The enchanted snake and the forbidden fruit: the ayahuasca ‘fairy tale’ tourist

Abstract

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The pseudoscientist ‘priest’: religiously selling nanotechnology

“…seeking truth in a world of mystery' (Hinshelwood, 1954, p. 301). Such conceptualisations certainly suggest a metaphysical bricolage, fusing cultural elements from secular-materialism, religion, the supernatural, and magic (Dean, 2019). Discussing the similarity between professional religion and science, Jackelén (2008, p. 290) argued that scientists can be 'compared to a class of priests -motivated by a common (religious) belief in the intelligibility and oneness of nature, held together by a sense of vocation to reveal the truth'.…”

“…The notion of sales being a 'game' was perhaps most evident from the participants thriving in the lack of knowledge of their non-scientist buyers, which further elevated the scientist priest's perceived right to speak about all things. Within itself, it is worth noting that those performing a priestly function, can easily tempt themselves to dismiss all competing forms of knowledge, while claiming a hegemonic status as the arbiter of reality (Dean, 2019). Reminding ourselves that scientists seem unable to selfconceptualise without science (Zabusky & Barley, 1997), or in this case scientism, we should not be surprised that the scientific method was revised, to better suit these preferred notions of self (Hewlin, 2003), in order to sell innovative products (Rogers, 2003).…”

“…We are often told that science is an empiric and objective enterprise focused on developing testable models of the universe (Wilson, 1999), whereas religion is a bricolage of otherworldly beliefs that tend to sit outside of sensory validation (Dean, 2019). Yet, and for a supposedly secular-materialist paradigm, (pseudo)scientist sellers frequently sin by using religious pseudoscience 'scientism' (Orman, 2016;Peterson, 2003) to market beliefs in the 'divine' nature of high-technology products such as Apple's 'Jesus' iPhone (Campbell & La Pastina, 2010).…”

Expanding Research Horizons: use of online interviews in Consumer Culture Theory

“…Thus, consumer's accounts are capable of revealing a critical part of their meaning-making. Moreover, when consumers discard prior belief systems, it is common for consumers to create for themselves perceptions of how they would like to live their lives (Arnould & Thompson, 2005;Dean, 2019).…”

“…Interviews, in general, have become popular among qualitative research for making the world visible through the representation and description of details experienced by the individuals investigated (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000). Its online version offers the researcher a connection with the interviewee who may be anywhere in the world or be a member of a culture to which they would not normally have access (Dean, 2019;Salmons, 2016). Something that is made possible through the use of Digital Technologies for Information and Communication (DTIC).…”