The Psychedelic Apocalypticism of Terence McKenna

[@AtunSheiFilms]

CORRECTION: Psychotria viridis is the ingredient of ayahuasca that contains DMT, not banisteriopsis caapi.

[@Bigenormous_1]

🎉

[@bbq9780]

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😮😅

[@stevengill1736]

Yes, and harmine (the main b-carboline in Banisteriopsis caapi) was also known as telepathine, so perhaps ayahuasca was what that One Step Beyond host was talking about, not mushrooms. I'm not sure what pharmaceutical actually increases telepathy, but any compound that increases communication could be on the list.....

[@world_musician]

caapi has the maoi

[@Ramone-vw8qj]

Mimosa Hostiles and B Cappa are two that are used for ayahuasca from what I read , but I’m sure there are many more combinations

[@mysteryshrimp]

These Checkmate Lincolnite episodes are getting weirder with every one.

[@TheEscapeDiary9th]

Cant wait for the next one.

[@AlexBrowning-c5n]

Grant to Meade, 1864: "Gord, duuude, we'll outflank Lee's trenches at Petersburg METAPHYSICALLY........These Spencer-equipped dragon cavalry are some kick-ass shit".

[@desdenova1]

@@AlexBrowning-c5n "Send in the machine-elf brigade!"

[@ArakDBlade]

Remember when th WFG exorcising Klause from Johnny Reb was peak weirdness? The trip just keeps tripping man...

[@mysteryshrimp]

@@ArakDBlade "that's his NAME?!!"

[@wolight]

Atun shei doing shrooms in the Pennsylvania woods while dressed as a pilgrim is the most "yeah that tracks" I've ever said about a youtber

[@thetribunaloftheimaginatio5247]

"PAPIST HEATHEN! That be no ordinary Puritan! That be The Witchfinder General Of The Colony Of Massachusetts Bay!"

[@scottwright752]

I thought he was referring to Gettysburg there

[@thetribunaloftheimaginatio5247]

@@scottwright752 That's what Billy Yank and Johnny Reb are for.

[@stuglife5514]

As a Pennsylvanian, this checks out as a local activity. Atun Shei is really getting the local experience

[@Fr.O.G.]

i think this is the plot of a field in england

[@jorbdan6305]

after having watched this, i believe terrence shouldve written a dope ass novel rather than trying to make serious hypotheses

[@AtunSheiFilms]

He would have been an amazing sci fi writer. He also probably wouldn’t have been nearly as influential though.

[@Blashswanski]

@@AtunSheiFilms While I agree, I think that would have sentenced him to being a second rate Phillip K Dick... or a first rate Robert Anton Wilson... As broken clock gurus go, TMK is a gem. I feel sorry for kids today, trying to piece together weird ontologies out of the broken ramblings of Brett and Eric Weinstein and whoever was on Joe Rogan last week.

[@EphemeralTao]

@@Blashswanski RAW certainly stole a lot from McKenna. And PKD for that matter.

[@heressomestuffifound]

@@EphemeralTao I think it's more accurate to say there was cross-pollination between all these guys. I'd add Timothy Leary to the mix and a host of other lesser-known underground writers and thinkers.

[@EphemeralTao]

@@heressomestuffifound Nah, RAW was quite open about lifting a bunch of stuff from McKenna (and Leary) and quotes from him quite a lot.

[@warweasel2832]

Everyone knows you for Checkmate and Witchfinder, that much is undeniable. But my favorites from you have been the weird ones out of left field. The Hotel, Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect, and this. I’m glad you’re comfortable enough to jump high out of the potential rut often and give us some real gems.

[@DopaminedotSeek3rcolonthree]

I genuinely appreciate his perspectives on these somewhat niche cultural facets, and hope he'll keep doing them! Even if 40 years passed, he'd still most certainly keep my interest with this weird stuff :P

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

Yeah, I am genuinely surprised he came out with such a long video so soon after the epic finale of the Checkmate series.

[@jeffreygao3956]

So, arya ever going to book a room at the Blackburn Inn and Conference Center just to live in a haunted hotel?

[@AtunSheiFilms]

​@@MatthewTheWanderer I largely finished editing Checkmate in early May. I was researching and writing this one during the month or so that the composer and VFX artist were putting the final touches on the finale :)

[@AtunSheiFilms]

Oh and also, I’m glad you like the out of pocket stuff! I enjoy making it.

[@elricofmelnibone425]

A feature length documentary not a single person asked for, yet we are all delighted to see? Never stop doing what you do, Andy :)

[@angelachouinard4581]

One Step Beyond, Fitzcarraldo, that amazing jacket and mushrooms, I feel like Alice down the rabbit hole!! Major heat wave great to sit in front of the fan & watch this.

[@meemo32086]

Best thing I've seen this week!

[@benzur3503]

54:50 Charles Darwin wasnt a social darwinist. He offered a descriptive model where those who fit the environment survive. Not necessarily at all those who survive a battle royale. His famous galapagos finches dont survive by killing each other nor by stealing from each other, but by having beaks useful for cracking nuts. There isnt a need to further conflate the two separate ideas more than social darwinists already have.

[@lucyinchat]

Correct, the beliefs came to be before the term Darwinism was even coined, from what I’ve gathered.

[@eazy8579]

He was in fact horrified by the concept, as it came about in his life time, and while he wrote extensively against them, he was sadly unsuccessful, and these horrific corruptions of his ideas were able to take hold and justify the many crimes of the 19th and 20th centuries, despite his his own beliefs and his attempts to fight them

[@kidsyx]

Calling Darwin a darwinist is like calling jesus a Christian. It just logically does not follow 😂🤷‍♂️

[@charliecussans7638]

This is the second time a Bread Tuber has misinterpreted Darwin in a YT video, and it's kind of annoying.

