True, but EAs tend not to demand burning money as strongly as society as a whole does, and it won’t loose all it’s effective signaling power to non-EAs unless there’s a lot better flow of information than is typical in society.
For example, a fiancé′s parents might be mortally offended if their child didn’t give and/or receive the usual burnt offering in the form of costly signaling. However, I suspect that in most cases the charity diamond would be acceptable, even if the parents understood EA and knew that the counterfactual amount burnt was only 10% of the standard burnt offering.
After all, what they really care about is their son or daughter in law not embarrassing the family by looking cheap. So, unless all their friends also understand EA, they likely won’t care about whether the offering is donated or burnt, so long as there’s a diamond.
This might not work if the 90% was going to something besides charity, but luckily it’s socially costly to criticize good deeds. (Hence, why EAs have a hard time arguing against donations to curing rare diseases in cute puppies. You look like a dick if you criticize warm fuzzies.)
True, but EAs tend not to demand burning money as strongly as society as a whole does, and it won’t loose all it’s effective signaling power to non-EAs unless there’s a lot better flow of information than is typical in society.
For example, a fiancé′s parents might be mortally offended if their child didn’t give and/or receive the usual burnt offering in the form of costly signaling. However, I suspect that in most cases the charity diamond would be acceptable, even if the parents understood EA and knew that the counterfactual amount burnt was only 10% of the standard burnt offering.
After all, what they really care about is their son or daughter in law not embarrassing the family by looking cheap. So, unless all their friends also understand EA, they likely won’t care about whether the offering is donated or burnt, so long as there’s a diamond.
This might not work if the 90% was going to something besides charity, but luckily it’s socially costly to criticize good deeds. (Hence, why EAs have a hard time arguing against donations to curing rare diseases in cute puppies. You look like a dick if you criticize warm fuzzies.)