There are some scholars — such as James McLenon and Stephen Sanderson, who contend that shamanic techniques of healing played in an important role in the evolution of religion. I tend to agree and discussed the issue in “Judge Not and Be Persuaded (or Healed):
“Essential to McClenon’s argument is that the people being treated by [...]
Entries Tagged as 'emotions'
Placebo Effects and Shamanic Healing
June 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Cognition and Religion, Emotions and Religion, Hunter-Gatherers and Religion, Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct, Shamans and Shamanism
Tags:Antonio Damasio·Christian Science·emotions·healing·health·hypnosis·Jaak Panksepp·James McLenon·placebo effect·placebos·shamanic healing·shamans·Stephen Sanderson·suggestion·Tor Wager
What is “Spirituality”?
June 7th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Classifications of Religion, Cognition and Religion, Definitions of Religion, Emotions and Religion, Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct
Over at HuffPo Religion, Kate Fridkis ponders the protean term “spirituality” and reasonably wonders what it means. It is pretty common these days to hear someone say they are not religious but instead are “spiritual.” When asked what they mean by this, the response often involves some combination of the following words: peace, harmony, bliss, [...]
Tags:absolute unitary being·Andrew Newberg·biology of belief·cognition·connection·cosmic consciousness·David Lewis-Williams·Dean Hamer·emotions·Eugene d'Aquili·feelings·Kate Fridkis·meditation·mystery·self dissolution·self transcendence·spiritual·spirituality·The God Gene·Why God Won't Go Away
“Fear of Spiders Can Develop Before Birth”
February 19th, 2010 · No Comments · Emotions and Religion
I must admit that when I saw the title of this article over at LiveScience, I was a bit skeptical and prematurely concluded the contents would be goofy. The picture in my head was something like this: “scientists show fetuses ultrasonic images of spiders and then image their brain activity using fMRI — the amygdala [...]
Why “Emotions and Religion”?
February 11th, 2010 · No Comments · Emotions and Religion
Though not the first to note that emotions and religion are inextricably linked, Sigmund Freud forcefully argued that religious belief is grounded in emotional or affective dysfunction. The Future of an Illusion remains a classic work in this vein. Freud’s ideas, unfortunately, carry with them a normative (and non-empirical) taint which makes them less persuasive [...]
Tags:emotions·Robert Fuller·Sigmund Freud·Spirituality in the Flesh