Death and Evolution

[Exian]

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?

[Aoi Magi]

You are learning about biology on youtube from a guy on lsd?




But this does explain it. His experience sounds like how religious people experience 'spiritual awakening', so I guess the gland activates whenever the brain is about to die.

[Brian37]

This is simply another dumbfuck trying to mix science with superstition.

[Exian]

Haha No, I don't think Dusty was trying to teach biology or mix science with superstition. He mentioned the pineal gland thing in passing and I latched on to it. So, I think if anybody is the dumbfuck, it's probably me lol. I think the main point of his video was to show how people misinterpret certain experiences as spiritual. Really, I think he just wanted to take psychedelics on camera.

[abaris]

Really, I think he just wanted to take psychedelics on camera.

Or did he? I don't think he's stupid enough to make himself a target for the war on drugs. I watched his video too and thought he was just play acting to drive home his point.