Rituals
Synthetic biology for utopian egregores
2025-02-27 — 2024-03-23
Wherein communal rites are examined, and a secular Lent food‑fight photograph is presented as an instance of ritualized social bonding outside doctrinal faith, while modern practices from Burning Man to psychedelic ceremonies are noted.
agents
collective knowledge
cooperation
culture
democracy
distributed
economics
game theory
incentive mechanisms
institutions
insurgency
mind
networks
policy
rhetoric
social graph
sociology
wonk
On rituals without (necessarily) faith.
TBD
Related: tribal bonding, mind altering substances.
1 Incoming
- Future Day 2025 – Science, Technology & the Future
- Wheal’s Homegrown Humans Newsletter
- Ritual Behavior, Habits, Human Culture, Religion, Civilization, Marriage, Death, Burning Man & Community | Dimitris Xygalatas | #75
- (5) Psychedelics, Civilization, Religion, Death & Plant Medicine | Brian Muraresku | #1
- Shamanism, Psychedelics, Social Behavior, Religion & Evolution of Human Culture | Michael Winkelman | #86
- Burning man
2 References
Bell. 1991. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice.
Kelly, and Kaplan. 1990. “History, Structure, and Ritual.” Annual Review of Anthropology.
Staal. 1979. “The Meaninglessness of Ritual.” Numen.
Xygalatas. 2022. Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living.