From that article, “In this case, the mushroom spores were eaten by cattle and expelled in their feces. When suitable temperature and humidity conditions were met, they sprouted on the dung and grew into mature mushrooms,” I wonder if cows get high when they eat the mushroom’s?! I also think our intrepid hiker knew exactly what he was frying up!
Generally cows dont eat their own feces… the spores wouldnt get them to hallucinate, the actual mushrooms in enough quantity most likely would. But again, most cows dont eat their own shit nor the contamination growing from.it.
Did a little Googling on this, very interesting results! Some animals are said to actively seek out various mushroom types and hallucinogenic plants possibly to get high. Good example on Reindeers! Magic mushrooms & Reindeer - Weird Nature - BBC animals - YouTube
Animals have consciousness and hallucinations. And psilocybin doesn’t only affect consciousness but also provoke hallucinations. What I don’t know is if cows have the right receptors for it (probably… yes?)
Yes, it is hard not to argue that all animals have some consciousness to different degrees. And it is certainly clear that different drugs can affect them in many ways that are similar to humans. Classic series of experiments from the sixties of drugging spiders with various drugged flies to see the effects on their web making. Which eerily parallel the effects seen in humans.
Lots of experiments since then of course. Squid are widely used to probe questions of consciousness for example. They even have similar sleep patterns to humans
I always find it fascinating how people come from the wierdest angles to study. Logic would have it that all animals are capable of thought and experience consciousness. This seems baseline common sense. I feel the need to study to prove this is an artifact from religious brainwashing, and has ignored millenia of otherwise more realistic human study and evolution. We really ought to be proving they dont have “human qualities” (that term is pretty gross really, but many people think our species is special in the realm of thought) and move forward. Humans are so damn ego centric it sometimes, perhaps often, even trumps true scientific pursuits.
As an aside, we liked getting bugs high when kids as well…seems cruel now as we already know they are indeed affected by certain chemicals and they most certainly are sentient.
Thanks for posting those, i havent read any of them. I really enjoy this field as it is so absurd to me how so many people think other life forms are merely rock like in their minds abilities.
Edit. Holy smokes, i just googled it to read some reviews…first thing that came up was eslite online ordering. Sometimes i do actually like technology prevailing. There are these rare occasions.