[@mattgilbert7347]

"fittest" means something quite different in Darwin than, say, Nietzsche.

[@s1140285]

TLDR: "Atun-Shei had to take shrooms to understand Terence McKenna"

[@JonPITBZN]

I'd imagine most people would

[@aubreyjane7536]

​@@JonPITBZNyeah like that's the whole point of McKenna

[@Hasshodo]

You have to take shrooms to understand shrooms. Psychedelics are a limit experience

[@willymack5677]

@@Hasshodovery well put

[@Johnkostercreative]

And you didn’t?😊

[@sortaspicey9278]

There's an older man that lives in my apartment. He has a lot of chronic terminal health issues and in all honesty is actively dying. He said he did a 6 mg mushroom trip over the weekend and was able to find a profound sense of peace through it

[@turtleofpride4572]

I had done them after a pretty bad diagnosis. I confronted a lot of my issues and found some peace in it.

[@therideneverends1697]

I think that kind of ties into the whole thing, psychedelics are very often cognitively damaging they have the ability to convince people they have experienced some profound connection with a greater power and many maintain that feeling after takeing it. thing is if someone is dieing, or has life impedeing PTSD thats actively useful in provideing quality of life. does not however mean its a good idea for most people. Just do MDMA or something

[@noahhultgren193]

Hey I studied this stuff for a few years while I was in college and in case anyone is wondering there is ample evidence of the physically damaging effects of MDMA as it acts basically like meth in realizing such huge amounts of serotonin quickly. It doesn't mean it can't be done safely, but if your being careful around traditional psychedelics (which can cause psychotic breaks, but don't appear to cause psychical damage) than you should avoid MDMA which does cause physical brain damage based on actual data, and can still cause psychotic breaks.​@@therideneverends1697

[@siobhanomalley1968]

​@therideneverends1697 the active ingredient in certain fungi has actually been repeatedly proven in studies to be the opposite of "cognitively damaging", increasing neuroplasticity, healing emotional trauma to brain pathways and curing depression and ptsd. It can aid with a range of issues from mental health disturbance to simply boosting creativity.

[@gotchathespider7850]

@@therideneverends1697 I'm gonna add onto the comment above me since they didn't mention the MDMA you mentioned at the end, but you can't pull 1 drug out of a category and attribute its features to everything else in that category (especially when that 1 drug fits within an entirely separate major subcategory of said larger category). MDMA is neurotoxic. Psilocybin and LSD, among many other psychedelics have not shown to be, and while MDMA is neurotoxic, if you take advantage of harm reduction practices, such as testing your MDMA to make sure it's what you think it is and isn't cut with anything, taking the appropriate supplements before, during, and after your doses, and spacing your doses out 3-6 months has shown effective to completely negate any neurotoxic effects (actually that last one does it on its own, provided you actually have MDMA, supplements can help keep you safe on consistent dosing on the lower end of that 3-6 month timespan, probably lower than that, but I recommend being safe and staying within that timespan at minimum)

[@Sableagle]

Plants and fungi everywhere: "You bite me, I'll mess you up! I'll change your heartbeat! I'll burn your tongue! I'll make your teeth tingle! I'll make you blush and sweat! I'll make your skin incredibly sensitive! I'll stop you feeling anything above the neck! I'll make you taste rectangles and hear magenta! I'll mess with your whole nervous system until you don't know what's even REAL!" This one species of ape, every wretched time: "Cool! Can I grow you at home?"

[@warlordofbritannia]

No wonder we’ve been enslaved by catkind

[@frenzalrhomb6919]

Always wished I could successfully grow them at home. I've grown ordinary mushrooms 🍄 but, er, never pretty red ones!!

[@warweasel2832]

What does it say about sapience that our favorite activity throughout history has been numbing, intensifying, slowing, quickening, and modifying our own consciousness whenever possible?

[@uDaniels]

elephants dig up fermented roots for alcohol, lemurs chew on poisonous centipedes for a buzz, there was a flock of geese that got addicted to opiates grazing a poppy field, they all had to be detoxed at a animal hospital

[@Sableagle]

@@uDaniels Aug. 19, 2004, AP: When state Fish and Wildlife agents recently found a black bear passed out on the lawn of Baker Lake Resort, there were some clues scattered nearby - dozens of empty cans of Rainier Beer. The bear apparently got into campers’ coolers and used his claws and teeth to puncture the cans. And not just any cans. “He drank the Rainier and wouldn’t drink the Busch beer,” said Lisa Broxson, bookkeeper at the campground and cabins resort east of Mount Baker. Fish and Wildlife enforcement Sgt. Bill Heinck said the bear did try one can of Busch, but ignored the rest. The beast then consumed about 36 cans of Rainier. A wildlife agent tried to chase the bear from the campground but the animal just climbed a tree to sleep it off for another four hours. Agents finally herded the bear away, but it returned the next morning.

[@sovietcanuckistanian]

I don’t agree with any of Terrance McKenna’s metaphysical beliefs or most of his historical ones, but I am absolutely in love with the term “Hyperspace Elves”. Just the peak of psychedelic occult milieu.

[@dominictemple]

One of the many things that I love about your videos is that you always take such care and thought about the music in them, it's never just generic royalty free lofi or the like. Another fascinating video Andy, keep up the good work.

