exploring~~~

Glad to be part of this group. I think it is really important to share ideas. And this medium we can do it swift and far and wide
I believe like you there has now to be a meeting between indigenous wisdom and science and postmodern science.

I am also a member of Richard Dawkins forum ( I gots a sense of humour, haha), and many I come up against there are coming from a *scientism* attitude.
For example, they have a special forum where they put people if they show emotion, and want to talk about 'weird' things: example:

"A thread qualifies as 'woo' if it matches the following description:

Any argument based upon emotions, mysticism, or spiritualism; evidence provided other than rational or scientific; mysterious; new age beliefs.

Of special note are the following topics:

* Ghosts
* Extraterrestrial contact / UFO's
* Psychic phenomenon
* Conspiracy theories
* Appeals to quantum mechanics as evidence of the supernatural / paranormal
* General pseudoscience or 'fringe' science

A thread's presence in this subforum is not necessarily a statement regarding the veracity of the claims proposed by the topic's initiator, but rather decided by the subject matter of a given thread."

But I see what they fear as a clue to the problem they impose on the world.

I have noticed that when you discuss things with them, you may present good points but they are invisible to them. And they carry on assuming. Like for example ONLY people who question the usual evolutionary paradigm MUST be 'creationists' even when you have shown all kinds of people/scientists challenge the accepted Dawkins view

But I am not totally againt them. I realize that in their own way they are against gullibility, and superstition. And it has to be said that that can also exist in Indigenous cultures also. So we must be careful of unqualifyingly embracing indigenous cultures as though they dont have faults like our modern science doesn't have faults

Off the top of my head, what I tend to struggle with in South American 'shamanism' is the idea of having to constantly fear the brujo. I read one account of a westerner going to Peru for an Ayahuasca healing, and he was told that if visions stop it means that a brujo is attacking. I just think this breeds paranoia. I would rather nourish an open trustful feeling of the surroundings and universe than worring about bad spirits

So models from psychedelic psychotherapy are helpful without THEm dictating what reality is

I'll leave it there for now