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Tim Miller's avatar

Very interesting!

Innomen's avatar

Thank you. I thought so. :)

Yuji's avatar

The juvenile-detection hypothesis is brillaint - it explains why the hallucinations are so consistent across observers. I work with perceptual systems and the idea that the fungus is essentially feeding species-specific templates back through mammalian care circuitry is elegant. The testability matters too. Have you seen any follow-up on cross-species behavorial comparisons? The dog versus heterospecific miniature test seems straightfoward enough that someone should run it.

Innomen's avatar

You know your framing made me realize this fungi might simply have been aiming for what amounts to hallucinogenic oxytocin.

I wonder how people feel on this stuff. Apart from the visions.

Innomen's avatar

No this is all theoretical and isolated for me. Basically just a thought experiment at this point. Please pass the paper/idea along anywhere you think might be helpful.

Wanna talk a bit more about your work? Thanks for the read and comment :)