[@fractalsauce]

Wow. Every night for the past year or so I search KZbin for "terence mckenna" and fall asleep to one of his lectures. Last night I made my usual search and this video came up. This is the first video of yours I've ever seen. I'm in my late 30s now and have all but given up psychedelics but there's just something about his voice and thought process that keeps me coming back. Over the years I've given a lot of thought to his theories and musings and have come to pretty much the same conclusions that you did. Especially the one at the end about the transcendental object at the end of time, the eschaton, being death itself. Death sure is transcendental after all. What a wonderfully thought out video man, great job. I feel like you're the only person in the 21st century that has talked about Terence as a historical figure and summed up his life in this way. Extremely well done sir, thank you.

[@thomaseriksen6885]

We plants are happy plants

[@drakep.5857]

Atun Shei may be about many things that seem like something you may not be intrested in, like American history, the Civil War, and other stuff, but it's all very, very good stuff I deeply recommend for you to try out. Atun Shei, cloud cuckoo country, shammy, and Noah Caldwell Gervais are the best KZbinrs on the platform currently. From a young person to an older person, I want you to know that the algorithms on KZbin have been designed with more and more effiency to divide you away from intelligently made content (like this) and towards circular dumb content that doesn't say anything new or make you think, and it hurts all of us no matter who we are. Ever since the advent of AI and the alt right's misinformation campaigns it's only gotten harder. Doesn't matter who you are or where you live, all of us are feeling the effects of it Id reccomend to hold on to atun shei and check out his stuff, and see his channels and subscriptions tab to see the other kinds of channels he reccomends, since the algorithm itself very rarely recommends them anymore

[@r34ct4]

Holy crap are you me?! -> "Every night for the past year or so I search KZbin for "terence mckenna" and fall asleep to one of his lectures." . I check almost daily to see if Danit Friedman has uploaded another video.

[@fractalsauce]

@@r34ct4 haha yep same! And I'm positive there's more of us out there :)

[@SelinV]

Eerily similar … lately I’ve been listening to random tm lectures with and without added background music and its hypnotic in its own way and I doze off as well

[@sovereignjepson5201]

I had an ex boyfriend who EXCLUSIVELY smoked weed in his old hand-me-down D.A.R.E hoodie. Said it was his way of sticking it to the man. I miss him

[@TheEscapeDiary9th]

So many people did this, like my bro! xD

[@pr3historic647]

A wholesome, simple man. Love that.

[@julius-sumner-miller]

That’s cute 🥹

[@billcook7285]

So, why don't you holler at him? if you miss him, y'all get back together.

[@VersusArdua]

​@billcook7285 yeah I'm sure that thought never crossed their mind before this comment

[@Sableagle]

"I've met and spoken to entities that were not human." Yeah, a lot of people have done that here. Most pubs do welcome dogs, and the dogs often snuggle up to other customers, who then talk to them. It's cool.

[@menschman1464]

I’ve told annoying flys to go f$&k themselves. Another transcendent experience

[@AlbertaGeek]

*Glendower:* I can call the spirits from the vasty deep. *Hotspur:* Why, so can I, or so can any man; but will they come, when you do call for them? - William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 1

[@IvanIvanoIvanovich]

I had a couple friends trip sit me on a hike (nothing physically strenuous) and they wouldn't believe me that a spirit was watching us. Imagine their shock when they saw a mountain lion watching us from behind a tree.

[@menschman1464]

@@Sableagle my original comment about saying the f-word to annoying flys got removed. Sorry KZbin far be it from me to cuss in the comment section of a video about drugs

[@nandayane]

I talk to my cats all the time.

[@mister_kaniela]

This one is real close to home man, I immensely appreciate your content and find myself recommending it to people frequently.

[@gabem3593]

i opened it up to watch later, just to check it out. was immediately sucked in by the extremely well written script, fantastic delivery, and just your approach to the whole thing. so refreshing to hear an open-minded, but sober (and also not toooo sober) perspective. fantastic stuff as always.

[@telegraphjames4542]

"In Defense of Puritanism" is one of my favorite videos of yours. I used it a bit to study the period for a paper I was writing, and watching the trip sequences in between bits of actually very useful knowledge was absolutely hilarious!

[@noahholmes1448]

I've noticed that psychedelic themes have appeared in your content in the past and am thrilled that you've now delved fully into this topic!

[@christophermiller2075]

I laughed SOOO hard at the “I’m sorry Andy can’t come to the phone right now…” clip. You captured the essence perfectly. Thank you 🤣

[@sweatysocks8214]

Honestly i like these types of videos you do. This, metamorphosis of prime intellect, getting drunk and talking about vikings are some of my favorite of yours.

[@MrMessiah2013]

I think as a mythological sceptic, you’d love the novel “Foucault’s Pendulum” by Umberto Eco (the Ur-Fascism guy). It goes deep into the esoteric and the realm of ceremony, building up an all-encompassing theory of the sacred and profane throughout history, before unceremoniously tearing it down to reveal the post-modern lie hidden within. I loved it 10/10.

[@johannesdecorte434]

Duuuuuuuuuuude read "The Illuminatus Trilogy" by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. It's amazing. They were basically 2 hippies who worked for Playboy Magazine and kept a file of letters by conspiracy crackpots as inspiration for their SF novel. I believe they were friends with Terrence McKenna too.

[@LarsBlitzer]

@@johannesdecorte434 I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't. The companion books I'd recommend are the Principia Discordia, and the Book of the Subgenius. Both classics, both very well known, and both worth the read.

[@AaronMk91]

Foucault's Pendulum is brilliant. There's never not a moment where I cross paths with conspiracy theories and not think about it.

[@ChipSuey207]

@@johannesdecorte434 The Illuminatus! Trilogy is probably the best vaccine I've ever gotten against ever falling for full on conspiracy theories.

[@archsys307]

reveal the postmodern lie hidden within Deez nuts

[@Vacuumorph2]

Excited to see my favorite living weirdo talk about my favorite dead weirdo!

