There can be little doubt that fluctuations in consciousness are a major contributing factor to beliefs in the supernatural. Although there are other aspects of mind that are also contributing factors (such as agency detection, theory of mind, causal sequencing, and pattern imposition), one thing that surely would have mystified or perplexed early modern humans [...]
Tags:Aborigines·altered states of consciousness·ASC·Bushmen·dreams·Dreamtime·hallucinations·Iroquois·Jesuit Relations·Plains Indians·psychotropics·San·trance·trance dance·visions
When fully modern humans left Africa, their journey is often described as the “colonization” or “peopling” of the world. Characterizing things this way can give rise to the mistaken impression that the journey out of Africa was unprecedented and unique. This of course ignores the fact that human ancestors pulsed out of Africa multiple times [...]
Tags:Aborigines·adaptive radiation·colonization·complex cognition·Iain Davidson·Jane Balme·language·migration·out of Africa·peopling of Australia·peopling of world·southern arc route·symbolism
The notion of binaries or opposites is deeply entrenched in Western culture and thought. Although it seems perfectly natural to perceive and categorize the world in terms of dichotomies (black-white, either-or), what seems natural is actually learned. Our teacher in this regard is Aristotle, who was so impressed by the Pythagorean Table of Opposites that [...]
Tags:Aborigines·Aristotle·binary·consciousness·David Lewis-Williams·dichotomy·dreams·Dreamtime·hypnagogia·Inside the Neolithic Mind·Lee Irwin·logic·Native American·Plains Indians·rationalism·Table of Opposites·unconsciousness·vision quest·visions
A recent study in the American Journal of Primatology examined chimp attacks on humans in Guinea, West Africa. There were not many — only 11 attacks, all non-fatal, between 1995 and 2009. Because chimps are often subject to human predation and eaten as bushmeat, one might expect that such attacks would be followed by swift [...]
Tags:Aboriginal·Aborigines·bonobo·bushmeat·chimp attacks·chimpanzees·chimps·Emile Durkheim·Guinea·Inside the Minds of Animals·Jeffrey Kluger·Kanzi·Kimberly Hocking·last common ancestor·totem beliefs·totemism·totems·West Africa
