Superstition, Religion and...Architecture? Thai Spiritual Permanence with Dr. Andrew Johnson Part 2 [S6.E64]

This is Part 2 of Greg's interview with Andrew Johnson, cultural
anthropologist extraordinaire and investigator of the extremely
niche topic of the relationship between Thai supernatural beliefs
and local architecture. 


Greg and Andrew begin where they left off last week, discussing
what it's like as 'rationalists' to interact with relatively
superstitious Thai people. Andrew relates a classic story of a
Thai woman who encounters a ghost in a nearby field and who
simply calls the police who end up shoo-ing the ghost away, an
outcome completely unexpected in a western framework. He insists
that the Thai word for ghost ('phee'), encompasses a much broader
range of unexplained phenomena than just the western idea of a
disembodied 'spirit.'


Next, the guys discuss Andrew's book, "Ghosts of the New City," a
study of the interaction between urbanization, progress, and
supernatural beliefs in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Andrew notes that
Thais do not only believe older buildings contain spirits, but
also that new constructions can as well. Hence, urban planning
decisions can be particularly complex, because they cannot be
reduced to simply trying to 'preserve old stuff.' 


Lastly, Greg and Andrew get into the psychological imprints that
different locations leave in our minds, but also how the
locations themselves carry imprints of past lives and previous
'orders' that have now fallen by the wayside. These emotional
experiences, which are processed as non-magical in the west, are
really not substantially different from what's going in the minds
of supernatural believers who are going through the same thing
but using different words to describe it.


Don't forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the
show as well as swag and other perks. And we'll keep our
Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us
comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.