ABSTRACT
The Desana have carefully formulated theories about the structure and function of the brain. Direct observation of brain structure through aeons of hunting and warfare has provided Desana people with much practical knowledge about the brain’s anatomy. Common-sense knowledge is the taken-for-granted knowledge that shares with others in the routines of everyday life, and this becomes ‘paramount reality’, or reality that is given a highly privileged position over any other. Cultures that acknowledge the possibility of accessing deeper levels of awareness have devised special techniques, such as meditation and trance, for gaining knowledge. Contemporary thinking acknowledges that psychotherapy and psychopharmacology work hand in hand, the complementing the other in the case of severe mental illness, especially severe psychosis. A key element, notes Fred Hanna, is whether a person’s transcendental experience evokes compassion and empathic knowledge of others, and results in reducing ’s egocentric preoccupation.
