Then (1992), Food of the Gods
McKenna's Ecological Argument: Psychedelics and the Environmental Crisis
McKenna argued that the suppression of psychedelic plants was inseparable from the destruction of nature, that a culture unable to experience the sacred in the natural world would inevitably destroy it. His claim: plant medicines teach ecological kinship in a way that no amount of environmental education can replicate. The Archaic Revival was simultaneously a cultural and ecological recovery.
partially-confirmed
Research on 'nature connectedness' as a psychological construct (Nisbet et al., 2009; Mayer & Frantz, 2004) has found that people with stronger felt connections to nature engage in more pro-environmental behavior. A 2017 survey study (Forstmann & Sagioglou, Journal of Psychopharmacology) found that lifetime psychedelic use was associated with more nature relatedness and pro-environmental behavior; it shows an association, not cause. A 2018 Imperial College study (Lyons & Carhart-Harris, Journal of Psychopharmacology) found nature relatedness rose and authoritarian attitudes fell after psilocybin in a small open-label sample of 7 patients compared with 7 controls. McKenna's claim, that psychedelics teach ecological kinship, has a growing empirical literature. The mechanism (reduced egocentric processing → expanded sense of self including nature) is consistent with REBUS model predictions.