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The Agential View of Misfortune.

Ronald J Planer1,2, Kim Sterelny3

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Summary

Many societies attribute misfortune to malevolent occult forces. This study explores the evolutionary puzzle of the agential view of misfortune, suggesting it benefits occult specialists but remains costly and unexplained.

Keywords:
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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Anthropology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Traditional societies often attribute misfortune to malign occult agency.
  • This "agential view of misfortune" is widespread but evolutionarily puzzling.
  • The costs of this belief system appear to outweigh its benefits.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary origins and persistence of the agential view of misfortune.
  • To explore potential explanations for the prevalence of this costly belief.
  • To examine the role of occult specialists in maintaining this worldview.

Main Methods:

  • Review of ethnographic case studies illustrating the agential view of misfortune.
  • Evolutionary analysis of belief formation strategies.
  • Examination of socio-cultural dynamics and economic incentives.

Main Results:

  • The agential view of misfortune is evolutionarily costly and not explained by adaptive effects or general belief formation strategies.
  • Occult specialists may benefit from entrenched agential views of misfortune.
  • A puzzling lack of resistance to exploitative behaviors by occultists is observed.

Conclusions:

  • The commonness of the agential view of misfortune requires a specific evolutionary explanation.
  • The benefits to occult specialists offer a partial explanation.
  • Further research is needed to explain the lack of resistance to exploitation over cultural evolutionary timescales.