In more contemporary terms, both Siegel and Samorini have argued that animals consume psychoactive plants because they promote “lateral thinking,” or problem solving through indirect and creative approaches. Lateral thinking involves big intuitive leaps between ideas. These are outside-the-box insights far more than iterative improvements, and much more difficult to achieve during normal waking consciousness. With our self forever standing guard over our ideas, crazy schemes and hare-brained notions tend to get filtered out long before they can become useful. But intoxication lessens those
...more
