Great apes reach momentary altered mental states by spinning.
Primates; journal of primatology May 1, 2023 Adriano R Lameira, Marcus Perlman 7 citations
Humans are uniquely skilled at deliberately inducing altered states of mind, a practice evident since early civilization, but its role in the evolution of the human mind is debated. While psychoactive substances are common today, it is unclear if pre-human ancestors used them. With great apes retired from medical research, researchers analyzed YouTube videos of apes spinning ropes during solitary play. Apes spun at speeds comparable to human practices like Sufi whirling, and the number of revolutions predicted behavioral signs of dizziness. Spinning thus provides a self-sufficient method for altering body-mind responsiveness in hominids, suggesting a shared proclivity for such experiences between humans and great apes and offering a new avenue for studying altered states in human evolution.