Rational Ritual
by Michael Suk-Young Chwe · first published 2001
3mentions
2recommended by
2HN commenters
2014–2023first – last mentioned
100% recommend
"Why do Internet, financial service, and beer commercials dominate Super Bowl advertising? How do political ceremonies establish authority? Why does repetition characterize anthems and ritual speech? Why were circular forms favored for public festivals during the French Revolution? This book answers these questions using a single concept: common knowledge."--BOOK JACKET.
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There's an excellent book called Rational Ritual[1][2][3] which develops this idea much more fully. The thesis is that common knowledge (I know something, and I know everyone else knows it too) is very powerful and rationally drives people's behavior.…
on “Ads work by cultural imprinting, not emotional inception” ↗…consensus on this topic for the better, we're going to discourage others from apologizing and drive them to deny. Why bear the cost of admitting you're wrong if there's no benefit? [1] I highly recommend Rational Ritual: Culture, Coordination, and Common Knowledge by Michael Suk-Young Chwe for a game-theoretic exploration of topics like this. http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9998.html
on “I'm a creep. I'm sorry” ↗Shares at least some overlap with a "ritual of common knowledge": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1116212.Rational_Ritual
on “Nobody Knows What's Happening Online Anymore” ↗