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Why Divination? Cultural Attractors and Strategic Interaction
Joining instructions: https://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/event/why-divination-cultural-attractors-and-strategic-interaction
Abstract: Divination is a good example of a cultural attractor – almost all human societies have some documented form of divination, a procedure that supposedly guarantees the truth of the statements it produces.
I propose a model of the strategic interactions around divination that may explain why the practice is so widespread, with some unexpected commonalities. This is an opportunity to think about cultural evolution, which so far has produced good models of cultural consumption, leaving aside why people produce the kind of material that becomes culturally widespread.
Date:
16 October 2020, 15:00
Venue:
Venue to be announced
Speaker:
Pascal Boyer ((Washington University in St. Louis))
Organising department:
School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography
Part of:
Anthropology Departmental Seminar Series: Trinity 2024
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Kate Atherton
