Cargo Cults

Summary
A cargo cult is a type of religious practice that may appear in traditional tribal societies in the wake of interaction with technologically advanced cultures. (Source: Wikipedia)

(Video: YouTube)

Commentary
Cargo cults provide an interesting insight into the development of beliefs and rituals. The concept of cargo cults has been extended to include any superficial copy that is disconnected from the underlying workings.

Meta
What are other examples of cargo cults?

See Also

• Detached Lever Fallacy at Less Wrong (formerly Overcoming Bias) for a somewhat related discussion on artificial intelligence systems.
• Tanna: John Frum Day Sulfa Bay at YouTube for part of the annual ceremonies.
• Great Designers Steal at YouTube for a discussion about a similar behavior among designers.

Conference: Biological Foundations of Morality

This post is based on a submission by reader Professor Daniel Bitran. Thank you! Please submit suggestions for posts to metaist.blog@gmail.com.

Announcement
From the conference event page:

How does what we are learning about the brain through neuroscience and evolutionary science influence how we ought to think about ethics?

Recent advances in functional neuroimaging have increased scientists' understanding of how our brains process moral decisions. Some thinkers suggest that moral decision making is fundamentally an intuitive or emotional process, and that what we call "reason" is a post-decision making method of justification for actions, not a "higher order" process for making decisions.

If so, the new science challenges the principle of free will, the argument that reason is the foundation of moral decision making, and the importance of understanding intentions before judging responsibility for action. The potential implications for most Western ethical traditions are enormous.

(Formatting added.)

The conference is Thursday-Friday, March 18-19, 2010 at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.

See Also

• Agenda for the conference.
• About the Speakers at the conference.
• Thinking About Other People's Thoughts