and made a fool of himself. Tripping around non-trippers is usually pretty awkward.

Just some thoughts, it would certainly be interesting if at some point in history evolution toward intelligence was facilitated by magic mushrooms.

Likely that ape would have gone over to the females and made a fool of himself. Tripping around non-trippers is usually pretty awkward.

I'm not saying that it isn't possible, but judging from my experiences, psychodelics do not assist one in performing the tasks needed for survival.

Have you ever tripped? Likely that ape would have gone over to the females and made a fool of himself. Tripping around non-trippers is usually pretty awkward.

Just some thoughts, it would certainly be interesting if at some point in history evolution toward intelligence was facilitated by magic mushrooms.

From my experience with LSD, which was only 3 or 4 times, and in very small doses, it seemed to enhance my mental state. I felt more philosophical, more analytical and deeper.

Or what if those women liked to take the mushrooms too? They would find it a common interest where as those who refused the mushrooms or called them evil might make those women turn away.

Generally the positives of psychedelics come after the trip. It can be a mind opening experience, and though during the trip you may be a bit debilitated, you always come down, and often with a new perspective on life.

There are a few issues... psychedelics might not improve one's ability to perform necessary survival tasks, but they may not hinder the ability, either. You may not be any better at preparing a meal for yourself, but you may not be any worse.

I have seen people who, during their first experience, are unable to communicate with others, totally mesmerized by their experience. This is in the extreme of inability. Others, however, function perfectly well - they are able to carry on conversations normally, handle stress well, even drive motor vehicles for long periods of time without any trouble.

Yes you will !

Even just ORDERING a pizza turns out to be impossible when the numbers in the phone book are forming three dimensional ornaments.

And once the pizza is ordered one person has to be able to deal with ... money ... Which paper do you give to this guy after he tells you the price which is an abstract quantitiy ..?
Nobody likes this job.

I was there, in the same car.
At least a dozen times i was sitting in a car driven by someone who was on psychedelic drugs.
What can i say, they were driving as brilliant as the others who were completely drunk.
Never had an accident.
Knock on wood.

Don't worry, this happens to everyone.

No matter even if you take LSD, mushrooms, cocaine, extasy, amphetemines, or actually even just drink a bottle of wine.
People who are on drugs more or less lose their ability of evaluating their output.
They tend to find themselves brilliant.

That's your opinion, and you're entitled to it. Lets just say you're right for argument's sake. To get back to the thread and veer from the straw man in the road, we are talking about apes here. If an ape even had the feeling of brilliance, couldn't that, even if it didn't actually make the ape any smarter, be the spark to make the ape want to be, or try to be smarter, when it had no concept of what smart was prior to this experience?

Even just ORDERING a pizza turns out to be impossible when the numbers in the phone book are forming three dimensional ornaments.
And once the pizza is ordered one person has to be able to deal with ... money ... Which paper do you give to this guy after he tells you the price which is an abstract quantitiy ..?
Nobody likes this job.

What are you talking about? I've been there, buddy.

I have managed to place food orders just fine, in public restaurants, while on LSD. I have been able to dial phone numbers without any trouble while on LSD. In the midst of the experience.

People have different sorts of tolerance for these drugs.

I think you are mistaking your experience for everyone's experience. I have used LSD and mushrooms many times over. Except for the first two times, I have had no problem functioning on these drugs. I have spoken to a Sheriff while on LSD - no problem. We were pulled over, and I managed to hand him my drivers license, explain where I live, and explain what I was doing out without any trouble whatsoever.
Once you get over the enormity of the drug's influence, tolerating the effects is, for me, easy as pie.

To get back to the thread and veer from the straw man in the road, we are talking about apes here.

And did you never make the opposite experience? That you found yourself in a situation in which you realized you totally lost it? Won't even remember where the exit was? And you realized it's "Oh oh..." not good that you lost it.

A personality might even grow from this experience. For example it makes you learn how to deal with panic. I'm not kidding, drug users develop a totally different tolerance for situations which are out of control.

But still the situation in which you suddenly miss normal functions like orientation completely, can get you into deeep trouble. Of which trouble with cops is not the worst case (at least in Germany).

Now look, you describe how you were able to deal with different difficult situations, so you shouldn't forget to tell about the opposite case: Loss of control.

I observed people using drugs for more than twenty years now and even the most experienced ones always got to the point of losing control. Sometimes this is even what it's about.
I have a friend who liked to set his alarm to the middle of the night, so he would wake up and take an LSD and go back to sleep with the effect that after one or two hours the brain activity is going to wake him up.
The result was of course waking up and having totally no idea what the hell is going on, being completely on a trip. This loss of control was the thrill he wanted.

Don't tell me that you have to use drugs in a reasonable way.

All users i have ever seen were attracted by that thrill caused by the unreasonable use of it.

The reasonable use is normally something that develops during the years.
The younger people are the more they are affected by group dynamics making them check who has the highest tolerance for drugs.
And honestly i find it kind of counterproductive what you are saying here:

This is precisely the kind of story kids pick up.
I think you are not conscious of the impact your words have on readers of this forum.

I am used to seeing the kids at an age when they are excited to tell each other how much they have already taken. They are trying to outdo each other in telling stories about how much they had and how stoned they were.

At school they are told lies about drugs and how addictive they are.
At a certain age they meet people who have been using drugs for a while and they realize that a drug user is not the same as a junky. They realize the things they were told at school were lies and start asking the drug users what is the truth.
Unfortunately the people they ask are not necessarily mature enough to transfer an attitude for reasonable use of drugs.
Those are still checking out themselves, falling from one loss of control to another.

I remember somebody saying "You shouldn't take less than 30 mushrooms to start with." Taking Psilocybe semilanceata this is a certain overdoze (not physically but in terms of losing control), especially if it's your fist time.

A friend of mine, being impressed by the hokuspokus they make about Carlos Castaneda's books at the age of a teenager went to ask where thorn-apple grows. They told him where to find it and how to use it.
His parents didn't see any other choice than taking him to a psychiatric ward.
He was lucky, because the other friend was taken to an intensive care unit where he was tied to a bed lying next to people close to death. On a psychedelic trip..
There's a lot more stories i could tell you firsthand-account. Not urban legends. But i don't want to bore you.

In any case, the younger kids are, the more carelessly they use drugs.
Claiming that you can "get over the enormity of the drug's influence", for you easy as pie, makes kids want to be just as cool.

Have you never heard them talking about how big the pipe was they smoked?
Nowadays it's about how many days they were able to party without getting any sleep.
The younger they are the more relevant it is to them how much they can tolerate. Your words are oil on fire.

In the same post you say that kids should hear the truth about drugs, and then when I post some truth you say my words are incendiary (in a bad way). We can be honest about drugs. There is no trouble honestly explaining possible effects of drugs. Psychedelics can be tolerated. It's true. That does not mean go out and take them. The dangers are not worth the fleeting pleasure of the drug. It is possible to overdose, wake up in jail, and all sorts of things no one wants to have happen to them.