&gt;By now, I understand most of my paranormal thoughts are just windows into the unconcious mind.<p>Probably because a scientific framework of mind exists which you have access to, which allows you to accept that what goes on in your mind doesn&#x27;t always correspond to reality. In a shamanistic society, you might still be led to believe you had magic powers, and that it was all real, and that you had to follow certain rituals to purify yourself or to interpret the signs from the gods, or whatever. Is that useful? Do shamans really know anything more about what&#x27;s going on in a person&#x27;s mind than doctors?<p>Both are coercive, though, which was my point. &quot;Non-coercive&quot; societies are still coercive, they just draw the lines in different places than modern societies do.