During a CultofDusty video in which he smokes DMT, he mentions that DMT may be (not verified) released by the pineal gland at death. The idea being a sense of peace washes over you as you fade into oblivion, helping you deal with your death.
My first thought was (regardless of this being at all true)- If the pineal gland does assist in our death, how did we/would we go about evolving this ability that occurs at death; after reproduction or before reproduction? Is there a work-around for death?
Let's say a being somewhere in our evolutionary history contains a genetic mutation that doesn't seem to effect it- good nor bad, and the mutation goes unnoticed. The being reproduces, passing on the mutation, and at death gets a pleasant surprise as it is soothed by a chemical in its brain. So, the work-around here is that the mutation has no ill-effects impeding on the being's ability to reproduce. Is this sound?
Another thought that crossed my mind- Would constant near death situations be enough pressure to force the acceptance of this mutation? I guess a better way to ask this would be- Is there a clear benefit (not actually dying) to reacting to near death with acceptance rather than some other way (panic)?
And kind of a mind fuck "what if"- What if we developed a mutation that caused us no harm, but at death we just shit our pants with inescapable terror? How would evolution weed that out? And what might have prevented that?
My first thought was (regardless of this being at all true)- If the pineal gland does assist in our death, how did we/would we go about evolving this ability that occurs at death; after reproduction or before reproduction? Is there a work-around for death?
Let's say a being somewhere in our evolutionary history contains a genetic mutation that doesn't seem to effect it- good nor bad, and the mutation goes unnoticed. The being reproduces, passing on the mutation, and at death gets a pleasant surprise as it is soothed by a chemical in its brain. So, the work-around here is that the mutation has no ill-effects impeding on the being's ability to reproduce. Is this sound?
Another thought that crossed my mind- Would constant near death situations be enough pressure to force the acceptance of this mutation? I guess a better way to ask this would be- Is there a clear benefit (not actually dying) to reacting to near death with acceptance rather than some other way (panic)?
And kind of a mind fuck "what if"- What if we developed a mutation that caused us no harm, but at death we just shit our pants with inescapable terror? How would evolution weed that out? And what might have prevented that?
