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Magic, explanations, and evil: On the origins and design of witches and sorcerers
https://osf.io/bmcyz
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2018-08-06
dcterms:dateCopyrighted
2018
dcterms:description
In nearly every documented society, people believe that some misfortunes are attributable to malicious group mates employing magic or supernatural powers. Here I report cross-cultural patterns in these beliefs and propose a theory to explain them. Using the newly-created Survey of Mystical Harm, I show that several conceptions of evil, mystical practitioners recur around the world, including sorcerers (who use learned spells), possessors of the evil eye (who transmit injury through their stares and words), and witches (who possess superpowers, pose existential threats, and engage in morally abhorrent acts). I argue that these beliefs develop from three cultural selective processes – a selection for effective-seeming magic, a selection for plausible explanations of impactful misfortune, and a selection for demonizing myths that justify mistreatment. Separately, these selective schemes produce traditions as diverse as shamanism, conspiracy theories, and campaigns against heretics – but around the world, they jointly give rise to the odious and feared witch. I use the tripartite theory to explain the forms of beliefs in mystical harm and outline ten predictions for how shifting conditions should affect those conceptions. Societally-corrosive beliefs can persist when they are intuitively appealing or serve some believers’ agendas.
dcterms:identifier
https://osf.io/bmcyz
dcterms:modified
2023-04-12
dcterms:title
Magic, explanations, and evil: On the origins and design of witches and sorcerers
osf:keyword
sorcery
cultural evolution
witch
sorcerer
magic
witchcraft
evil eye
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://osf.io/pbwc7

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Magic, explanations, and evil: On the origins and design of witches and sorcerers
more details...
dcterms:created
2018-08-06
dcterms:dateCopyrighted
2018
dcterms:identifier
https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/pbwc7
https://osf.io/pbwc7
dcterms:title
Magic, explanations, and evil: On the origins and design of witches and sorcerers
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://osf.io/bmcyz
Magic, explanations, and evil: On the origins and design of witches and sorcerers
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