'More evolved than you': Evolutionary spirituality as a cultural frame for psychedelic experiences.
Frontiers in Psychology March 27, 2023 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1103847 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness Mysticism |
| Keywords | Psychedelics Psychedelic experiences Hallucinogens Entheogens Altered states Spirituality Spiritual evolution Spiritual growth Inner journey Personal growth Self-improvement Self-actualization Transformation Human potential Personal development Expanded consciousness Awareness Mind |
| Citations | 12 |
| Key points | Argues that the evolutionary spirituality tradition, which frames psychedelics as tools for guided human evolution, has five ethical limitations including spiritual narcissism, contempt for the less-evolved, Social Darwinism, spiritual eugenics, and illiberal utopian politics. |
Abstract
One of the dominant cultural frames for psychedelics in western culture over last 130 years has been evolutionary spirituality. This tradition suggests human evolution is not finished and can be guided towards the creation of higher beings through such techniques as psychedelics and eugenics or genetic modification. But is everyone evolving into a new species, or just an elite? This essay defines the tradition of evolutionary spirituality and points to five of the ethical limitations of the tradition - its tendency to spiritual narcissism, contempt for the less-evolved masses, Social Darwinism and Malthusianism, spiritual eugenics, and illiberal utopian politics-before suggesting responses to these limitations.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on altered states of consciousness, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altered States of Consciousness | 1966 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death | 1969 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| A neurophenomenological approach to non-ordinary states of consciousness: hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Hypnotic phenomena and altered states of consciousness: a multilevel framework of description and explanation | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- Navigating groundlessness: An interview study on dealing with ontological shock and existential distress following psychedelic experiences. PLoS One 2025
- TESCREAL hallucinations: Psychedelic and AI hype as inequality engines Journal of Psychedelic Studies September 25, 2023
- Psychedelics and New Materialism: Challenging the Science–Spirituality Binary and the Onto-Epistemological Order of Modernity Religions July 22, 2025
- Learning from boundlessness: epistemic shifts towards a holistic worldview following psychedelic experiences npj Mental Health Research January 29, 2026
- Learning from Boundlessness: Psychedelic induced awe and epistemic shifts towards a holistic worldview Research Square March 31, 2025
and 1 more in the library