The (Most) Algorithmic Animal: Unknowable Causal Structures in the Information Age
Rituals are a means of regulation - they are a means for maintaining coherence and attaining long-term goals, including social coherence. But does their efficacy depend entirely, or at all, on their opacity? In this requested commentary on Harvey Whitehouse’s new book, The Ritual Animal, I discuss t...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Equinox Publ.
2022
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| In: |
Journal for the cognitive science of religion
Year: 2020, Volume: 8, Issue: 2, Pages: 115-121 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ritual
/ Kausalitätswahrnehmung
/ Group cohesion
/ Polarization
/ Evolutionary psychology
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| RelBib Classification: | AE Psychology of religion AG Religious life; material religion ZB Sociology |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
B Transparency B Sustainability B social coherence B Ritual |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Rituals are a means of regulation - they are a means for maintaining coherence and attaining long-term goals, including social coherence. But does their efficacy depend entirely, or at all, on their opacity? In this requested commentary on Harvey Whitehouse’s new book, The Ritual Animal, I discuss the utility of costly rituals in an evolutionary context, and suggest that causal opacity is only one, potentially substitutable cost. I relate this to the urgent topical concerns of polarization and of regulating sustainability globally. |
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| ISSN: | 2049-7563 |
| Reference: | Kritik in "The Ritual Animal (2022)"
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the cognitive science of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/jcsr.23612 |