[@charlesdarwin9039]

Hugely enjoying this. However at 55 min you use a common misunderstanding of the term ‘survival of the fittest.’ It does not mean the largest or most fearsome. In this context the fittest individual is the one best adapted to the surrounding environment and their place in it. E.g better camouflaged, better at collecting pollen or better at working as part of a cooperative group. Remember, natural selection can only select for or against a trait if it has an effect on passing on the organism’s genes.

[@AtunSheiFilms]

Username checks out. I was mainly referring to the common understanding of the term but yes, you are absolutely right.

[@MichaelMcgill-ik3mp]

Fascinating story, well told​@@AtunSheiFilms

[@jeffreygao3956]

So like how Otodus megalodon was outcompeted by the Great white shark due to the medium sized baleen whales like cetotheres going extinct and replaced with dolphins and porpoises the great white was better at hunting despite the fact Otodus megalodon would've destroyed a great white shark in a fight?

[@joegibbskins]

That’s not entirely true. Evolution selects the organism that is most fit for survival. Traits get passed on that are irrelevant or redundant. Traits even get pass on when that make survival harder. None of that matters if the organism is itself is the most fit for survival.

[@ADudOverTheFence1]

Yup. Darwin's theory was only meant to describe the physical attributes and evolutionary mechanisms that species experience in order to adapt to their environment. Anything else being extrapolated from that to anything social related is Herbert Spencer's pseudoscientific Social Darwinist dribble.

[@alec17ify]

3 times I’ve watched this entire video since it came out. This might be my favorite thing you’ve ever done, but I haven’t seen Sudbury devil yet either.

[@MichellePrater-ez3dj]

Psychedelic can help your addictions and depression if you try micro dosing, I strongly recommend that you try it and I have a trained mycologist that will give you a good trip

[@MichellePrater-ez3dj]

Dude is on telegram¿¿

[@MichellePrater-ez3dj]

Swittymiller ¿¿

[@ZeroSpeaks]

Glad to see you still making bangers after retiring your most popular show. I'm interested in seeing where you go from here and if you keep putting out stuff like this you'll be just fine!

[@cdcdrr]

"I've never had trees look back at me before." Genuinely the scariest thing I've heard on this channel.

[@ichimaru96]

"I've never had trees look back at me before" where the hippies and the Vietnam vets first understood eachother

[@hozonov7995]

At various points during the video I could only think of the you cannot kill me in a way that matters meme. I think Terence would have liked it. Fantastic work.

[@drrbrt]

As a former Seminarian who once held a gnostic mushroom mass at an Anglican Church, later turned dialectical materialist, this really scratches that itch of psychedelic kabbalistic nostalgia. #psilocybinpsunday

[@sajjanvirdee3122]

Pso true shroomie

[@icewink7100]

It’s great to know there are other dialectical materialist psychedelic enjoyers out there!

[@boneymacaroni13]

Thank you, Esoterica, for sharing this video with me 😁 The music, the story telling, the special effects. Well done, sir.

[@FeatureHistory]

A very great video uploaded in the middle of psilocybe subaeruginosa season. Excellent work and excellent timing

[@renegade-ginger]

I really love seeing this more freeform and earnest side of you and your material. Especially the trip report section. I've known people like you who are still totally sober materialists who also got a lot of perspective and love of life from psychedelic experiences, but you truly have a way of communicating it leaps and bounds better than they could. Bravo, sir. Looking forward to seeing more of this side of ya, should you so choose.

[@komrookmetmy465]

I feel it necessary as a sort of PSA to remind everyone: DO NOT USE PSYCHEDELICS IF CURRENTLY TAKING LITHIUM. This can cause SEIZURES and other harmful effects! It is strongly advised that one avoid use of psychedelic substances while experiencing severe depression, anxiety, or other negative emotional states, or if one has a genetic predisposition towards schizophrenia. It is highly recommended that one test any substance to ensure its quality and safety before ingesting it. It is also recommended that there be at least one trusted and reasonably sober person present to watch over one if they do decide to take such a substance.

[@rvanderjagt5944]

Exactly why I've avoided them. With how I'm neurodivergent, I don't want to open a door that can't be closed. 😕

[@t_ylr]

100% agree. And I'm saying this as someone who kinda thinks psychedelics cured my depression. I don't really recommend anybody take them tbh. I've seen too many ppl have bad trips or get lost in the sauce. Also while I think I've definitely had insights and breakthroughs while on acid, but a lot of those profound feelings are fool's gold. I remember watching 2001 and having a cool realization about structure of the film that probably wouldn't have had sober. However, every time I've ever tried to journal on acid I just wrote utter nonsense lol. I think the boring truth is that whatever you're looking in these chemicals is already inside you. They just lower your inhibitions and shuffle your neural pathways. Treat them like prescription drugs. Do actual research from authoritative sources. Anecdotal experiences and non academic resources can also be helpful and even save a life, but take them with a whole salt shaker lol

[@MrGksarathy]

Thanks for the warning. Am currently taking lithium, but was also mildly interested in taking these just to see what the shining world of the gods might have been for my ancestors.

[@annaclarafenyo8185]

This is a poor warning. The correct warning is as follows: all classes of psychedelics, in normal use, without exception, will gradually damage the brain, and with continued use, you will diminish in your powers of analytical thought until you are no longer recognizable. This has nothing to do with set and setting, or with any predisposition to schitzophrenia, rather, it is a product of the action of the drugs themselves.

[@komrookmetmy465]

@@MrGksarathy I'm glad you got this information *now* and didn't have to learn it the hard way!

