Figured we could compile a list of our favorite, most inspiring and intelligent "visionary thinkers"... it doesn't matter what discipline or area they work in, whether it be psychedelics, psychology, sociology, science, botany, etc. I'm always looking for "big ideas" and powerful, intellectually stimulating concepts. Figured this could be a space where we could turn one another onto some of the more interesting authors, orators, scientists, philosophers, and so on and so forth... I guess this can be pretty much anyone that you dig on a personal level, but if possible I want to try to slant this particular thread towards the more revolutionary thinkers who's work and ideas are helping to shatter old paradigms and usher in new ones. I'll start with a couple of my favorite (also a couple of the most obvious): Terence McKenna: What can I say about McKenna? Psychedelic enthusiast, philosopher, scholar, poet, orator, author, techno-optimist, Logos laser... I've been a fan for quite some time and I'd have to say I don't think anybody else has stuck with me the way that Terence has. I've been listening to him (literally) daily for years on end now, and I've slowly come to devour every last bit of his written/spoken work. McKenna in one word? Powerful Robert Anton Wilson: Agnostic mystic, futurist, innovator, psychologist, skeptic, author, researcher/investigator, Discordian, humanist etc. A man capable of catapulting the mind into new and entirely novel dimensions. His work tends to be a little more accessible than some of the other more specialized/niched thinkers on this list. Paul Stamets: Absolute visionary mycologist with ingenious strategies for using fungi for mycoremediation (breaking down toxic waste and pollutants), mycofiltration (using mycelia as a filter to catch and reduce silt and pathogens in water sources), mycopesticides (which are exactly what they sound like), and mycoforestry (using fungi to produce soil, enhance the quality of existing soil and increase the diversity of living organisms within it, thereby enhancing the health and viability of our forests). Highly recommended to anyone with even the slightest interest in fungi. So there's a few to get us started... Now it's your turn. Let's inspire one another to think big. Who are your favorite visionary thinkers?
