Tristram_Brelstaff

• Tristram_Brelstaff 5 Jan 2008 8:51 UTC

  7 points

  on: A Failed Just-So Story

  Heretics were routinely burned alive just a few centuries ago. Or stoned to death, or executed by whatever method local fashion demands. Questioning the local gods is the notional crime for which Socrates was made to drink hemlock.

  These pressures would also strongly select for cheats who simulate faith without having the real thing, leading to a religious form of Batesian mimicry.

• Tristram_Brelstaff 27 Dec 2007 9:31 UTC

  26 points

  0

  on: On Ex­press­ing Your Concerns

  So, if you are an emperor wanting honest advice on your wardrobe, then Asch’s results suggest that ‘planting’ one or more dissenters would be a good way to get it.