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wjbarry's avatar

Group Selection: Our polite reverence and respect for “the sacred” may serve to keep social order and cohesion within a community. By showing deference to certain sacred beliefs, practices, or objects, we signal our adherence to shared cultural or religious norms and reinforce a sense of group identity. This can help promote social cooperation, reduce conflict within the community, and enhance the survival and reproductive success of the group.

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Leo Abstract's avatar

Theory: the sacred is an evolved cultural technology that utilizes the human capacities you describe (group-binding and afar-seeing) as well as imagination (defined broadly) to boost health via 'placebo' or 'belief effects', with recursive feedback effects on the operative capacities.

The 'placebo' effect is strong but difficult to study without concepts like 'double-blind' -- plenty strong-enough to drive an area within cultural evolution. Known early-traditional healing practices appear to rely on placebo, and to be more effective the more social proof and consensus view is involved. Thus the older anthropological view of e.g. shamanism as placebo strengthens (and is strengthened) by the dimensions you discuss in the pdf.

Also I submit 33a: "Sacred things have invisible as well as visible components."

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