Re: THEOLOGY: Extropianism & Theology & dopamine

Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
01 Mar 1999 21:49:05 +0100

newstrom@newstaffinc.com (Harvey Newstrom) writes:

> Actually, I think that it has been established that the earliest
> religious rituals had to do with hunting. Ritual dances were held with
> a shaman dressed in the animal skin, and a mock killing would occur.
>
> I believe that these rituals were actually practice. I think the shaman
> dressing in the animal skins would lead the others into the ritual of
> the hunt. They would be trained how to hunt, how to hide, how to sneak
> up on the kill.

Sounds quite close to sports psychology - visualization and simulation

> I have similar theories about agriculture religions evolving from the
> sky watchers who told people when it was time to plant, when it was time
> to harvest, and when it was time to store food. Those that obeyed the
> astrologers did better than those who did not listen to their
> predictions.

As far as I know, farmers tend to know that quite well without having to be told. But maybe this was a practical way of centralizing the meteorological tasks.

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
asa@nada.kth.se                            http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/
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