Study that 'Sherman' with superhuman ability was the first 'expert' in human history

by Just Marti

Regarding the existence of "Sherman", though some sort of magical image is thought of, such as spiritual existence and acting celestial figure and dancing of prayer, somehow there are many people who do not know well in detail. It is pointed out by research that a shaman that manipulates such a supernatural power can be said to be the first "intellectual professional class" in human society.

Study suggests shamans acted as the first professional class in human society - Harvard Gazette
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/12/study-suggests-shamans-acted-as-the-first-professional-class-in-human-society/

A paper published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences by a graduate student studying human evolutionary biology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences , gathers commentary from researchers in many fields, while shamanism moves to an important position as an expert in the community We insist on developing it.

Originally a shaman is a prayer, a sorcerer, a saint, a prophet, etc., but the way of calling is varied, but in general it is common to "go to supernatural parts and use surreal power to bring change to reality It is understood to be "existence". This concept of Sherman crosses all cultural boundaries from tropical rainforest hunter gatherer tribes to people living in modern cities.

Mr. Shin stated that the problem of "what is shaman?" Is a very controversial anthropological challenge, but as a general perception Sherman is "to provide services to the community, heterogeneous Presence in a kind of transformer state that shows behavior and psychological state ". According to Mr. Shin, they are able to cure diseases, purify the evil spirit and manipulate the weather.

by tommy

Mr. Shin says that people tend to want to believe the ability of Sherman to control uncertainties such as weather and magical ceremonies as a background to the development of shamanism in the community. People believe that important but uncertain things to rain, summon animals and cure diseases are affected by invisible forces, such as gods, witches, ancestors, fairies, and so on. Sherman in such way says, "Because I can talk to fairies and gods, I can control supernatural things."

It seems that the community believes in such a capability of Sherman comes from the image that Sherman is involved in supernatural power by transforming into something more than a human being. When the shaman dances for hours and becomes exhausted, it is understood that it enters a transformer state and becomes a transcendental existence of mankind. Mr. Shin uses the story of a superhero as an example and tries to believe that people tend to believe those who turn into superhuman beings.

As a remarkable point, Mr. Shin emphasizes, "Sherman is a biologically or physiologically different kind of existence." They are not human beings with superhuman powers, they seem to become different kinds from human beings in relation to supernatural. Mr. Shin asserts that this transformation process will help explain how Sherman became the first intellectual vocational class in human society.

Mr. Shin explains that expertise here is distinguished from moderate expertise such as "artisan making canoe" and "talent for making bow" seen in small society. Some members of the community may have talent to make canoes and bows, but there is no entry barrier to prevent others from making their own canoes and bows. For Sherman, on the other hand, in order to become a shaman you have to go through a change ceremony and it is impossible to say, "It is not an expert (shaman) but can handle power". In that sense, Sherman seems to be said to have acquired extremely professional intellectual occupation class for the first time in human history.

Mr. Shin said that he would like to explore in what way the various powers claimed by Sherman to demonstrate its supernatural capabilities in the community in the future research. He also seems to be working on understanding why modern cultural practices such as music and magic belief develop.