What are some traditions/societal rules that would seem contrived and useless, but actually do something beneficial? I have a society that has a bunch of inane rules, and the twist is they're good.
Setting is medieval(ish) and (kind of) low fantasy.
>>46154662
Drop a silver coin into your cup before drinking form it.
>>46154688
Helps reveal werewolves
>>46154662
Assnine sumptuary laws actually help regulate the economy, proving a boon to textile manufacturers because it increases costs on certain designs and dye colours
>>46154688
I assume this kills germs/bacteria or something?
There's some rules from judaism that would work, especially stuff relating to cleanliness.
>>46154662
https://www.google.co.kr/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.colorado.edu/economics/morey/4999Ethics/Religion/Iannaccone1998_Edward.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjk4OSvxtHLAhUHnJQKHcExCo0QFggbMAA&usg=AFQjCNH1R0jlpuNNLYtyZGGFkhRv9bJB8A&sig2=ZX4bVQO1XospAEpgfIHTmQ
>It can be shown, both formally and empirically, that apparently gratuitious can serve to mitigate a religion's free-rider problems by screening out half hearted members and inducing higher levels of participation among those who remain.
Uncured meats cannot be sold on saturday and animals can only be slaughtered for meat on Sunday. This ensures that meat is fresh, and all Saturday excess is donated to the stewpots of the poor houses.
Gold can only be used at govt run exchange houses where it is cashed in for script, stamped with the Royal seal. This is due to a large amount of fools gold in the region, preventing mistakes and counterfeits. Incidentally this makes counterfeiting a crime of treason and it is punishable by death
>>46154806
Cliffnotes please?
Masturbation is illegal and is punished by flogging, unless that person has a fetish for it.
>>46154825
P. 1482 4.3 Religious groups and institutions
It basically shows through a bit of mathematics and empirical data that certain weird cultish behavior can be explained by being actually beneficial, since it drives out freeloaders that harm the group and also allows for others to enjoy the services produced by the religion more. It can also explain prominent gang tattoos and military hazing.
>>46154856
How is this beneficial?
>>46154875
The kicker here is that it can explain why any sacrifice by any group, religious or otherwise, is accepted by an individual when it obviously harms the subject's utility. I found this very fascinating and also very relevant.
>>46154662
Periods of fasting.
Maintain's healthy weight of population, can help ration food at certain periods of the year when food might be slightly harder to come by (migrating herds, fish relocate to spawn, can't grow crops, etc)
Looking at the Bible era society just as an example:
>Circumcision was a hygiene thing
>you can't eat shellfish was, again, a health warning
>>46155018
As was pork because someone always ate it too raw
>>46155069
Old tyme pigs were dirty as fuck too, until like the 40s when we cleaned them up and bred leaner, healthier hogs
>>46154879
Urges people to have sex, and more children.
>>46157535
>Urges people to have sex, and more children.
That's a funny way of spelling "makes people hide their masturbation more thoroughly".
A classic from anthropology is a group in Canada that would bake a hip bone of a deer in a fire, then interpret the cracks caused by the heat as a map to the best place to hunt.
Benefit was that it kept them from overhunting any one area, instead they got enough for the season then moved on to another area, allowing the deer population to replenish.
>>46157585
Bit of trivia I learned in a military history class
When WWII kicked off in the US the government tried to capture as much data as possible and began their training to avoid STI's right away.
They discovered that a majority of men had never masturbated and that a large percentage didn't even know what it was.
Even today studies (the sort that don't depend on people telling the truth, mind you) show that there are large populations that simply don't masturbate.
-Like I often tell my players - medieval Europe. etc., was not 2010 America with no cars; people were very, very different
>>46154998
It's actually pretty well recorded that during the crusades armies under siege would frequently fast in order to gain divine blessing to help break the siege. The fact that it also means that you use a lot less food is of course a happy side effect.
>>46157689
>They discovered that a majority of men had never masturbated and that a large percentage didn't even know what it was.
>Even today studies (the sort that don't depend on people telling the truth, mind you) show that there are large populations that simply don't masturbate.
>>46157689
Was their lack of knowledge of masturbation self reported?
>>46157632
??
How does that work? Like it would crack in different ways based on the deer population, because the bones would be weaker in smaller herds or what?
>>46154662
All kinds of really strict rules of etiquette that are actually used to immediately reveal when someone's been replaced by a doppelganger, since no one not raised in the culture could possibly get them right.
>>46157747
Heck, the U of Chicago study from just 2008 showed that something like 15% of all American men aged 18-60 (then) had never msaturbated and 40% of those who had at some point *hadn't* done so in at least a year.
