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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"Because superstition" is an explanation of last resort. Very intellectually lazy.
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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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End of conversation
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