'More evolved than you': Evolutionary spirituality as a cultural frame for psychedelic experiences.
Front Psychol March 27, 2023 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1103847 via PubMed Central
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA dominant cultural frame for psychedelics over the last 130 years has been evolutionary spirituality, which holds that human evolution is unfinished and can be guided toward creating higher beings through techniques like psychedelics and eugenics or genetic modification. This essay defines that tradition and identifies five ethical limitations: spiritual narcissism, contempt for the less-evolved masses, Social Darwinism and Malthusianism, spiritual eugenics, and illiberal utopian politics. It then suggests responses to these limitations, questioning whether evolution is for everyone or only an elite.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness Mysticism |
| Keywords | Psychedelics Psychedelic experiences Hallucinogens Entheogens Altered states |
| Citations | 12 |
| Key finding | The essay defines the tradition of evolutionary spirituality in relation to psychedelics and points to five ethical limitations of that tradition. |
Abstract
One of the dominant cultural frames for psychedelics in western culture over last 130 years has been evolutionary spirituality. This tradition suggests human evolution is not finished and can be guided towards the creation of higher beings through such techniques as psychedelics and eugenics or genetic modification. But is everyone evolving into a new species, or just an elite? This essay defines the tradition of evolutionary spirituality and points to five of the ethical limitations of the tradition - its tendency to spiritual narcissism, contempt for the less-evolved masses, Social Darwinism and Malthusianism, spiritual eugenics, and illiberal utopian politics-before suggesting responses to these limitations.