Extreme Rituals as Social Technologies

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Authors

FISCHER Ronald XYGALATAS Dimitrios

Year of publication 2014
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Journal of Cognition and Culture
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Field Philosophy and religion
Keywords ritual; pain; suffering; experimental anthropology; evolution
Description We often think of pain as intrinsically bad, and the avoidance of pain is a fundamental evolutionary drive of all species. How can we then explain widespread cultural practices like certain rituals that involve the voluntary infliction of physical pain? In this paper, we argue that inflicting and experiencing pain in a ritual setting may serve important psychological and social functions. By providing psychological relief and leading to stronger identification with the group, such practices may result in a positive feedback loop, which serves both to increase the social cohesion of the community and the continuation of the ritual practices themselves. We argue that although the selective advantage of participation lies at the individual level, the benefits of those practices de facto extend to the group level, thereby allowing extreme rituals to function as effective social technologies.
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