The paper draws correspondences between shamanism and contemporary cognitive science, focusing on interconnectedness in the web-of-life worldview and connectionist models of semantic memory, as well as the extension of meaning to natural elements in shamanism and distributed cognition. It discusses cognitive consequences like representativeness heuristics, magical thinking, social attribution errors, and in-group/out-group differences. The author suggests that attributing mental states to a computer based on behavioral measures like the Turing test aligns with shamanism's extension of meaning and intentionality to nonhuman elements. Overall, these parallels suggest that shamanic ideas may reflect cognitive structures and processes also used in nonshamanic contexts.
Properties of mental representation link cognitive science findings with shamanic ideas. Visual images and spatial memory preserve functional information about physical principles and object behavior, and concepts like second-order isomorphism and the perceptual cycle relate to shamanic experience. Implicit processes may play a role in shamanic cognition, where normally unconscious information becomes temporarily available to consciousness. A cognitive module for social knowledge and interaction aligns with both cognitive science and shamanism, potentially explaining the extension of intentionality and meaning in shamanic practice. Overall, correspondences suggest shamanic and nonshamanic cognition are not fundamentally different.