Jack Hunter
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol
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Abstract:
Can science see spirits? Anthropologist Jack Hunter examines
the few attempts that havebeen made at neurophysiological studies
of spirit mediums.
Spirit mediumship is a complex, near
universal phenomenon (see Talking With the Spirits: Ethnographies
from Between the Worlds for a cross-cultural snapshot of just a few
of the world’s mediumship traditions), which, despite over 130
years of investigation from psychical research and the social sciences
more generally, continues to evade scholarly attempts to pin it down
and neatly explain it.
Countless attempts have been made, however, from the debunkers who
suggest that all mediumship is a mixture of fraud and delusion, to
the social anthropologists who argue that spirit mediumship is a purely
social phenomenon, performing specific social functions, and certain
parapsychologists who suggest that spirit mediumship offers proof
of survival after death. And yet, none of the theories that have been
put forward quite seem able to offer a fully satisfying explanation
for what is going on.
I. Neuroimaging Studies
Spirit mediumship is a complex, near
universal phenomenon (see Talking With the Spirits: Ethnographies
from Between the Worlds for a cross-cultural snapshot of just a few
of the world's mediumship traditions), which, despite over 130 years
of investigation from psychical research and the social sciences more
generally, continues to evade scholarly attempts to pin it down and
neatly explain it. Countless attempts have been made, however, from
the debunkers who suggest that all mediumship is a mixture of fraud
and delusion, to the social anthropologists who argue that spirit
mediumship is a purely social phenomenon, performing specific social
functions, and certain parapsychologists who suggest that spirit mediumship
offers proof of survival after death. And yet, none of the theories
that have been put forward quite seem able to offer a fully satisfying
explanation for what is going on.
In this series of short articles I would like to highlight some of
the reasons why spirit mediumship is such a difficult phenomenon to
get a grip on through outlining some of the research that has been
conducted, and pointing out gaps in our understanding of the underlying
processes. This first article will present an overview of the, really
rather sparse, neuroimaging data on spirit mediumship, and will briefly
discuss what it does and doesn't tell us about the phenomenon.
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artigo completo -
Fonte: Published on The Daily Grail
(http://dailygrail.com) - http://dailygrail.com/Guest-Articles/2014/5/Can-Science-See-Spirits
- https://www.academia.edu/9939012/Can_Science_See_Spirits_Spirit_Mediumship_A_Complex_Phenomenon_
Leiam de Jack Hunter:
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Anthropology & the Supernatural: From Spirits to Consciousness
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Beyond Castaneda: A Brief History of Psychedelics in Anthropology
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"Between Realness and Unrealness": Anthropology, Parapsychology and
the Ontology of Non-Ordinary Realities
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Can Science See Spirits?
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Contemporary Physical Mediumship: Is it Part of a Continuous Tradition?
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Definitions, Origins, Functions and Experiences: Trends in the Anthropology
of the Supernatural from Tylor to Turner
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Music and Altered States of Consciousness in Shamanism and Spirit Possession:
An Overview of the Literature
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Numinous Conversations: Performance and the Manifestation of Spirits in Spirit
Possession Practices
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"Spirits are the Problem": Anthropology and Conceptualising Spiritual
Beings
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Talking With the Spirits: Anthropology and Interpreting Spirit Communicator
Leiam de Jack Hunter; Joey M. Caswell, Lucas W.E. Tessaro :
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Phenomenological Convergence between Major Paradigms of Classic Parapsychology
and Cross-Cultural Practices: An Exploration of Paranthropology
topo
