Hunters and gatherers

Unusual Beliefs
1

the old people lived off the land…early man was hunters and gatherers…wow…how far we’ve come.

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2

We are evolving at an exponential rate

Maybe I will see the singularity in my lifetime. Doubt it tho

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3

As a schizophrenic i think id rather be a shaman in a stone age tribe than what i am now in the 21st century.

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4

You realize you were 99% more likely to be put to a painful death for possession by evil spirits, right? A lot of SZs have this romantic notion that we were respected in the past. That is wrong. We really weren’t.

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No Ozy i think youre mistaken. I mean living in a stone age tribe such as native american or similar. Like the way humankind has lived for 99% of its history. Yes i do think shamans were respected in these tribes, maybe you can give evidence to the contrary?

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Gee, I dunno, I guess I’ll just have to rely on what the Native Elders who maintain the oral history for their tribes have told me about this (I have a LOT of indigenous friends through AA). And that is profoundly mentally ill people were often sent out into the wilderness because they were a drain on their tribes.

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I have read a bit saying that amongst ancient norse vikings people who exhibited signs of psychosis were sometimes thought of as having contact with other worlds and sometimes trained to hone it by elders with the same issues. Sometimes taught to become beserkers too. But i dont think this is how it was always in all tribes. Sz is just too debilitating usually. Obvioustly during times of majority abrahamic religion it was definitely seen as a very bad thing like demon possesion and stuff. But anyway i dont want to get this thread shut down for religion stuff so ill leave it at that.

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8

Ok ive not heard of this before, it could depend on what exactly is meant by ‘profound mental illness.’ This could mean other disabilities beside sz such as autism and intellectual disability. What tribes are you talking about, the inuits?

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It is interesting how in some older cultures, people suffering with things like sz and the like would usually come out of the psychosis naturally eventually. Since meds and psychiatry werent a thing until recently. So it was that or die.

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Blackfoot, Cree, and Metis are the ones I am most familiar with because I live in their territories and hang out with a bunch. Profoundly mentally ill is someone who is cannot provide for the tribe or for themselves. People who are very delusional usually aren’t good at bringing home the bacon. Most tribal leaders were those who were skilled with politics or who came from the right breeding.

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A shaman or medicine man has several important roles in a tribe. Contact with dead ancestors, healing the sick and prophesying. Its not their role to bring home the bacon.

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You’re not getting it. They were not functional enough to serve in these roles. Psychotic illness is too debilitating so they were very often just expelled. I know everyone wants to think this illness has made us special and treasured at some point, but it generally has not.

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13

I respectfully disagree with you. Also from what ive read, a pychotic person when becoming a practicing shaman, actually becomes mentally healthier. Their psychosis is known as ‘shaman sickness’ and this is cured once they become a practicing shaman. Youll probably smell bs with what ive just said, and im not going to argue anymore its late here.

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The moment that gets a thread closed. Take this to Reddit next time, it has no place here.

v.

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