Why Is Religion – Meaning Myth And Ritual – Necessary?

—“Why are mythology and ritual necessary?”—Doug

Decidability, opportunity costs and transaction costs.

—“??????”—Doug

We coordinate our actions a little bit by clear deliberate choices.

But mostly we cooperate by many thousands of tie-breakers that we default to loose theories of the ‘good’: narratives.

In other words, religions provide means by which, in those many thousands of choices, where no choice is preferable to us, to prefer the choice that contributes to the advancement of the commons.

Otherwise like Bouridan’s Ass we must find some method of choosing.

This insight is profoundly important.

Think of religions as a wishing well into which we toss the spare change of choice.

But these choices reflect a group evolutionary strategy. And these strategies are not equal.

THE MANY SMALL DEFEAT THE FEW GRAND.