Instrumentality, empiricism, and rationality in Nuosu divination

We offer an in-depth ethnographic exploration of Nuosu divination, examining its underlying rationale from cognitive perspectives and highlighting its instrumental and empirical components in everyday contexts, such as the clients’ skepticism and diviners’ attempts to signal its integrity and transp...

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Autori: Hong, Ze (Autore) ; Henrich, Joseph 1968- (Autore)
Tipo di documento: Elettronico Articolo
Lingua:Inglese
Verificare la disponibilità: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Pubblicazione: 2025
In: Religion, brain & behavior
Anno: 2025, Volume: 15, Fascicolo: 4, Pagine: 355-373
Altre parole chiave:B Rationality
B China
B Nuosu
B Divinazione
Accesso online: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Riepilogo:We offer an in-depth ethnographic exploration of Nuosu divination, examining its underlying rationale from cognitive perspectives and highlighting its instrumental and empirical components in everyday contexts, such as the clients’ skepticism and diviners’ attempts to signal its integrity and transparency. Challenging suggestions made by some cultural anthropologists, we argue that the Nuosu primarily regard divination as tools and methods that generate information for subsequent decision-making, and place considerable weight on the accuracy of information yielded. We conclude by positing that the question of “why divination” remains and merits further cognitive and cultural evolutionary investigations.
ISSN:2153-5981
Comprende:Enthalten in: Religion, brain & behavior
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2024.2363761