[@LEEboneisDaMan]

... Did he just admit to tripping on mushrooms dressed as Civil War soldier near Gettysburg? Because that rules lol

[@thomassantos3684]

I had such a fascination with psychedelics after my first serious experiences. I'm lucky enough to be the kind of person who can hold on tight to their sanity during even the craziest trips (even during ego death, to some extent), and I found it endlessly enjoyable picking apart the changes in my psychology and senses. It was like looking into my brain's code, which I'm sure is what scares most people. Buuut, there's definitely a limit to their usefulness. They helped me realize that cigarettes and booze were disgusting and unhealthy when I was in the middle of addiction. They highlighted areas in my life that I absolutely needed to improve upon. And yet, they didn't DO these for me. They just indicated their importance. At some point, I realized that psychedelics were amazing at highlighting and recontextualizing problems and ideas, but you still need to act upon those changes in your everyday life. There are plenty of people who are already great at doing that, but I was never the type of person who did great with "doing," even if I've always been a planner and a thinker. And as a side note, I also used to believe that anyone could benefit from psychedelics, but after a friend had such a bad breakdown that they called the cops under the psychotic notion that my friend and I were going to rape and kill him, I've reevaluated my stance a bit. We were playing Smash Bros and talking about college, so this wasn't a scenario of bad settings and trip sitters. He just couldn't take the reins and ended up getting lost in his neurotic thoughts.

[@fablion6324]

"why dont you back that up with a source" Terence McKenna: "it came to me in a dream"

[@jocelynnegabel1331]

I love the use of Philip Glass’s Opera, Akhnaten, as the background music. It's like flying through the night sky towards the Milky Way and it fits the theme psychedelic transcendence well.

[@withertoneultraluxxx]

can’t put into words how thankful i am to have this art here in my come down. this video helped me come to terms with my own relationship with psychedelia and the profound spiritual significance it has to me.

[@MaskOfAgamemnon]

This was one of your best videos. A true masterpiece.

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Really looking forward to watching this!

[@bobcatfish2796]

The Sledgehammer is with us!! Love your channel, Sir.

[@_sumina]

Nice to see you here!

[@jamesbraden5516]

I really appreciate that at the “2012 and beyond” part, the shots look as if the “trip” is beginning. Great work as always.

[@s1nd3rr0z3]

Me and my roomate, as well SWIM and SWIH who have extensive histories with moderate to large doses of psilocybin were quite amazed by how well this video's structure resembles a trip.

[@andymurray8620]

I have basically only watched the intro but this is just so cool: it is like my worlds colliding. I am one of those guys who has heard EVERYTHING he ever recorded (literally, I have been searching for something new for many years) many times, but I'm also a history nerd who loves your channel. I did not expect these beams to cross.

[@ethank5059]

“It is 2024 and history, much less the world hasn’t ended” Well someone clearly hasn’t been reading enough of Francis Fukuyama

[@warweasel2832]

Fukuyama was so wrong it is almost hilarious to read his political/economic theory. He never considered that the human ego and thirst for power can’t be tamed by stable upbringing or commodity. Even more naive than the most sheltered bookish Marxists I know.

[@randomchannel-px6ho]

@@warweasel2832 actually people are really disingenuous for the haven't read his actual words, he was hardly arguing the triumph of the western neoliberal system and the cessation of societal development was a good thing. he was arguably just describing 'capitalist realism' which is very apt about 2024

[@antlerbraum2881]

Yeah wdym, OBVIOUSLY history ended in the year 2000. Everything afterward was all a dream.

[@tedpop]

@@randomchannel-px6ho While you're sort of right, it's hard to deny that his work is part of neoliberal apologia.

[@realevilcorgi]

This is the most psudointellectual comment I’ve ever read. Like “hey guys I know who came up with the end of history thing!! I know the guys name!” Like bro you are not smart and also Fukuyama has largely disowned that theory

[@justsaying7979]

That's so funny, I was tripping acid watching your videos in 2021!

[@singinwhatimdoin]

thank fucking GAWD I now have a reference video about Terrence McKenna, to pass to the curious, that doesn't come from a certain toe-headed podcaster...

[@surpriseandterror9698]

As someone materialistically hidebound, I still found plenty to take away from the video. While the communion with the great mushroom demiurge may elude me, the concept of the internet as a great species-wide hallucinatory dreamscape is something to chew over. At the very least, we can cast the resurgent growth of fascism as a kind of malignant Bad Trip we're all having, warmed over historical memories rising from cyberspace like the head of a hydra we all thought vanquished.

[@wilgriaus]

I don’t know what else to say but that this was an amazing and fascinating video to listen to. Kudos

[@trayvon4484]

Honestly, I won't be brash and say its your Magnum Opus, but this is a really engaging video. Delving into our expierence of reality itself. Great work! - and I'm only at the damn beginning. Well done.

[@williamgrace6966]

It was not a great idea to watch this in the middle of the night, and this was one of the strangest experiences of my life. Excellent work, as always, carry on sir.

[@SIHRPhilosophy]

I'm a philosopher. I've studied the weird and the wonderful, and I appreciate the openness to "new angles", but my conviction concerning any esotericism I've ever encountered (and some of it is inside the philosophical "canon") is this: If you need to read a text again and again, and it says nothing at all at first, and some 'meaning' arises only after reading and reading - then it is nothing more than a foil for your projections. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is not "true", or indeed, truth-capable. The irrationality inherent in a thinking practice like that sooner or later leads to bad things. Much the same goes for what is usually called mystical experiences: They're great. They can be real and substantive advancements for you as a person. But they lose their value if they pretend they are "true" in the way that falsifiable, logic-accessible statements are.

