Dreaming is often connected with religious ideas and enjoys distinct epistemic status as a source... more Dreaming is often connected with religious ideas and enjoys distinct epistemic status as a source of trusted information for divinatory practices-oneiromancy. These tendencies suggest the existence of a distinct content affordance relevance for dream divination, hypothesized in the "CARDD theory." CARDD theory predicts that dreams containing nightmarish and threatening content, omission of self-agency models, bizarre and counterintuitive content, and SA imagery enhance the proclivity for dream communication and divination. Drawing upon ethnographic research among Nepalese Hindus, the purpose of the present article is to extend assumptions from cognitive and cultural transmission analysis of divination to the subcase of dream research and divination. The specific aims are (1) to quantify and compare dream contents according to their prevalence as described in CARDD theory, and (2) to test CARDD theory against the assumption that the dream contents have affordance value and provide motivation for dream communication and divination. According to the present data, however, only omission of self-agency models in dream imagery was significantly shown to predict dream communication and divination-a result that supports the idea that the formal features of "ostensive detachment" (Boyer, 2020; Mercier & Boyer, 2021) are decisive factors in cultural transmission of divinatory practices.
Dreaming is often connected with religious ideas and enjoys distinct epistemic status as a source... more Dreaming is often connected with religious ideas and enjoys distinct epistemic status as a source of trusted information for divinatory practices—oneiromancy. These tendencies suggest the existence of a distinct content affordance relevance for dream divination, hypothesized in the “CARDD theory.” CARDD theory predicts that dreams containing nightmarish and threatening content, omission of self-agency models, bizarre and counterintuitive content, and SA imagery enhance the proclivity for dream communication and divination. Drawing upon ethnographic research among Nepalese Hindus, the purpose of the present article is to extend assumptions from cognitive and cultural transmission analysis of divination to the subcase of dream research and divination. The specific aims are (1) to quantify and compare dream contents according to their prevalence as described in CARDD theory, and (2) to test CARDD theory against the assumption that the dream contents have affordance value and provide motivation for dream communication and divination. According to the present data, however, only omission of self-agency models in dream imagery was significantly shown to predict dream communication and divination—a result that supports the idea that the formal features of “ostensive detachment” (Boyer, 2020; Mercier & Boyer, 2021) are decisive factors in cultural transmission of divinatory practices.
In this paper we will address the impact of Europeanisation on national curriculum reforms with e... more In this paper we will address the impact of Europeanisation on national curriculum reforms with empirical reference to the Swedish compulsory school, and based on the concept of competence discuss the question of transnational curriculum convergence. The main interest is directed towards how the answers to the question of what counts as knowledge and skills are changing in national curricula. The analysis shows that the recent Swedish compulsory school reform converges to the broader European knowledge discourse on the underlying level of philosophical ideas, but also that several core concepts used in European policy texts are being reconceptualised and given a different meaning when recontextualised in the national arena.
One challenge for cognitive, evolutionary and anthropological studies of religion is to offer des... more One challenge for cognitive, evolutionary and anthropological studies of religion is to offer descriptions and explanatory models of the morphology and functions of supernatural dreaming, and of the religiosity, use of experience, and cultural transmission that are associated with these representations. The anthropological and religious studies literature demonstrates that dreaming, dream experience and narrative are connected with religious ideas and practices in traditional societies. Scholars have even proposed that dreaming is a primary source of religious beliefs and practice (here labelled DPSR theory). Using Barrett’s coding system, we measured a high frequency of minimally counterintuitive dream content among Hindu Nepalese, and we aim to quantify (1) the relation between counterintuitive imagery and reported likelihood to communicate dreams in general and to religious experts, (2) the relation between counterintuitive imagery and reported religiosity, and (3) the proclivity...