And that is post-sexual revolution and in a heavily-saturated-by-porn culture.
The numbers were lower for women with 28% having never done so and of those who had 60%+ had not in the previous year or more.
So to traditional, religious communities or cultures and those numbers are even stronger.
>>46154662
These are actually very common. A society/culture doesn't have to know why it does something helpful, it just has to outlast all the societies that don't do that thing.
Arguably, the entire property rights/free trade system was developed well before economists ever identified that it generated so much wealth and innovation.
>>46157758
Multiple surveys with controls for deceit on many of them. Interestingly, after the war the number that had paid for sex (either prostitutes or trading food, etc. in combat zones) had surged tremendously while those who had masturbated didn't change much at all; probably no opportunity.
anyway, this is a long digression.
But, in Real Life, there are a large number of cultures where masturbation is virtually unknown.
>>46157793
No, not really, all its actually doing is telling them to walk in some random direction for a ways, just so they don't keep hunting and hunting where they currently are.
They thought they were walking to where the most deer were, when they were actually just walking away from where they had killed enough deer already.
>>46155148
I heard that pigs were banned in Islam and Judaism because if you ate your pig, you'd have no way of fertilising crops in the arid Middle East, and die of starvation. So the guvmint told everyone that God hates pigs, and thus there was plenty of farmland and fewer people starved.
>>46157793
Read it again. The point is that it doesn't work - the cracks are random, leading the tribes to hunt in random areas, thereby not overhunting the same area.
>>46157919
No, it;s definitely to avoid trichinosis from undercooked pork. I mean, sure some of the middle east is desert, but a lot of it is also directly between the Trigris and the Euphrates. It wasn't called the Fertile Crescent for nothing.
>>46157919
Or, perhaps, its because it made you sick.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinella
People used to collect urine, because it was needed to set dyes and was also a great fertilizer. They place barrels on street corners to collect male urine and recipes called for male but there isn't a specific reason as to why it needed to be a mans.
There is a lot about hygiene/trash disposal and stupid rules, like men walking with women stand between them and the street or putting their coat over a puddle is because dyes are really hard to set and wash out just like mud.
>>46157689
This smells bad. I've heard the opposite. Studies (albeit pulling from University populations) into men who haven't looked at porn have repeatedly failed to find any candidates for those studies.
In Islam, you have to wash your hands and face before your daily prayer and wash your entire body after you have had sex.
It's because in medieval Middle east, where water is scarce, people tended to not wash at all and were filthy as fuck.
>>46157689
I figured out masturbation on my own. I was literally just handling my dick in the shower like I'd always done and I realised that, that day, for some reason, it felt good to keep going
Like ffs, you roll over in the morning and rub your hard ass dick against the sheets just as a matter of course and *that* feels good. I can't believe any one with a functioning dick wouldn't figure out wanking on their own
>>46158298
Yeah, probably people who "didn't know what masturbation is", just basically didn't know what the word meant. Unless they were lying, of course.
>>46157919
As long as you eat, you'll get a way of fertilizing the fields. Well, either that or a terminal bowel obstruction.
>>46158298
I remember being, I think, fourteen, and reading an article in the newspaper about a study that found that some huge percentage of men-- maybe 60%, maybe more, I don't remember now-- had seen porn at least once by the age of twelve. And I remember thinking "damn, I've been missing out for two years." And then I went and looked up some porn to jerk it to.
>>46154662
>What are some traditions/societal rules that would seem contrived and useless, but actually do something beneficial? I have a society that has a bunch of inane rules, and the twist is they're good.
Prohibition against eating blood = Helps keep away diseases.
>>46157919
Anon, pig shit is actually fairly poisonous.
You do NOT want to use it for fertilizer, it sours the earth and poisons the water.
If you wanted a way to avoid high infant/general population mortality in your setting have this:
All surgeons, midwives, and physicians do regular ceremonial washings that mirror those of the priests. They also perform those washings on their equipment before and after using them on the patient. They see the increased survival rates (compared to other cultures) as a blessing from the Powers That Be.
Simple hand washing was a relatively recent medical breakthrough (turn of the century?) and was a contributing factor to plummeting infant mortality rates.
Bonus points if you can think of a religious or cultural reason to use soap or lye in the washings. Ultra bonus points if you can give a reason why they boil their tools in water after use.
>>46154662
>What are some traditions/societal rules that would seem contrived and useless, but actually do something beneficial?
Monogamy and chastity.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxpVwBzFAkw
>>46154709
>>46154729
Silver changes its color in poisoned liquids.GET THE FUCK OFF MY BOARD NORMIES REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
>>46158958
>not knowing that not only are hymens capable of being broken by non-sexual activities, but can also heal itself and look like new again
>focusing on virginity and not the important things related to it, like "doesn't have any STDs", "isn't already sleeping with/in love with someone else" and "isn't already pregnant with someone else's child".