[@drewpknutz1410]

Haha, Im just imagining you walking around in real life starting every interaction or conversation with, ."Im a Philosopher..." lol

[@jonahmcguire]

This is now my new favorite Atun-Shei film

[@t1u9b8a8]

The Philip Glass in the background was such a nice touch! *chef’s kiss *

[@EthelredHardrede-nz8yv]

I was wondering who that was. I thought I had heard some of it before. I am not really found of Glass in large doses. To repetitive. Background or in small amounts is OK.

[@ironchef66]

Thank you for a thoroughly engaging & well made essay. The quality of your content is impressive.

[@lvx720]

That Hamilton Morris quote at the start really sums up my experience with McKenna. I accidentally picked Food of the Gods off a library shelf when I was 14, and I've recommended it a thousand times since not because of its rigorous science but its ethical mindset. It gets at personal and cultural evolution we can undertake.

[@Gimmiyomoney]

Thank you for this absolutely informed yet informative unbiased “this is , not necessarily yours” approach to this subject

[@alicemorrison1518]

Terence McKenna AND Akhnaten by Phillip Glass? My two greatest loves, together at last.

[@Grimspear05]

Genuinely love to see this new subject on your channel! I think there is a significant hunger for psychedelic/spiritual/scientific content. Keep up the great work brother!

[@M4ttNet]

Amazing video. I knew basically none of this but found it very fascinating. Essentially it feels like Terrence was right along the same lines as countless others, not that different than say even Graham Hancock. Starting with a conclusion and then finding anything to meet that conclusion. With that said I certainly appreciate Terrence's sensibilities and motivations far more than many others. As a an atheist former Christian (like so many of us out there) I certainly can appreciate trying to find an alternative objective "truth" out there to rival that of the western patriarchal Christian world that many of us dislike so much in so many ways (now at least). Though I think essentially it's applying the same mindset and tactics as that same world just in the inverse. I always go back to Francis Bacon: "If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end with doubts, but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties." Likewise despite my innate skepticism to psychedelics (and everything) I tried to watch this with an open mind and was glad to see you apply your same sort of rational application you do in other forms to this. I certainly could understand how having such dramatic experiences might convince someone. Though in the end it's really not all that different than the religious experiences people have. Even myself as a Christian I believed 100% I experienced the supernatural at bare minimum twice during my life before leaving the faith. Of course now I realize and understand the massive body of data pointing to how horrendous human perception is at a measure of nearly anything. My wife, before we met, went through a period of great stress and had hallucinations, very real and vivid (of blood being all over hands when she worked as someone who cleaned hospital rooms, but in this case there was none). She was on no drugs. Then when she got prescribed waaay too many drugs like anti-psychotics (good ole 90s and early 2000s and kicking out drugs like candy) she got even worse. Likewise she also experienced things she thought was supernatural. Now like me we both think different. Our world views dictated what we expected combined with fragile human perception and mental states. Now I can imagine throwing psychedelics on that fire would probably crank all these 100 fold. Though there may be some metaphysical or supernatural connection or reality out there the reality is we have no reliable data or evidence of such and in this day and age we would expect to see quite a bit of it. In this case I think Terrence might have been right partially like you expand on. With the advent of technology and the internet it has indeed expanded our perceptions in ways. I think in an age where so many people have literal cameras in their pocket and are trained to record anything interesting. The fact we have no reliable recordings of miracles or God (or deities in general) stands as the absolute strongest evidence that none exist. We would expect tons of reliable data at this point. These same capabilities have helped us reveal a world of Karens, of police brutality, of countless injustices and human behaviors. Yet not a single piece of reliable data for the supernatural tied or not tied to any religion at all. That's pretty massive when you think of it and I think will lead further and further to the shifting away of the Christianized Western world view and sort of to some of Terrance's aspirational predictions that go with that. Until now and what the internet and related technologies provided this was just not possible. Also yeah there's a pessimistic side of me that looks to stormfront and the internet allowing those nuts to circle the wagons and unite and fight stronger for themselves. Though in a lot of ways these feel like a real last gasp, that surge before the death cry, much like that of the Lost Cause. I spent years on a Civil War forum where nearly every week or two someone new one come out spouting Lost Cause mythos. Myself and others would challenge it with data, quotes, and references. Now we have years of your videos and countless others repeating the real historical material over and over. In the end progress is inevitable and two steps forward is often followed by one step back, but to put it as my 2nd great granduncle Miles Ledford Langley put it in the 1868 Arkansas Constitutional Convention "Progress is an unchangeable law of nature. This is an age of improvement. Reform is the order of the day. We are passing through a crisis unparalleled in the history of the world. We have just struggled through a gigantic war, and are inaugurating a new era in the history of our' national policy. We must reconstruct the government of our country on radical principles-universal freedom, impartial suffrage, and equal rights. We must be governed by natural justice and scientific principles. Scientific truth must be our guide in ethics, in religion, in politics, in social life, and in legal matters." He was imprisoned, shot, and beat in Arkansas during the Civil War for being a southern abolitionist preacher and then in this convention he was laughed at (by both parties) for arguing for women's suffrage and rights here. In that time someone so ahead of their time and era in progressive thought had to seem to be arguing impossibilities. Sure it took about 50 years but it did in fact become a reality. You can't fully stop progress IMHO.

[@lauriestewart2044]

Wow. Thanks for sharing.

[@zacharybutler5944]

It took me three days to finish this (thanks, running out of ADHD meds and antidepressants) and I have to say this is probably your best work for the KZbin channel yet. Seriously, this is up there with Sudbury Devil, dude. Love when you get REALLY esoteric with it

[@imthebause]

Aguirre clip spotted, let's go. Best channel on youtube. Aaannnd straight into 2001. We are operating on the same wavelength.

