Joe Rogan Experience #2047 - Brian Muraresku

Joe Rogan hosts Brian Muraresku for a wide-ranging conversation anchored in Muraresku's research on whether ancient Greeks and early Christians used psychedelic sacraments to find God. They discuss the ergot evidence found in beer chalices in Spain versus the lack of physical evidence at Eleusis, and the Vatican-preserved frescoes that blur pagan and Christian ritual. The talk branches into archaic hominins like Homo naledi and Homo erectus, the doubling of the human brain, animal intelligence, domestication, and Bigfoot skepticism. They also cover consciousness, DMT, AI's limits with creativity, health, supplementation, and fitness. Muraresku closes by announcing the Athanatos Foundation to fund archaeochemical testing of ancient vessels.

• Ergot was found inside beer chalices in helenistic Spain, but no such vessels have been found at Eleusis in mainland Greece.
  00:01:34
• Homo naledi, with a brain the size of an orange, appears to have intentionally buried its dead in a near-inaccessible cave 300,000 years ago.
  00:29:10
• Of ~10 miniature cups, only one tested positive for ergot, but ergot also turned up in a jawbone tooth, hinting at intentional consumption.
  02:36:16
• A Vatican-preserved 'Homeric Fresco' in a paleo-Christian hypogeum depicts Circe the witch, supporting Muraresku's 'Pagan continuity hypothesis.'
  03:02:47
• An Egyptian Bes vase from Tampa held a 'psychedelic blood cocktail' of blue water lily, Syrian rue, fermented grape, and human fluids.
  03:22:42
• Gavin Newsom vetoed a California psychedelic decriminalization bill, citing the absence of therapeutic and dosing guidelines.
  02:26:24
• Muraresku is launching the Athanatos Foundation to fund archaeochemist Andrew Koh's testing of thousands of ancient vessels at Yale.
  03:34:10

• Sharks predate trees, having existed roughly 50 million years before the first trees on land.
  01:19:33
• The American pronghorn antelope evolved to run ~60 mph to evade a now-extinct North American cheetah.
  00:25:29
• In World War I, Russians and Germans reportedly called a ceasefire to fight off wolves before resuming fighting.
  01:24:43
• The Russian farm-fox experiment produced dog-like domestication traits in roughly 10 generations; all dogs descend from wolves.
  01:29:25
• Homo naledi had small canines that may have been used for smiling rather than threatening, 300,000 years ago.
  01:36:44
• Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) is the only naturally caffeinated plant native to North America.
  03:31:33
• About 84% of people hospitalized with Covid reportedly had deficient vitamin D levels.
  01:57:37
• Crows manipulate rival cats into fights for sport, and a brainless Caribbean box jellyfish was shown able to learn.
  00:45:46

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