The paper contains the grain of an idea: that given the costs of investing in knowledge acquisition, it can be "economically rational" to believe in convenient but false explanations for things so long as the cost of being wrong is low. I don't think even economists would argue that economic rationality is the be-all and end-all of behavioral science, but as a rough guide you first screen out all those behaviors which are, in some sense, econmically rational, and then look at the residue for interesting anomalies.
As the paper says, when you had Saracen troops guaranteed a spot in Paradise for martyring themselves in battle, most ran away anyway when it became clear death was the price. The 9/11 hijackers were of the subgroup that doesn't run, and their training and lifestyle was of the sort that produces cult members -- think Jim Jones -- where the short-term incentives to go along all grease the rails to the final precipice, so it becomes less and less thinkable for a member of the group to escape. These insular groups can maintain group discipline by constant reinforcement and the gradual loss of any alternative to remaining a member of the group.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Re: Interesting example: Islamic martyrs
Date: 2004-08-09 01:15 pm (UTC)As the paper says, when you had Saracen troops guaranteed a spot in Paradise for martyring themselves in battle, most ran away anyway when it became clear death was the price. The 9/11 hijackers were of the subgroup that doesn't run, and their training and lifestyle was of the sort that produces cult members -- think Jim Jones -- where the short-term incentives to go along all grease the rails to the final precipice, so it becomes less and less thinkable for a member of the group to escape. These insular groups can maintain group discipline by constant reinforcement and the gradual loss of any alternative to remaining a member of the group.