Food of the Gods : The Search for the Original Tree of KnowledgeA Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution
Author: Terence McKenna
List Price: $21.50
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ISBN: 0553078682
Publisher: Bantam (01 February, 1992)
Sales Rank: 1,956,085
Average Customer Rating: 4.32 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
A valuble conribution to the field of anthropology
_Food of the Gods_ by Terence Mckenna is an excellent addition to anyone's "alternative anthropology" library. New ideas regarding the origins of intellegent life are always very interesting. Mckenna also has some valuble sociological insights regarding the history of drug abuse, and reminds us that sugar, coffee, and chocolate are potent psychoactive substances that are just as addictive and just as unhealthful as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or psilocybin. It is refreshing to see someone try to level the playing field with regards to drug use, and finally admit that almost every adult in the entire western world is highly dependent on a variety of different drugs. It seems that Mckenna is taking a step in the right direction from a civil rights standpoint by lessening the taboos associated with certain drugs that are associated with the counter-culture, while reminding us of the caffeine and sugar addiction epedemic that is going on right under our noses. This book made me realize that drugs which are widely accepted and advocated by civilized society are not that much different from those which are outlawed. Overall, this is a fascinating anthropological and counter-cultural manifesto. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Fascinating, Whether It's True or Not
Terence McKenna (Food of the Gods), Julian Jaynes (Evolution of Consciousness ...), Camille Paglia (Sexual Personae), and Ruth Eisner (Chalice & the Blade) all look at the same evidence, and come to radically different, but equally radical, conclusions about the origins of what we call civilization (while trying to keep a straight face). Reading all three is an interesting, fun, and maybe useful exercise in juggling different world views. Ask yourself: why did each of them see the same evidence differently?
Or, perhaps, it's just a matter of trying to make too much soup from too little stock. The reason we CALL prehistory "pre-history" is that there's so little history to work from, so each brilliant (or not) author gets to project their own interpretation of what they'd LIKE the evidence to mean. In McKenna's case, by the end of the book, it is obvious what he wants the evidence to mean. Terry McKenna wants us all to get off of what the Church of the SubGenius calls "Conspiracy Drugs," the ones that America got rich off of, like tobacco, caffeine, white sugar, distilled alcohol, and television. If we need to get high or drunk or trashed or whatever, he says that we need to go back to the drugs that first made human beings strong, fast, smart, sexy, and spiritual: organic psychedelics.
Of COURSE this is a weird and controversial view point. That's half the fun of this book. You know that only the trippers and the stoners are going to come out of the back end of this book fully convinced. But even if you're not one, you just mind find yourself a teensy bit convinced, and that, my friend, is a strange sensation. Besides, it's a rollicking fun read.
Rating: 5 out of 5
McKenna has a brilliant explanation for consciousness.
This man is a genius! In Food of the Gods, McKenna postulates that monkeys on a diet of mushrooms, or dipping for insects in mushrooms, ate psychoactive chemicals that eventually played a major part in the evolution of human consciousness.He then goes on to examine mushroom spores and there ability to leave the planet and travel intergalacticly in deep space frozen hibernation before landing on another planet. He describes the mushroom as the perfect vehicle for intergalactic travel and the spreading of consciousness.
SPACE MUSHROOMS!
The rest of the book is all about mankind's evolution with psychoactive plants by his side. Although he did get some things wrong in this book it was still cutting edge for its time and remains one of the most important thoughts on the topic to date. The world will also miss the man after his recently passing into that higher realm of consciousness.
Take this trip with Terence McKenna and expand your IQ.
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