[@timtheskeptic1147]

Now I'm trying to imagine how Kubrick would have handled Kinski on a set. It's probably for the best those two never worked together.

[@Sammyandbobsdad]

I worked in a bookstore and spent the morning of December 22, 2012 putting 50% off stickers on the Mayan 2012 Apocalypse books.

[@KriticalKoitus]

only 50% lol?

[@timmydirtyrat6015]

​@@KriticalKoitus The day was still young

[@pyromaticidiot9785]

I love the Aguirre clips. This may be one of my favorite KZbin videos in years.

[@Joggi98]

"Sorry, Andy can't come to the phone right now. His mind has been taken over by a fungus."

[@louisjov]

I recently watched some videos with this anthropologist Michael Harbner, he studied shamanism and noted that mind altering substances can be used, but the shaman can enter the spirit realm with simple rhythmic drumming or tapping. He started out as a curious skeptic, but through practicing shamanism in the pursuit of understanding it, he became convinced that the spirit realm is in fact real, and him and his wife began an organization to preserve and teach shamanism to people who were genuinely interested

[@jacobtierney4419]

Minor correction: at 21:00 you say ayahuasca is made of B. caapi, containing high amounts of DMT. Ayahuasca contains DMT from other plants, but B caapi contains harmala alkaloids, not high amounts of DMT. Not sure if its a mix up or just ambiguously worded. Love the work!

[@Juliein.wonderland]

Isn’t the active ingredient (dmt) in the chacruna plant while the ayahuasca vine (the Banisteriopsis caapi) allows that active ingredient to be metabolized in humans?

[@jacobtierney4419]

@Juliein.wonderland almost. The ayahuasca vine contains harmala alkaloids which prevent DMT being metabolised, so it can act without getting broken down.

[@apm77]

There's actually some very recent groundbreaking scientific research concerning the origins of human creativity, and it has nothing to do mushrooms. It has to do with a genetic mutation that can be linked to the cognitive skills underpinning human survival since time immemorial, including art. I don't know very much about this myself as yet, but I follow certain people and there is a book coming out, so I'm excited to learn more.

[@tk5800thesecond]

dude just cant stop dropping bangers

[@i_dream_of_memes]

I cannot believe how good this video is, never felt more seen as an audience member. And at a point you are very good at your craft, I'm in heaven.

[@reginaldogron4306]

Drugs being an influence on Andy's style makes In the Wildwood make so much more sense

[@vonnydedragos9228]

The video is amazing, most notably in how the sound design feels like it is always enhancing the script. It gives me the same weird vibes (in a good way) that I felt after watching the video "Overanalyzing Ravenous" or "Atun Shei's The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect" This video was intriguing and a worthwhile watch. I do plan to watch this again in the future as I feel there is so much I have missed during my first viewing. In summary: please keep up the good work!

[@sankharaYT]

From the epic end of the Johnny Reb saga... to Terence McKenna. How can you make me love this bloody channel even more? THIS is how. 😍

[@NotPierreBellec]

Never in a million years would I expect Atun-Shei to reference Atari Teenage Riot in a video about big brain mushroom man but here we are. Amazing video. “2012 and Beyond the Infinite” is a transcendental experience.

[@jan-kowina-kuki]

The One Step Beyond intro is amazing!

[@JoeWDye]

ok finished. this was great! Love seeing new stuff from you! I stopped half way through and tried lsd for the first time. I went to space.

[@JohnVance]

Ooooh that piece from Akhnaten there in the beginning gave me chills

[@edwardschmalz3171]

You are an amazing sage. You are one of 2-3 people who I will watch every video you make, even if it hadn't interested me before. Thanks for being such an incredible edutainer!

[@timmccarthy9917]

I was gonna reenact Gettysburg But I got high

[@Vacuumorph2]

oooooooooo

[@bageltortilla4057]

I was gonna get on my horse and go But i got high

[@andrewjuby6339]

Now I missed the fun, and I know why

[@MrZauberelefant]

Because I got high, because I got high, because I got high

[@david21216]

Psychedelics have always been my secret addiction, love the experience so much but its so untenable to do with my busy day to day life. Always love to hear other's perspectives on this 🙌

[@Stoneworks]

Fantastic video, taking a serious look at the first guy notable for taking a serious look at psychedelics and the kind of epistemology they bring out. I'm going to have to sit on the comparison between his apocalypse of the feminized and cooperative society to the internet, I don't think I fully grasp it, but the idea that the internet is a collective, memetic hallucination that breaks down social and personal boundaries is very compelling. I used to be a full materialist until I started having supernatural and psychedelic experiences, so Terence McKenna's way of thinking makes a lot of sense, he's like a brilliant hunter who blindfolds himself and uses the wind and smells to shoot at his pray. Of course, many of your arrows are going to miss and you get these Graham Hancock ideas about society

[@Shakazaramesh]

I came out of my psychedelic phase an even stronger materialist than when I went in.

[@Aquatarkus96]

The screen warping is very nicely done. Takes me right back to my last trip :3

[@SgtKaneGunlock]

"NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE."-Death, the Hogfather

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

GNU Terry Pratchett, may his name and words live on.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

@@alexandermarquardt597 There is a few of us, but we do feel outnumbered from time to time. ;)

[@-HumanOnEarth-]

If there was some sort of award for best KZbin video of the year, this one would be a strong contender for me.

[@andrewring8205]

Akhenaten is a great sound track choice for a psychedelic video

[@donttalktome4696]

This is exactly the video ive been seeking. Thank you for your hard work.

