Imagine this: a million years ago, you, a primate, migrate to other lands with your large primate tribe. You are leaving the shelter of the forest and going into savanna regions. As a hunter, you find food by searching for footprints and animal droppings. One day, in a pile of scat, you find a mushroom growing – a Psilocybe cubensis. You eat it because that's what you do when you find something that looks like food and is readily available. It tastes slightly spongey and is filled with moisture. You continue walking through the grass, and less than an hour later, colors of the natural world surrounding you become more vivid than you've ever seen them. Patterns of fractals and geometric shapes fill the sky. You experience empathy for the first time – the ability to understand and share the feelings of other members of your tribe. And you know that the whole ordeal is the result of consuming those fungi you found on poop.
Fast-forward to right now, a million years later: you look at yourself in the mirror. Your brain is much larger. You are able to speak in several different languages. You are able to conquer the mischievous natural world. And you can tap into the universal frequency through a breathing meditation. All of this as a result of your primate ancestors consuming Psilocybin fungi millions of times over millions of years.
This is called the Stoned Ape Theory, though technically it's a hypothesis because a hypothesis is speculative and not yet proven, while a theory is a hypothesis that has been tested and proven with facts.
The Stone Ape Hypothesis claims that our human consciousness evolved as a result of our ancient primate ancestors eating Psilocybin mushrooms. This is what legendary fungal expert Paul Stamets calls 'Epigenetic Neurogenesis'. Eating these 'magic mushrooms' resulted in activated neurogenesis, which forms new neurons and new pathways of knowledge. This speaks to the mystery of the doubling of the human brain and the formation of language circuits in a relatively short amount of time. Consuming these mushrooms in clans resulted in massive input of data from the natural world. Empathy and courage are increased – clinical evidence shows that Psilocybin has been proven to reduce fear.
Maybe this hypothesis is farfetched, but have you ever wondered why the cow is so sacred in Hinduism? Have you ever wondered why Hindus are not allowed to eat the 'sacred' cow?
Well, here is my hypothesis: it is widely known that Psilocybin mushrooms grow on cow dung. And what happens when you eat Psilocybin mushrooms? Increased awareness, a massive influx of data, new formations of neural circuits, eliminating fears and conditioned responses, an unbiased raw perspective of the natural world…
So, according to my theory, one day many years ago, people living in the region of India stumbled upon fungus growing out of cow dung, and they ate it. Forty-five minutes later, they were reborn, they were able to form languages, they were able to perceive the world in a completely different and transcendental way. These people realized that their wisdom came from the fungus, which came from the dung, which came from the cow.
This is why the cow is sacred.
And this is why you are the way you are today.