Conversation

The World As If - new

by me (how magical thinking made us modern)

Replying to

and

alternative explanation for tribesman behavior: they knew perfectly well what the syllogism implied, but refused to unwrap the "as if"

Replying to

and

which would make them more competent at handling "as if" situations than us, not less

Replying to

and

or at least, their society doesn't need them to unwrap "as if"s as often as ours, so they err on the safe/correct side