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Why is there shamanism? Developing the cultural evolutionary theory and addressing alternative accounts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2018

Manvir Singh
Manvir Singh*
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138. [email protected]://www.manvir.org
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Abstract

The commentators endorse the conceptual and ethnographic synthesis presented in the target article, suggest extensions and elaborations of the theory, and generalize its logic to explain apparently similar specializations. They also demand clarity about psychological mechanisms, argue against conclusions drawn about empirical phenomena, and propose alternative accounts for why shamanism develops. Here, I respond.

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Author's Response
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Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 41 , 2018 , e92
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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