[@acephoenix7849]

My coworker has been hounding me about Terrence Mckenna for the past 2 weeks. It's all he talks about recently. Then you go and drop this. I CAN'T ESCPAE THE MUSHROOM MAN Edit: accidentally typed Howard instead of Mckenna

[@suddenwall]

"Terrance howard" did we watch the same video?

[@dontron6992]

Different charlatan sir

[@freakface1234]

Didn't expect a nice retelling of True Hallucinations. I do hate leaving out the part where Dennis escaped and rang the church bell lol

[@Mr_Crocodile_56]

I like your usage of the term bio-prospecting, I had never heard it before. People are very aware of prospecting in the conventional sense (mining) and the effects it can have (environmental, social, economic, etc...) on local populations, the positives and the much more daunting negatives. But it's good to show that open lithium mines of Spanish gold sickness aren't the only kinds out there. Prospecting for psycchodelic fungi and plants can destroy local communities, as you very much show in this video, but also historically has fueled a great deal of colonialism (and plenty of other fuckery).

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

I had never heard that term before, either, but it makes sense. A lot of modern medicines originally came from substances found in plants, many of which were discovered in rain forests. That's one reason some people find the destruction of rain forests so upsetting, because we could be missing out on new undiscovered medications and cures. So, bio-prospecting can be a good thing, if done carefully and respectfully.

[@Jegrygerfede]

Oh my god. You’re my favorite KZbinr

[@jlkjlkjkljklj9162]

Video: "They took mushrooms and saw visions, and these visions felt so real they kept believing in them once the effects of the mushrooms ended." My Neuroscientist Friend: "This feels like they are giving themselves psychosis" Dennis McKenna: "In hindsight, that was psychosis" My Neuroscientist Friend: "Well it's good they realized, eventually"

[@mathewerven9]

Our society causes psychosis. The biggest benefit of mushrooms is pulling the individual out of ego out of the psychosis of society and inducing laughter.

[@zacheryeckard3051]

​@@mathewerven9This isn't the defense of drugs you may think...

[@calebmatty5060]

@@mathewerven9You’ve never experienced psychosis then lol

[@mathewerven9]

@@calebmatty5060 Ha! Lol! To be alive right now is to experience psychosis.

[@mathewerven9]

At least someone out here has a sense of humor!

[@jkob_official]

This has to be the best video I've seen in a long time. Thanks Ghost!

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

What a fascinating coincidence: I just watched a video debunking Terence McKenna's Stoned Ape Theory yesterday, and I wasn't even searching for it yesterday or today. This one will surely be more informative (since it's much longer) and more entertaining!

[@DarkReflections86]

40:54 On the note of Terence and Dennis's penchant for anything Fortean, and their father's love for Fate Magazine, I highly recommend looking up the story of the magazine's founder Raymond A. Palmer. His story is fascinating in and of itself. @AtunSheiFilms Andy, if your reading this, I think that would be a great subject to do a video on. Palmer's friendship with the cult-outsider artist Richard Sharpe Shaver (who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia) gave rise to the Shaver Mystery, a hoax that ushered in the era of conspiracy theory culture, ufology, and a belief in ancient aliens. It really ties in to a lot of the pseudoscience in history you often debunk on your channel. Keep up the good work, brother!

[@doodlebug1820]

Dude until you lose your own mother you will never understand what its like. I totally see everything he is talking about under that lense because i lost mine. Had some really profound things going on in my mind. And the real taboo in America is not drugs its death.

[@adicto_al_agua]

hey man you're 95% point on relative to my opinion on the subject, excellently delivered presentation as well, glad to see reasonable psychedelic coverage!

[@oliverdelaenfield2]

“The Mushroom won’t talk to you if you’re sweating whisky ginger “ is sage advice.

[@CeciliaVillalobos-ls6ie]

You really have a way with words. Stories are like living it in real time. I will forever watch for your name in lights.

[@crow-jane]

Well, this is my evening sorted.

[@amielwayne]

You would really enjoy Donovan Schaefer's new book, "Wild Experiment." In it, he coins the term "Black Monolith Myth," which I think has a lot of conceptual overlap with the (errors of) McKenna's Stoned Ape theory. Thank you for this beautiful & honest engagement with T.M.!

[@tereziamarkova2822]

My problem with the stoned ape theory is that it assumes that not only are drugs a way to a higher understanding, they are the primary way to a higher understanding. Meanwhile, they aren't even the only way to get yourself into a state of altered consciousness. Things like starvation, sleep deprivation, heatstroke, some types of mental illness, hell, even walking trough a monotonous country for miles on end can fuck with your perception just as well as any drug, and were presumably more frequent. And that's assuming altered states of consciousness were at all necessary or important for the development of religion, rather than a quick and easy way for people to reach for thoughts and emotions they already had on their own.

[@crono3339]

But maybe eating mushrooms is a safer way to enlightening thoughts that heatstroke haha.

[@crono3339]

And coming to completely bizzare and abstract thoughts you HAVEN'T had before is one of the most important parts of a psychedelic experience. Yes other activities can be very psychedelic and amazing, but it's not quite the intensity.

[@tereziamarkova2822]

@@crono3339 "But maybe eating mushrooms is a safer way to enlightening thoughts that heatstroke haha." - Fair enough, I suppose. "And coming to completely bizzare and abstract thoughts you HAVEN'T had before is one of the most important parts of a psychedelic experience. Yes other activities can be very psychedelic and amazing, but it's not quite the intensity." - Spoken like someone whose sleep schedule isn't so fucked they woke up at 5am with the stupidest idea you've ever heard seemingly springing forth from their mind fully formed. In all seriousness, I am getting kinda sick of people with no imagination taking psychedelics and suddenly thinking that mindaltering substances are the source of all original thought, just because they themselves are incapable of thinking or feeling anything too out there without them.