I personally think that war is not an evolutionary advancing behavior, I think war comes into play when disconnection from the earth and ourselves increases and we as a species try and grasp onto other harmful actions to try and give as self worth or meaning. If we as a species aren't experiencing peace and growth in consciousness we tend to gravitate towards anger and greed to make our egos feel useful and elated. One of the best was to fuel anger and greed is war. Nothing can be grown from war other than pain, suffering and an increased grasping on negative emotions and material wealth. War destroys the collective consciousness of a species or society. With the issue of shamanism and schizophrenia i do not think that they are linked at all as shamanism is a non obsessive path of mental wisdom where as schizophrenia is an obsessive, boxed in, delusions of grander and fantasy state of being. I think that people who drift away mentally while on a shamanic journey are indeed mentally lost and indeed not schizophrenic there is quite a large difference. I have observed both schizophrenic people and completely mentally lost people due to psychoactives and the main difference is that schizophrenic people live in a fantasy world that is over lapped with the so called real world, where as the completely mentally lost person (due to psychoactives) is usually completely lost in the fantasy world without any overlapping of the so called real world of any kind.


Much Peace

i know this has gone a bit off topic but i had to add -

culture flourishes when all mans bases are covered, in times of war people are focusing on surviving - during such times much is lost not only by physical damage but because of people not having the resources, time or a place to continue, war therefore retards evolution in a short term sense (one could also take the standpoint of - as with all things in nature, all things get extinct, thats just life and therefore evolution - it happened before, many times, before man was even around.) it knocks us back a few steps, and it can make the winning side think that it works therefore its good and it solves problems.

All wars are for negative reasons be it greed, power over man, ego, jealousy, revenge(current), hate, racism, etc...
Its primitive and it wont get us anywhere -

“ I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” A.Einstein

I would have to disagree with you completelty on this shamans are in no way shape or form psychotic they arent unhunged in their minds at all they are usally the most mentallay strong and mentally stable people. I dont not think that shamans can cure schizophrenia ( only maybe aid in the healing process between the schizophrenic and the members of their family. ) As i think the only person that can cure the schizophrenia is the schizophrenic person themselves working closely with there family members as there is a lot of evidence that it is usually the strongest and most stable member of a family that becomes schizophrenic due to their family situation and dynamics.( genetics also play a large role in schizophrenia of course. ) So someone who has a predisposition to be schizophrenic, will usually have the schizophrenia triggered due to certain life situations and trauma and dynamics involving the schizophrenic individuals family. I really don't support and believe in psychology at all i am a firm supporter of anti psychology and i firmly disagree with western psychology's consent attempt to pigeon hole people based on there so called not normal mental state what on earth is a normal mental state of mind any way. We are all so different mentally and there are so many layers and different dynamics that make up someones mental state of mind its impossible from my point of view just to label someone and place them in a nice and neat box. I love R. D. Laing he was an absolute revolutionary in anti-psychiatry i admire him and his ideas greatly.



Much Peace

I would just like to add something to this discussion:
I once read in a book called 'Blackfoot Physics' (amazing book for me at the time - I was 17/18 at the time doing my physics exams),
that at one time a couple of elders from a native american tribe went to visit some young men originally from their tribe who had been locked up in a mental institution and labelled as psychotic/schizophrenic.

What they came out saying was that if these guys had been raised in the tribe they would have become powerful healers. But they became the victims of the western perception of mental illness and non-acceptance of those who percieve outside "normal" social reality.

Which leads me to think that shamans, in a western context may be those predisposed to become schizophrenic, but in a supportive environment that which is seen as different in a negative way in the western context becomes positive and highly valued in animist/shamanic cultures. (please excuse the generalisations!)