Maggie just suggested I watch this video lecture by a psychiatrist she knows. Very fascinating. His theory is that schizophrenia is not a disease per se, but a maladaptive expression of traits that had some evolutionary value in hunter gatherer societies. He then links schizophrenic delusions with shamanism and suggests that this is how new religious movements are begun. One interesting idea is that the human brain is wired to classify everything as one of five things: human, animal, plant, natural object, man made object. He also says that every religious idea involves blurring these lines, and that schizophrenic delusions are similar in this way, unlike delusions resulting from other conditions. Its long (43 minutes) but pretty interesting. I learned a lot about schizophrenia anyway. Kurt Jansen Jefé de la Martens-Koop Marcus Rempel Nafan Lodwen Seth Goetzke Chad Neufeldt.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 04:27:55 +0000