Tanya Marie Luhrmann, Voices of Spirit, Voices of Madness

At the November 2024 Meeting of the American Philosophical Society, Dr. Tanya Marie Luhrmann delivered a lecture examining the experience of hearing voices, the boundary between religious and psychotic experiences, and the social and cultural factors that shape these perceptions. Drawing on ethnographic and experimental research, Dr. Luhrmann explored how different cultural contexts influence the phenomenology of unusual sensory experiences. About the Speaker: Dr. Tanya Marie Luhrmann is the Albert Ray Lang Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University, with a courtesy appointment in Psychology. Her research focuses on the boundary between supernatural experiences and mental health, using ethnographic and experimental methods to understand how cultural expectations shape inner experiences. Her fieldwork has included: 🔹 Evangelical Christians who practice hearing God’s voice 🔹 Homeless and psychotic women in Chicago 🔹 People who hear voices in Chennai, Accra, and California 🔹 Zoroastrians seeking a mystical revival 🔹 Practitioners of magic and alternative spirituality Dr. Luhrmann has received numerous honors, including: 🏅 Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2003) 🏅 John Guggenheim Fellowship (2007) 🏅 Elected to the American Philosophical Society (2022) 🏅 Grawemeyer Prize in Religion ($100,000) for When God Talks Back Her books include: 📖 Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft 📖 The Good Parsi 📖 Of Two Minds 📖 When God Talks Back (NYT Notable Book of the Year, Kirkus Best Book of the Year) 📖 Our Most Troubling Madness 📖 How God Becomes Real 📖 Voices (Upcoming) Dr. Luhrmann has written over 30 op-eds for The New York Times and has been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Science News, and The Times Literary Supplement. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction: The Experience of Hearing Voices​ 01:57 - Hearing Voices in Psychosis vs. Religious Experience​ 03:36 - Training the Mind to Hear Voices: The Role of Practice​ 05:45 - Evangelical Christians and the Perception of God’s Voice​ 07:19 - Mental Imagery Cultivation in Religious Practice​ 08:49 - Spontaneous Auditory Experiences in Prayer​ 10:33 - Absorption and Its Role in Perceiving Spiritual Presence​ 12:38 - Cultural Models of Mind and Thought Permeability​ 14:36 - Global Patterns in Voice-Hearing and Religious Experience​ 16:59 - Religious Practices as a Mitigating Factor for Psychosis​ 18:46 - Conclusion: Voices as a Healing Mechanism and Social Relationship​ 19:13 - Q&A: Sensory Processing and the Nature of Spiritual Perception​ 21:12 - Why Some Voices Are Comforting While Others Are Distressing​ 24:53 - Memory, Suggestibility, and the Formation of Religious Experiences​ 26:21 - The Role of Hypnosis and Absorption in Perceived Voices​ 28:18 - Scientific Insights: The Relationship Between Creativity and Thought Autonomy​ About the American Philosophical Society: Founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin, the American Philosophical Society (APS) is the oldest learned society in the United States, dedicated to advancing useful knowledge across disciplines. The APS fosters intellectual exchange through: 🔹 Elected membership of distinguished scholars in anthropology, psychology, and cognitive science 🔹 Interdisciplinary meetings on groundbreaking research in human perception and experience 🔹 A world-renowned research library and archive, preserving works on the history of science and thought 🔹 Grants, fellowships, and awards supporting research in anthropology, philosophy, and psychology