manvir singh
@manvir.bsky.social
anthropologist at uc davis. contributing writer at the new yorker. author of SHAMANISM: THE TIMELESS RELIGION (knopf + allen lane).
Why do humans punish? Our new paper, with @manvir.bsky.social, is out in Psychological Science! With experiments in a small-scale society (Mentawai) & the US, we test whether punitive cognition evolved to deter wrongdoing or restore fairness. link: tinyurl.com/msrmu7cc pdf: tinyurl.com/mvprz8fb
Psilocybin mushrooms are found worldwide, yet I have long argued (based on direct evidence) that traditional use is confined to Mesoamerica. I was wrong! In a new paper led by @eselster.bsky.social, we document Indigenous psilocybin mushroom use—potentially very old—in highland southern Africa.
Eli Stark-Elster@eselster.bsky.social · 3mo agoPeople claim that psychedelics have been used by Indigenous groups around the world for millennia. But clear evidence of serotonergic psychedelic use has long been confined to the Americas. Until now. Here, we document clear evidence of Indigenous psilocybin use in Lesotho. 🍄 osf.io/preprints/so...
Monotheism has swept the world in just a few thousand years, making it one of the most important cultural innovations in human history. In this week's New Yorker, I offer an explanation for what makes it so powerful. (It's not about belief in one god.) www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
How God Got So Great
What monotheism means is surprisingly hard to pin down, but there’s a reason it swept the world.
newyorker.com
Just came across this map from the CDC, which contains possibly the most confusing color scheme I have ever seen in a figure. Source: www.cdc.gov/sleep/data-r...
I had a wonderful time speaking to Tanay and Jay from the Cognitations podcast about why Pleistocene human societies were much more diverse—including being larger, more sedentary, and more hierarchical—than is often assumed. Check it out!!
The Cognitations podcast@cognitations.bsky.social · 6mo ago🎙️ EP #19 Think our ancestors lived in a state of "primitive communism"? New research reveals our deep past was far more complex than the "noble savage" myth suggests. @adigitaltanay.bsky.social & Jay explore this & much more with @manvir.bsky.social youtu.be/1BRZy9O665k?...
What can shamanism teach us about religion -- and the human mind? What a pleasure to share this excellent conversation to the listeners of On Humans! The hard work was done by @manymindspod.bsky.social and @manvir.bsky.social 🙏 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4nhm3fG... Apple 👇
What Can Shamans Teach Us About Religion? | Many Minds with Manvir Singh
Podcast Episode · On Humans · 01/21/2026 · Bonus · 1h 20m
podcasts.apple.com
How experience shapes extraordinary beliefs Review by Eli Stark-Elster (@eselster.bsky.social) & Manvir Singh (@manvir.bsky.social) tinyurl.com/y9dbwaa5
My favourite chapter so far in @manvir.bsky.social ‘s compelling new book is the one on the oracles of finance. Highly recommended.
In a new article for @us.theconversation.com, I explain our new perspective on how experience shapes extraordinary beliefs -- a good piece to read if you want the quick and dirty deets! theconversation.com/flat-earth-s...
Flat Earth, spirits and conspiracy theories – experience can shape even extraordinary beliefs
Conspiracy thinking, supernatural beliefs and pseudoscience can seem impervious to evidence. An anthropologist suggests the opposite: Extraordinary beliefs may be supported by an individual’s experien...
theconversation.com
Why do people endorse seemingly extraordinary beliefs such as in pseudoscience & supernatural entities? Leading approaches stress cognitive biases (like agency detection) & social dynamics (like signaling). Eli Stark-Elster & I argue that experience matters too & put fwd a framework explaining how.
Eli Stark-Elster@eselster.bsky.social · 8mo agoIn a new Review for @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social -- and my first first-authored paper! -- @manvir.bsky.social and I argue that experience shapes the emergence and evolution of seemingly extraordinary beliefs. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Shamans have always been with us. This week, we explore how shamanism works with @manvir.bsky.social and why forms of it pop up in some surprising places, from modern medicine and CEO culture to charismatic Christianity. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
Last month, the Cultural Analytics Lecture series, a collab b/w @ucbids.bsky.social and the I School, kicked off w/ a lecture from @manvir.bsky.social, where he shared his findings on global patterns in music and storytelling. Read about the event: 👇 tinyurl.com/3de3khzd
For this week’s New Yorker (and in celebration of Halloween!), I wrote about how fictional monsters have gone from mean and horrendous to humanized and misunderstood.
The New Yorker@newyorker.com · 9mo agoIn the past few decades, monsters have gone from menaces to misfits. Why do we feel the need to humanize them? https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/ixYof5
Patterns recur through various mythologies: floods, tricksters, battles with monsters, creation and apocalypse. Some scholars believe there is a common source—and hope to find it.
The Hunt for the World’s Oldest Story
From thunder gods to serpent slayers, scholars are reconstructing myths that vanished millennia ago. How much further can we go—and what might we find?
newyorker.com
My newest for The New Yorker! I wrote about the project, centuries-old and surprisingly successful at times, of recovering lost mythologies that still resonate in modern storytelling.
The New Yorker@newyorker.com · 10mo agoPatterns recur through various mythologies: floods, tricksters, battles with monsters, creation and apocalypse. Some scholars believe there is a common source—and hope to find it.
Hugely honored to be the inaugural guest on the Minds Over Matters Podcast! We talked about my book and the timeless and ubiquitous echoes of shamanism. Watch our conversation, in glorious 1080p, here:
Minds Over Matters@mindsovermatters.bsky.social · 10mo agoWe're kicking things off with evolutionary anthropologist Dr. Manvir Singh for a fascinating conversation about a phenomenon that repeatedly appears across human cultures: shamanism. But why is this the case? What is shamanism? Why does it repeatedly develop across societies? Join us to find out.
Excited to speak with Prof. Charles Stang tomorrow (Wednesday, October 15th) about my new book, "Shamanism: The Timeless Religion"! The conversation is sponsored by Harvard's Center for the Study of World Religions and will take place at 10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern. Join live here: shorturl.at/Holy8
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....
Strategy and experience required: Social learning cannot explain the varieties of supernatural belief
Published in Religion, Brain & Behavior (Ahead of Print, 2025)
tandfonline.com
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...
Manvir Singh
Interview with Manvir Singh, who studies the evolutionary and cognitive origins of human cultural behaviors at the University of California, Davis.
cell.com
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.
manvir singh@manvir.bsky.social · 12mo agoWhy 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...
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!
‘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...
lrb.co.uk
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...
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...
lrb.co.uk
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...
Call for Commentary Proposals - Subjective selection, super-attractors, and the
Call for Commentary Proposals - Subjective selection, super-attractors, and the origins of the cultural manifold
cambridge.org
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.
Many Minds podcast@manymindspod.bsky.social · 12mo agoWe often treat religion and shamanism as fundamentally different. But the two are deeply enmeshed, and a push and pull between them has played out repeatedly across history. Just one of the topics discussed in latest episode, with @manvir.bsky.social! Listen: disi.org/the-shaman-w...
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.
Many Minds podcast@manymindspod.bsky.social · last yr.New episode!! 🎙️📣 A conversation with @manvir.bsky.social about the many faces of shamanism. Shamanism is not a relic of the past or a curio from far-off lands—it's alive and well, all around the world. The roots of shamanism, after all, lie within us. Listen: disi.org/the-shaman-w...