Pilgrimages to Muktinath, Pasupatinath, Mt. Kailash and Manasarovar in the Tibetan and Nepalese H... more Pilgrimages to Muktinath, Pasupatinath, Mt. Kailash and Manasarovar in the Tibetan and Nepalese Himalayas form part of a broader South Asian pilgrimage tradtition. Pilgrimages are usually analyzed as culturally heterogenous and conested events. Through the application of cognitive anthropological analyses it is, however, possible to identify regularities and common processes in pilgrimages. This study focuses upon fundamental regularities in pilgrimages, in the form of ritual interaction with culturally postulated divine actors. The first chapter presents the inquiry and includes an overview of earlier research carried out on pilgrimage. An overviews of earlier theories of pilgrimage is presented. The chapter is concluded with a section in which methodological and ethnographic reflections are made upon the conditions of carrying out fieldwork among pilgrims. Chapter two presents the theoretical background. Cognitive and epidemiological theories are suggested for cultural analysis of the pilgrimages. Pilgrimage is here assumed to be a religious activity that has particular regularities. Cultural selection in religion is discussed and theoretical concepts are introduced. It is assumed that counterintuition is significant in religion and that it explains the selection of ideas about supernatural actors. Cognitive ritual models such as frequency theory and form theory are considered appropriate for the analysis of various aspects of pilgrimages. Chapter three presents the ethnographic context of the pilgrimage cultures at Muktinath, Pasupatinath, Mt. Kailash and Manasarovar in the Tibetan and Nepalese Himalayas. Chapter four discusses the ways in which pilgrims categorize pilgrimages. Variations in the folk terminology of the "Tirtha Jatra" are analyzed. The cartographic knowledge of the pilgrims is also discussed and it is proposed that cosmological maps are irrelevant for making one's way to a pilgrimage site. Chapter five explores the pilgrims' explicit motives in terms of soteriology, everyday goals and health needs. These motives are analyzed in relation to ideas of karma and coincidence. Pilgrims' understandings of vows and divine favour are discussed. Chapter six examines pilgrims' conceptions of supernatural actors. Pilgrims describe here which characteristics a divine actor possesses and how these may influence the life of the pilgrim. Analysis is performed in relation to pilgrims' understandings of freedom and supernatural omnipotence. The recurrent cultural theme of pilgrims' divine dreams is also discussed. The seventh chapter explores the importance of the hardship and risk associated with the pilgrimage. The notion of "dukha" and ascetic ideals are investigated and ideas concerning sacrifice are analyzed as exegetic rationalizations of the experiences that are gained through participating in a pilgrimage. Chapter eight discusses the idea of sacrifice as it appears in relation to notions of good and bad death during a pilgrimage. Notions of good death have broad curency, although religiously motivated suicide is considered a cardinal sin. Pilgrims' views of ritual suicide carried out during pilgrimage contradict theological ideologies that render suicide acceptable in the vicinity of pilgrimage sites. This section alayzes ideas of good death on the basis of the fact that the pilgrimage goal constitutes a context of cognitive validation. Chapter nine looks at the way in which substances are moved to and from pilgrimage sites in the form os sins, blessings and gifts. Notions of substances and gifts are analyzed as understandings based upon anthropomorphic agency. The flow of substances during pilgrimage is explained through reference to psychological essentialism and contamination (magic). Chaper ten summarizes the dissertation. It is proposed that when pilgrimages are viewed in cross-cultural perspective, they constitute a relatively coherent category. It is suggested that pilgrimages presuppose ritual interaction with culturally postulated supernatural actors. This feature calls into question the validity of prevalent models, which see pilgrimages as political constructions or psychosocial vitalization. It is also argued here that pilgrimages are peculiar in that they are structured according to ritual intuitions regarding supernatural immediacy. Ideas of supernatural immediacy offer a context of validation for pilgrimages. Understandings of supernatural immediacy are established through belief in miracles and belief in the dissemination of blessings from the pilgrimage site.
Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, 2009
This article discusses the notions of a good death associated with Hindu pilgrimages in the Nepal... more This article discusses the notions of a good death associated with Hindu pilgrimages in the Nepalese and Tibetan Himalayas. Using theories and concepts from the cognitive anthropology of religion and from the cognitive science of religion—particularly the cultural epidemiological method—my objective is to explain why certain systems of thought and behaviour are favoured over others in cultural transmission. My thesis is that the apprehension of contagion and/or contamination, combined with prevailing cultural representations, exerts selective pressure on the formation of beliefs about good death. Pilgrimage sites are associated with intuitions about contagious and contaminating contact, avert the pollution of death, and provide links to supernatural agents.
