A short thread about truth: Certain African (iirc) tribes have evolved complicated cooking rituals to prepare specific plants, because otherwise you’ll be cursed by the ancestors or some similar explanation of calamity; (1/3)
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When British colonists showed up, they thought ‘ancestor-curses are silly,’ and prepared the plants in a simple way before eating; they then died of poisoning because the ancestor-curse avoidance strategy was actually a complex series of chemical reactions to denature the poison.
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So, here’s an epistemological question: Is the ancestor curse true or false? (3/3)
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(I don’t know where I read this story originally, or if I’ve gotten the details right - I’m still trying to rediscover the source. Please let me know if you have any leads!)
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Ok, I’ll do a poll. Is the ancestor curse:
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Mu. The question is wrong, stories are neither true nor false, facts are true or false. The story has both true and false facts, it teaches important lessons for the wrong reasons.
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