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Shamanism and efficacious exceptionalism.

Aaron D Blackwell, Benjamin Grant Purzycki

Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2018 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x1700200x (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Topics Shamanism
Keywords Cultural evolution
Key points Argues that shamanic healing can be effective through botanical remedies and cognitive strengths in observation and advice, and that shamanic strangeness may act as an honest signal of these qualities. Proposes that this efficacy influences whether shamanic practices spread, persist, or are lost.

Abstract

Shamans can have efficacy at healing through botanical remedies and in observational and advisory functions through cognitive strengths, while shamanic acts of strangeness are likely honest signals of these qualities. Given this potential for shamanic practices to have true efficacy and the capacity for honest signaling, we expect efficacy will influence the spread, persistence, and loss of shamanic practices.

Comparable studies

Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond 2014 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology 2004 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California 1998 Theoretical or philosophical paper
From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press 2020 Historical analysis
Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation 2010 Reflective essay or personal narrative

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