giant fish, giant otters, and dinosaurs: “apparently irrational beliefs” in a Chipewyan community

• Published in: American Ethnologist
• Main Author: SHARP, HENRY S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1987
• Subjects: Anthropology; Chipewyan
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/ae.1987.14.2.02a00030; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1525%2Fae.1987.14.2.02a00030; https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/ae.1987.14.2.02a00030

Dan Sperber's recent formulations of Rationalism advocate a form of cognitive reductionism in the interpretation of “apparently irrational beliefs” that is contingent upon a linear model of brain functioning analogous to the operations of a computer. This paper considers several nonexistent beings among the Chipewyan, arguing that such reductionism is invalid. As shared forms, their meaning is consistently indeterminate and temporally nonlinear, invalidating the assumptions of a Rationalist approach. [Chipewyan, Northern Athapaskans, rationalist, explanation, representations]