"Because superstition" is an explanation of last resort. Very intellectually lazy.
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PET PEEVE: Theorists who use "superstition" as a buck-stopping explanation for broad patterns of human behavior. Below: A passage from "The Origins of Political Order" by Francis Fukuyamapic.twitter.com/gEGTidYCuW
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Fukuyama is right that there's a puzzle, though: Individuals have almost no reason to prefer their fourth cousin to a friendly stranger. So how do tribes of distant relatives cohere?
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It's not fear of supernatural retribution. Rather, the shared ancestors serve as a focal point for coordination.
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If everyone formed political alliances only with their friends, the resulting network would be a stringy mesh, centerless and incoherent. Instead, when people unite around a common (patrilineal or matrilineal) ancestor, the political network takes the shape of a firm knot.
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Superstitions then get grafted on later, as stories to tell children. "Don't disrespect your cousins or Great Grandpa will be mad." Crucially, these fables reinforce political ties **that make sense for other reasons**. The dead are just a Schelling point.
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I think “love” is missing from this analysis. Whether someone is my “real” cousin is unimportant. My intrinsic need to validate them is independent of a shared lineage.
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I want to love. This is likely central to my being, this intrinsic need to coordinate around loving another person. It’s how we define meaning.
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I really love this book! But you're right that "clear, logical reasoning" is not its strength. I got more value by treating it as Fukuyama reading 20 useful books and then summarizing them too quickly, and grafting an interesting political science model on top
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Oops, I should have mentioned that I'm really enjoying the book ;). Which is why this sloppiness stood out for me.
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"Because God" and "It's random" are my two favorite curiosity stop signs.
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