manvir singh

Strategy and experience required: Social learning cannot explain the varieties of supernatural belief Published in Religion, Brain & Behavior (Ahead of Print, 2025)

New commentary out w/ @manvir.bsky.social
in Religion, Brain, and Behavior! We argue that social learning fails to explain three patterns in religious belief and practice: SBNR beliefs, strategic endorsement of beliefs, and religious experience. Check it out:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Honored to have been interviewed for this week's issue of @currentbiology.bsky.social!

Manvir Singh Interview with Manvir Singh, who studies the evolutionary and cognitive origins of human cultural behaviors at the University of California, Davis.

From burying beetles to shamans, follow Manvir Singh @manvir.bsky.social in his sweeping Q&A from our latest issue.

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Join us for the first lecture in our Cultural Analytics Talk Series, co-sponsored w/ @ucbids.bsky.social!

@manvir.bsky.social will discuss projects investigating global patterns in music & storytelling.

📅 Oct. 3, 12:15 - 1:30 pm
📍 210 South Hall, Online

www.ischool.berkeley.edu/events/2025/...

A reminder that the deadline for commentary proposals for my new BBS paper is tomorrow!

An honor of publishing with BBS is having thoughtful colleagues engage with one's work, and I can't wait to see y'all what think.

Details: www.hmnh.harvard.edu/event/shaman...

I'm giving a free book talk next Wednesday at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Come by if you're in the Boston area!

Mike Jay · Priest of the Devil: On Shamanism ‘Shamanism’, as a concept, is of course a Western invention, and from the earliest cross-cultural encounters it was...

‘One veteran shaman, returning from his first experience performing at a top-dollar eco-lodge, asked the ayahuasca researcher Stephan Beyer why these people had come halfway round the world to see him when they weren’t sick.’

@mikejay.bsky.social on shamanism: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Mike Jay · Priest of the Devil: On Shamanism ‘Shamanism’, as a concept, is of course a Western invention, and from the earliest cross-cultural encounters it was...

Thrilled to see this mammoth review of "Shamanism" in
@lrb.co.uk from master drug historian @mikejay.bsky.social!

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

I've called this process "subjective selection" and argue that it drives much of cultural evolution, including the predictable development of these complex near-universal practices & beliefs.

Download: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Call for commentaries: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The crux: For >100 yrs, functional explanations of culture have prioritized objective benefits (e.g., ritual X persists b/c it promotes cohesion). But this focus is misplaced. Traditions evolve foremost as people craft & retain traditions that appear to best satisfy their goals.

Why do societies reliably develop strikingly similar traditions like dance songs, hero stories, shamanism & justice institutions?

In a new BBS target article, I propose a theory for such "super-attractors" + cultural evolution more broadly. Now open for commentary: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

BBS just announced a call for commentaries on @manvir.bsky.social's target article, "Subjective selection, super-attractors, and the origins of the cultural manifold"
Deadline is Sep 10!
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Thank you for reading the book! And for posting your thoughts about it. I'm glad that you've enjoyed it and found it useful.

Super fun having @manvir.bsky.social on the podcast (again)!

I strongly recommend his new book—especially if you like your non-fiction laced with personal narrative, quirky characters, & history of ideas.

Glad you enjoyed it!!

Book cover of Shamanism: The Timeless Religion by Manvir Singh

I really enjoyed Manvir Singh's Shamanism: The Timeless Religion. Addictive listen and great mix of anthropology, history, and religion.

Thank you, @kensycoop.bsky.social, for having me on! We had a great conversation about shamanism—its cognitive foundations, place in Paleolithic societies, role in Abrahamic religions, manifestations in industrialized societies (including hedge wizards), and much more.

YouTube video by The Dissenter #362 Manvir Singh: Shamanism, Witchcraft, Religion, and Music

I loved this interview about shamanism with @manvir.bsky.social

It offers *such* a radically different perspective on why we see shamans all over the world entering altered states of consciousness that one might call "trance"

youtu.be/Ijf8cNBgztA @thedissenteryt.bsky.social

Arvio: Shamaanit ja saarnaajat eivät ole kaukana toisistaan

Arvio: Shamaanit ja saarnaajat eivät ole kaukana toisistaan

The anthropologist who says shamanism works, even if you don’t believe Shamanism is on the rise, both in practice and in popular culture. Manvir Singh has spent years exploring why it is so enduring, what we can learn from it and the surprising forms modern shamans take

Shamanism is on the rise, both in practice and in popular culture. Manvir Singh has spent years exploring why it is so enduring, what we can learn from it and the surprising forms modern shamans take.

omg so cool

Why I Wear the Turban The headwear is burdened by stereotypes—but it can carry, too, the pleasures of self-invention.

My newest essay is about wearing a turban: what it means to me, what others assume about it, and why the most personally meaningful symbols can also feel the most burdensome. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Shamanism and psychedelics: 5 Questions for Manvir Singh Singh discusses convergences between shamanism and psychedelics, and their role in modern spirituality.

(23) Shamanism and psychedelics: 5 Questions for Manvir Singh themicrodose.substack.com/p/shamanism-...

Why I Wear the Turban The headwear is burdened by stereotypes—but it can carry, too, the pleasures of self-invention.

According to one study, nearly 80 per cent of Sikh boys with head coverings in the U.S. report being bullied. Manvir Singh writes about why he wears a turban.

I'm speaking about my book, "Shamanism: The Timeless Religion," tomorrow in NYC at the Society for Ethical Culture. Come if you're around!

Details and free RSVP here: ethical.nyc/events/books...

Shamanism by Manvir Singh | Review | Spirituality & Practice A study of the psychological origins of all religion.

An important new book by Sikh author and PhD anthropologist, Manvir Singh. Very interesting how he makes clear that shamanism remains evident in religious practice all over the world. My review here: www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews...

Thank you, Roope!!

Thank you, Pat!! 🫶🏾

I also really enjoyed @manvir.bsky.social 's book!
If you like it, it helps if you can leave a review (Amazon, Audible, etc.). Here's mine: