Review by Paul Little
Jack Hunter is an anthropologist and is the founder and general editor of the peer reviewed journal paranthropology. His ebook attempts to answer the question of why and how people believe in spirits, gods and magic from a social anthropology point of view. It provides an overview of supernatural traditions and practices around the world. The author also explores anthropological interpretations of supernatural and spiritual experiences, including the paranormal experiences of the anthropologists themselves when they are doing fieldwork. As a PhD candidate whose scientific interests clearly fall within the field of the spiritual and paranormal Jack has managed to get quite a few publications under his belt. This latest ebook is a rather endearing and level headed, objective (scientific) review of the anthropological basis for visions, spirituality and mysticism.
Essentially, the theory goes, we are the children of evolution and it has been a significant advantage to our ancestors to develop acute senses that can recognize danger, threat and predators lurking in the bushes. It is not much of a leap to understand that these same ancestors were better off seeing a threat one time too often than not seeing the predator that was there on one occasion. This bias towards a slight over sensitivity and the general lack of negative evolutionary consequences caused by false positive response (sic seeing imagined threats) makes us what we are today. We see simulacra in trees and on rocks and when the sun shines in a certain way shadows catch out attention; we take note very quickly of anything that is unusual or different to our concept of normal. None of this is helped by the plethora of natural agents, and latterly synthetic agents that can ‘broaden the mind’.
As Voltaire said “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.” In one sense it could be hypothesized that rituals lead to religion because questions “why do we bury the dead?” will lead inevitably to answers relying on current interpretation of the world and the afterlife. Jack Hunter’s work takes us neatly through the development of the study of the paranormal as an anthropological discipline. More importantly the development of shared beliefs leads to social cohesion and from there no doubt the seeds of inter-societal animosity.
This is not to say that the supernatural or paranormal is not real, merely that there is a serious point to be made that once we started to control the environment around us and communicate on a higher level it became inevitable that we began to consider and find answers to questions that lay beyond the normal pattern of daily life.
Hunter describes a detailed analysis of multiple societies and cultures and even though conveying belief systems as being inevitable he does not propose that they are necessarily incorrect or that the individual experiences were not real or felt...Hunter seems open to the possibility of any of the experiences being real...Hunter’s work expands the feeling of wonder at the diversity of the inexplicable...
http://littleebookreviews.com/2013/08/28/book-reviews-head-to-head/
Essentially, the theory goes, we are the children of evolution and it has been a significant advantage to our ancestors to develop acute senses that can recognize danger, threat and predators lurking in the bushes. It is not much of a leap to understand that these same ancestors were better off seeing a threat one time too often than not seeing the predator that was there on one occasion. This bias towards a slight over sensitivity and the general lack of negative evolutionary consequences caused by false positive response (sic seeing imagined threats) makes us what we are today. We see simulacra in trees and on rocks and when the sun shines in a certain way shadows catch out attention; we take note very quickly of anything that is unusual or different to our concept of normal. None of this is helped by the plethora of natural agents, and latterly synthetic agents that can ‘broaden the mind’.
As Voltaire said “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.” In one sense it could be hypothesized that rituals lead to religion because questions “why do we bury the dead?” will lead inevitably to answers relying on current interpretation of the world and the afterlife. Jack Hunter’s work takes us neatly through the development of the study of the paranormal as an anthropological discipline. More importantly the development of shared beliefs leads to social cohesion and from there no doubt the seeds of inter-societal animosity.
This is not to say that the supernatural or paranormal is not real, merely that there is a serious point to be made that once we started to control the environment around us and communicate on a higher level it became inevitable that we began to consider and find answers to questions that lay beyond the normal pattern of daily life.
Hunter describes a detailed analysis of multiple societies and cultures and even though conveying belief systems as being inevitable he does not propose that they are necessarily incorrect or that the individual experiences were not real or felt...Hunter seems open to the possibility of any of the experiences being real...Hunter’s work expands the feeling of wonder at the diversity of the inexplicable...
http://littleebookreviews.com/2013/08/28/book-reviews-head-to-head/