Michael Morris

And many anthropologists think that it has something to do with our fundamental fear of mortality that because we are the animal that knows that we will die, we have a sort of latent terror about our mortality.

And many anthropologists think that it has something to do with our fundamental fear of mortality that because we are the animal that knows that we will die, we have a sort of latent terror about our mortality.

And many anthropologists think that it has something to do with our fundamental fear of mortality that because we are the animal that knows that we will die, we have a sort of latent terror about our mortality.

But if we feel like we are part of this enduring tradition, then we can feel that we are part of something that will also endure for many generations into the future so that it's less terrifying. We have a kind of indirect immortality from our membership in a culture. So the ancestor instinct,

But if we feel like we are part of this enduring tradition, then we can feel that we are part of something that will also endure for many generations into the future so that it's less terrifying. We have a kind of indirect immortality from our membership in a culture. So the ancestor instinct,

But if we feel like we are part of this enduring tradition, then we can feel that we are part of something that will also endure for many generations into the future so that it's less terrifying. We have a kind of indirect immortality from our membership in a culture. So the ancestor instinct,

The reason it was adaptive is that it allowed early human groups to hang on to the discoveries and the inventions of past generations, even ones that weren't immediately needed. So what you see at this time is you start seeing that it was not just the case that people were replicating the tools like the spears that were being made by the prior generation.

The reason it was adaptive is that it allowed early human groups to hang on to the discoveries and the inventions of past generations, even ones that weren't immediately needed. So what you see at this time is you start seeing that it was not just the case that people were replicating the tools like the spears that were being made by the prior generation.

The reason it was adaptive is that it allowed early human groups to hang on to the discoveries and the inventions of past generations, even ones that weren't immediately needed. So what you see at this time is you start seeing that it was not just the case that people were replicating the tools like the spears that were being made by the prior generation.

But they were also replicating the cave art and the little Venus figurines and the bone flutes, things that didn't have an immediate instrumental purpose, but it was something the past generation was doing. So therefore, let's treat it with reverence. Let's continue it. We're not sure why we're doing it, but we're doing it.

But they were also replicating the cave art and the little Venus figurines and the bone flutes, things that didn't have an immediate instrumental purpose, but it was something the past generation was doing. So therefore, let's treat it with reverence. Let's continue it. We're not sure why we're doing it, but we're doing it.

But they were also replicating the cave art and the little Venus figurines and the bone flutes, things that didn't have an immediate instrumental purpose, but it was something the past generation was doing. So therefore, let's treat it with reverence. Let's continue it. We're not sure why we're doing it, but we're doing it.

well the great thing about it about you know it sort of corresponds to like myths and rituals right why did we have this ritual learning modality where we we we sort of learn something by rote and then we repeat it even though we don't understand it well it allows us to learn things that kind of go beyond our understanding you know maybe um the past generation figured out some way of making a fishing net

well the great thing about it about you know it sort of corresponds to like myths and rituals right why did we have this ritual learning modality where we we we sort of learn something by rote and then we repeat it even though we don't understand it well it allows us to learn things that kind of go beyond our understanding you know maybe um the past generation figured out some way of making a fishing net

well the great thing about it about you know it sort of corresponds to like myths and rituals right why did we have this ritual learning modality where we we we sort of learn something by rote and then we repeat it even though we don't understand it well it allows us to learn things that kind of go beyond our understanding you know maybe um the past generation figured out some way of making a fishing net

And we don't really understand why it works. But if we have this kind of sacrosanct attitude toward it, we will just copy it the same way it was. And then it allows us to benefit from the technology, even if we wouldn't be able to invent it. Or imagine that... Imagine that we're a group that lives near the ocean and there's a tsunami that happens maybe every 60 years.

And we don't really understand why it works. But if we have this kind of sacrosanct attitude toward it, we will just copy it the same way it was. And then it allows us to benefit from the technology, even if we wouldn't be able to invent it. Or imagine that... Imagine that we're a group that lives near the ocean and there's a tsunami that happens maybe every 60 years.

And we don't really understand why it works. But if we have this kind of sacrosanct attitude toward it, we will just copy it the same way it was. And then it allows us to benefit from the technology, even if we wouldn't be able to invent it. Or imagine that... Imagine that we're a group that lives near the ocean and there's a tsunami that happens maybe every 60 years.

If there's a myth about the tsunami and we repeat that myth, even though generations go by without a tsunami, but we still repeat the myth, the myth is there to protect us when the tsunami does come. And it's not a hypothetical example. There's a group that are sometimes called sea gypsies that live pretty much on the water in Thailand.

If there's a myth about the tsunami and we repeat that myth, even though generations go by without a tsunami, but we still repeat the myth, the myth is there to protect us when the tsunami does come. And it's not a hypothetical example. There's a group that are sometimes called sea gypsies that live pretty much on the water in Thailand.