The Ritual Animal: Imitation and Cohesion in the Evolution of Social Complexity

A radical exploration of how rituals have influenced history over thousands of years.

From infancy, we copy those around us in order to be like others, to be one with the tribe. Other primates will copy behaviour that leads to transparent benefits, such as access to food, but only humans promiscuously copy actions that have no obvious instrumental purpose. The copying of causally opaque behaviour (rituals) has allowed cultural groups to proliferate over time and space. The frequency and emot...