Shamanism and the Art of Charismatic Otherness with Manvir Singh

Shamanism functions as a near-universal human institution that emerges to manage existential uncertainty, characterized by practitioners who enter non-ordinary states to provide healing and divination. These specialists gain credibility by "zenising"—performing otherness to signal their ability to influence unseen realities. While often associated with traditional societies, this framework extends to modern figures like tech CEOs, life coaches, and even AI, who leverage charisma and bespoke knowledge to address high-stakes, uncontrollable outcomes. The persistence of these practices suggests that humans rely on ritualized performances of authority to navigate unpredictable environments, whether through ancient trance states or contemporary secular displays of expertise. By challenging the artificial divide between traditional and Western contexts, this perspective reveals that the core psychological drivers of shamanism remain active, continuously adapting to new social and technological landscapes.