Dreaming is often connected with religious ideas and enjoys distinct epistemic status as a source... more Dreaming is often connected with religious ideas and enjoys distinct epistemic status as a source of trusted information for divinatory practices-oneiromancy. These tendencies suggest the existence of a distinct content affordance relevance for dream divination, hypothesized in the "CARDD theory." CARDD theory predicts that dreams containing nightmarish and threatening content, omission of self-agency models, bizarre and counterintuitive content, and SA imagery enhance the proclivity for dream communication and divination. Drawing upon ethnographic research among Nepalese Hindus, the purpose of the present article is to extend assumptions from cognitive and cultural transmission analysis of divination to the subcase of dream research and divination. The specific aims are (1) to quantify and compare dream contents according to their prevalence as described in CARDD theory, and (2) to test CARDD theory against the assumption that the dream contents have affordance value and provide motivation for dream communication and divination. According to the present data, however, only omission of self-agency models in dream imagery was significantly shown to predict dream communication and divination-a result that supports the idea that the formal features of "ostensive detachment" (Boyer, 2020; Mercier & Boyer, 2021) are decisive factors in cultural transmission of divinatory practices.
Dreaming is often connected with religious ideas and enjoys distinct epistemic status as a source... more Dreaming is often connected with religious ideas and enjoys distinct epistemic status as a source of trusted information for divinatory practices—oneiromancy. These tendencies suggest the existence of a distinct content affordance relevance for dream divination, hypothesized in the “CARDD theory.” CARDD theory predicts that dreams containing nightmarish and threatening content, omission of self-agency models, bizarre and counterintuitive content, and SA imagery enhance the proclivity for dream communication and divination. Drawing upon ethnographic research among Nepalese Hindus, the purpose of the present article is to extend assumptions from cognitive and cultural transmission analysis of divination to the subcase of dream research and divination. The specific aims are (1) to quantify and compare dream contents according to their prevalence as described in CARDD theory, and (2) to test CARDD theory against the assumption that the dream contents have affordance value and provide motivation for dream communication and divination. According to the present data, however, only omission of self-agency models in dream imagery was significantly shown to predict dream communication and divination—a result that supports the idea that the formal features of “ostensive detachment” (Boyer, 2020; Mercier & Boyer, 2021) are decisive factors in cultural transmission of divinatory practices.
In this paper we will address the impact of Europeanisation on national curriculum reforms with e... more In this paper we will address the impact of Europeanisation on national curriculum reforms with empirical reference to the Swedish compulsory school, and based on the concept of competence discuss the question of transnational curriculum convergence. The main interest is directed towards how the answers to the question of what counts as knowledge and skills are changing in national curricula. The analysis shows that the recent Swedish compulsory school reform converges to the broader European knowledge discourse on the underlying level of philosophical ideas, but also that several core concepts used in European policy texts are being reconceptualised and given a different meaning when recontextualised in the national arena.
One challenge for cognitive, evolutionary and anthropological studies of religion is to offer des... more One challenge for cognitive, evolutionary and anthropological studies of religion is to offer descriptions and explanatory models of the morphology and functions of supernatural dreaming, and of the religiosity, use of experience, and cultural transmission that are associated with these representations. The anthropological and religious studies literature demonstrates that dreaming, dream experience and narrative are connected with religious ideas and practices in traditional societies. Scholars have even proposed that dreaming is a primary source of religious beliefs and practice (here labelled DPSR theory). Using Barrett’s coding system, we measured a high frequency of minimally counterintuitive dream content among Hindu Nepalese, and we aim to quantify (1) the relation between counterintuitive imagery and reported likelihood to communicate dreams in general and to religious experts, (2) the relation between counterintuitive imagery and reported religiosity, and (3) the proclivity...