Not going to argue against the importance of monogamy and the relative importance of chastity, but come on man. Your pic's full retard.
![1334628464173[2].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/sokCcR6.jpg "1334628464173[2].jpg")
>>46159034
>I saw the picture but didn't watch the video, nor did I read the text
What's it like to have a five second attention span?
>>46159063
As far as I'm concerned, that picture told me everything I needed to know. If I'm wrong in that matter, then it's your fault for not picking a better image.
>>46154879
vastly increases productivity, sexual encounters at healthy intervals, more energy, larger males and better fighters.
You should try it sometime.and before you protest, remember where you are
>>46159093
You just judged a book by its cover retard.
>>46159161
Not to mention he's literally autistic because he doesn't understand the concept of catchphrases and mottos. I bet he's the kind of idiot who "debunks" the Golden Rule by pointing out masochists exist.
>>46159161
You say that like one isn't often completely right in doing so. Surely, if that cover is misleading you could explain to me why it's misleading and what the video is actually about. But you're not, so I can only assume that I was dead right.
>>46159231
>>46159272
What's that? No explanation? Guess I was right then.
>>46159286
You sound exactly like you don't belong here. Fortunately, here's just the place for you.
>>46159299
>oh shit, he's calling me out on my bullshit!
>better throw memes at him!
Tell me what actually goes on in that video. That's all you have to do. Are you too stupid to do it? Or am I just right?
>>46159332
The video was about women sexuality and the effects on government and societal stability. Now go fuck off back to /b/.
>>46159332
>Tell me what actually goes on in that video
It talks misogyny until it suddenly cuts to footage Goldman Sachs anally fisting Hillary Clinton adjacently to Bernie Sanders getting mounted by an African-American bodybuilder all of this taking place in the sewers of New York. You can faintly make out what sounds like Donald Trump's constipated moans of pain caused by eating poisoned Taco Bell before hearing a loud flushing noise. The footage then cuts to black and it ends with the screams of the four orgy participants.Watch it for yourself you underage fuck.
>>46159431
>The video was about women sexuality and the effects on government and societal stability.
Aaaaaand? Care to provide anymore details, or am I right in thinking that it's just a bunch of dumb shit that permavirgins sperg about?
>Now go fuck off back to /b/.
Oh, real classy, I bet all the girls just swoon when they see how mature you are.
>>46159492
>Unable to watch a 18m video
>Proceeds to criticize someone's maturity
>>46159453
>>46154803
What, like genital mutilation and banning THE TASTIEST MEATS?
>>46159492
Dude it's 18 minutes of fact spewing and explanations. Go look at it instead of complaining that the post's image is not exactly compliant with every single point in the video.
>>46155069
It was also because pork does NOT keep in the heat, unless you like it to taste like the sea.
>>46159161
Oi prick, I judge books by their covers all the time. If an author can't be fucked to make their book look good then they aren't worth my fucking time. Hymens or no hymens, put in the effort if you don't want autismal cucks calling you out on minutiae. You're on the internet now, you can't let this shit slip.
>>46158395
there's a lot of shit in shit that you don't want in your upper intestine
>>46159567
Shellfish can be difficult to avoid food poisoning from and gives you THE WORST FUCKING FOOD POISONING. Pig was likely banned because they roll in mud and seemed unclean, but are actually very tidy animals. Probably some other reason too, but hell if I really know for certain.
And cutting that useless skin off your dick helps keep it clean too.
>>46158960
>Silver changes its color in poisoned liquids.
Where did you get this from?
>>46159970
Wild pork is riddled with parasites, too.
>>46160052
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080127201220AAQMwlT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_spoon
Fucking normies man.
>>46159970
Pork has some pretty bad parasites that are hard to get rid of.
>>46160190
What parasites can resist being cooked to well-done?
>>46160492
>well-done
You had to awaken the amerifats, didn't you?
![715e17ceed0dab06b7602342ccad730936ccc49d15761366f2e431204836f24a[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/QfWoDi7.jpg "715e17ceed0dab06b7602342ccad730936ccc49d15761366f2e431204836f24a[1].jpg")
>>46160492
>well-done?
Bien cuit.
>>46159332
just watch the fucking video if you care it's nobody's job to TEACH you OR CATER TO YOUR PETTY TANTRUMS we're hear to discuss things and are in no way obligated to break for you
the answer to all your (incredibly rude) questions are literally IN THE FUCKING VIDEO