Pilgrimages to Muktinath, Pasupatinath, Mt. Kailash and Manasarovar in the Tibetan and Nepalese H... more Pilgrimages to Muktinath, Pasupatinath, Mt. Kailash and Manasarovar in the Tibetan and Nepalese Himalayas form part of a broader South Asian pilgrimage tradtition. Pilgrimages are usually analyzed as culturally heterogenous and conested events. Through the application of cognitive anthropological analyses it is, however, possible to identify regularities and common processes in pilgrimages. This study focuses upon fundamental regularities in pilgrimages, in the form of ritual interaction with culturally postulated divine actors. The first chapter presents the inquiry and includes an overview of earlier research carried out on pilgrimage. An overviews of earlier theories of pilgrimage is presented. The chapter is concluded with a section in which methodological and ethnographic reflections are made upon the conditions of carrying out fieldwork among pilgrims. Chapter two presents the theoretical background. Cognitive and epidemiological theories are suggested for cultural analysis of the pilgrimages. Pilgrimage is here assumed to be a religious activity that has particular regularities. Cultural selection in religion is discussed and theoretical concepts are introduced. It is assumed that counterintuition is significant in religion and that it explains the selection of ideas about supernatural actors. Cognitive ritual models such as frequency theory and form theory are considered appropriate for the analysis of various aspects of pilgrimages. Chapter three presents the ethnographic context of the pilgrimage cultures at Muktinath, Pasupatinath, Mt. Kailash and Manasarovar in the Tibetan and Nepalese Himalayas. Chapter four discusses the ways in which pilgrims categorize pilgrimages. Variations in the folk terminology of the "Tirtha Jatra" are analyzed. The cartographic knowledge of the pilgrims is also discussed and it is proposed that cosmological maps are irrelevant for making one's way to a pilgrimage site. Chapter five explores the pilgrims' explicit motives in terms of soteriology, everyday goals and health needs. These motives are analyzed in relation to ideas of karma and coincidence. Pilgrims' understandings of vows and divine favour are discussed. Chapter six examines pilgrims' conceptions of supernatural actors. Pilgrims describe here which characteristics a divine actor possesses and how these may influence the life of the pilgrim. Analysis is performed in relation to pilgrims' understandings of freedom and supernatural omnipotence. The recurrent cultural theme of pilgrims' divine dreams is also discussed. The seventh chapter explores the importance of the hardship and risk associated with the pilgrimage. The notion of "dukha" and ascetic ideals are investigated and ideas concerning sacrifice are analyzed as exegetic rationalizations of the experiences that are gained through participating in a pilgrimage. Chapter eight discusses the idea of sacrifice as it appears in relation to notions of good and bad death during a pilgrimage. Notions of good death have broad curency, although religiously motivated suicide is considered a cardinal sin. Pilgrims' views of ritual suicide carried out during pilgrimage contradict theological ideologies that render suicide acceptable in the vicinity of pilgrimage sites. This section alayzes ideas of good death on the basis of the fact that the pilgrimage goal constitutes a context of cognitive validation. Chapter nine looks at the way in which substances are moved to and from pilgrimage sites in the form os sins, blessings and gifts. Notions of substances and gifts are analyzed as understandings based upon anthropomorphic agency. The flow of substances during pilgrimage is explained through reference to psychological essentialism and contamination (magic). Chaper ten summarizes the dissertation. It is proposed that when pilgrimages are viewed in cross-cultural perspective, they constitute a relatively coherent category. It is suggested that pilgrimages presuppose ritual interaction with culturally postulated supernatural actors. This feature calls into question the validity of prevalent models, which see pilgrimages as political constructions or psychosocial vitalization. It is also argued here that pilgrimages are peculiar in that they are structured according to ritual intuitions regarding supernatural immediacy. Ideas of supernatural immediacy offer a context of validation for pilgrimages. Understandings of supernatural immediacy are established through belief in miracles and belief in the dissemination of blessings from the pilgrimage site.
Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, 2009
This article discusses the notions of a good death associated with Hindu pilgrimages in the Nepal... more This article discusses the notions of a good death associated with Hindu pilgrimages in the Nepalese and Tibetan Himalayas. Using theories and concepts from the cognitive anthropology of religion and from the cognitive science of religion—particularly the cultural epidemiological method—my objective is to explain why certain systems of thought and behaviour are favoured over others in cultural transmission. My thesis is that the apprehension of contagion and/or contamination, combined with prevailing cultural representations, exerts selective pressure on the formation of beliefs about good death. Pilgrimage sites are associated with intuitions about contagious and contaminating contact, avert the pollution of death, and provide links to supernatural agents.
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Papers by Andreas Nordin