Nonfiction

Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living

Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living

  • Downloads：4360
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-11-01 06:53:51
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Dimitris Xygalatas
  • ISBN：0316462403
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Summary

A pioneering anthropologist takes readers on a 'fascinating， well-researched' （Dr。 Jane Goodall， DBE） journey through the rich tapestry of human ritual—showing how and why our most irrational behaviors are a key driver of our success。"

Ritual is one of the oldest， and certainly most enigmatic， threads in the history of human culture。 It presents a profound paradox: people ascribe the utmost importance to their rituals， but few can explain why they are so important。 Apparently pointless ceremonies pervade every documented society， from handshakes to hexes， hazings to parades。 Before we ever learned to farm， we were gathering in giant stone temples to perform elaborate rites and ceremonies。 And yet， though rituals exist in every culture and can persist nearly unchanged for centuries， their logic has remained a mystery—until now。
 
In Ritual， pathfinding scientist Dimitris Xygalatas leads us on an enlightening tour through this shadowy realm of human behavior。 Armed with cutting-edge technology and drawing on discoveries from a wide range of disciplines， he presents a powerful new perspective on our place in the world。 In birthday parties and coronations， in silent prayer， in fire-walks and terrifying rites of passage， in all the bewildering variety of human life， Ritual reveals the deep and subtle mechanisms that bind us together。

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Reviews

Cav ，

"Without a single exception， all known human societies – whether past or present – have a range of traditions that involve highly choreographed， formalised and precisely executed behaviours that mark threshold moments in people’s lives。。。"Ritual was an eye-opening look into the ubiquitous human habit of personal and social rituals。 I enjoyed the writing here。Author Dimitris Xygalatas is an anthropologist and cognitive scientist who runs the Experimental Anthropology Lab at the University of Conn "Without a single exception， all known human societies – whether past or present – have a range of traditions that involve highly choreographed， formalised and precisely executed behaviours that mark threshold moments in people’s lives。。。"Ritual was an eye-opening look into the ubiquitous human habit of personal and social rituals。 I enjoyed the writing here。Author Dimitris Xygalatas is an anthropologist and cognitive scientist who runs the Experimental Anthropology Lab at the University of Connecticut。 He has published over 100 articles across various disciplines， and has been interviewed about his groundbreaking work by the New York Times，The Guardian， PBS， the History Channel， National Geographic， and numerous other outlets。 Dimitris Xygalatas: The book opens with a decent intro。 Xygalatas mentions a few masochistic religious rituals， including snake handlers in the American south， the Shia Islamic Ashura ritual， Ramadan， and a few others。He has a decent writing style， and this one shouldn't have trouble holding the reader's attention。Xygalatas continues the quote above: "。。。These behaviours， which we call rituals， either have no explicit purpose at all， or， even when they do， their stated goals are causally disconnected from the actions undertaken to achieve them。 Performing a rain dance does not cause water to fall from the sky; stabbing a voodoo doll cannot harm people at a distance; and the only thing a Tarot card reader can reliably predict is that your wallet will be lighter after your consultation。 It is this gap between means and goals that led the professor to infer that because an object which required hard labour to make had no obvious function， it probably served a ritual purpose。"He continues on: "。。。Rituals are central to virtually all of our social institutions。 Think of a judge waving a gavel or a new president taking an oath of office。 They are held by militaries， governments and corporations， in initiation ceremonies， parades and costly displays of commitment。 They are used by athletes who always wear the same socks in important games， and by gamblers who kiss the dice or cling on to lucky charms when the stakes are high。 And in our everyday life they are practised by each and every one of us when we raise a glass to make a toast， attend a graduation ceremony or take part in a birthday celebration。 The need for ritual is primeval， and， as we shall see， may have played a pivotal role in human civilisation。"As stated at the start of this review， the human habit of ritualization is endemic to all cultures and peoples of the world。 Xygalatas says that there has never been a group of people whose culture did not include some （or many） forms of elaborate ritualization。But not all features of life across different societies are subjected to ritualization。 Interestingly， Xygalatas says: "After surveying various other domains of life in the Trobriand Islands， Malinowski began to discern a clear pattern。 In general， rituals were largely absent from domains that had predictable outcomes but abundant in areas associated with danger and uncontrollable circumstances such as warfare， illness， love and natural phenomena。 They were， for example， indispensable when planting garden vegetables that were vulnerable to diseases or bad weather but unnecessary when tending to hardier plants such as fruit trees。 ‘We find magic wherever the elements of chance and accident， and the emotional play between hope and fear， have a wide and extensive range，’ he wrote。 ‘We do not find magic wherever the pursuit is certain， reliable， and well under control of rational methods and technological processes。’"Some more of what is covered here by the author includes:• Rituals in the animal kingdom• Obsessive-compulsive disorder （OCD）• Ubiquitous human rituals; deaths， births， marriages• "Immutable essences"• Tribalism; group membership。 "phenotypic matching"• Episodic vs semantic memories• Abraham Maslow; his "Hierarchy of Needs"• Firewalking• Oxytocin; the hormone's role in rituals。• Mihály Csíkszentmihályi's "flow" state• The bullet ant ritual among the young men of Satere-Mawe tribe in Brazil• Sexual selection; costly or "honest" signaling• Conspicuous consumption， debutante balls， "Sweet 16" parties• Initiation rituals of criminal enterprises。 Military training programs with high attrition and death rates; SEAL BUD/s training• The placebo effect• The brain's dopamine pathways• The nocebo effect; "Voodoo death"• The impact of COVID 19• The Burning Man festival**********************I enjoyed Ritual。 The author did a good job putting this one together。 If I had to find fault with the book， I would say that some of the writing dragged on a bit longer than it could have， leaving some parts of the book a bit dry and flat。。。I would still recommend it to anyone interested in social psychology。4 stars。 。。。more

Maher Razouk ，

الطقوس。。في الشرق الأوسط ، يجلد المسلمون الشيعة أجسادهم حتى تدمى ، حدادًا على استشهاد الإمام الحسين。 في الفلبين ، يدق الكاثوليك المسامير في راحة أيديهم وأرجلهم تخليداً لذكرى معاناة يسوع المسيح。 في تايلاند ، يحتفل التاويون بمهرجان الآلهة التسعة تكريمًا للآلهة الصينية من خلال إراقة الدماء وتطويق أجسادهم بأي شيء من السكاكين والأسياخ إلى القرون والأشواك 。 في أمريكا الوسطى ، أجرى المايا مراسم إراقة الدماء حيث قام الرجال بثقب قضبانهم بأشواك الراي اللاسعة。 وفي ولايات الأبلاش الجنوبية بالولايات المتحدة ا الطقوس。。في الشرق الأوسط ، يجلد المسلمون الشيعة أجسادهم حتى تدمى ، حدادًا على استشهاد الإمام الحسين。 في الفلبين ، يدق الكاثوليك المسامير في راحة أيديهم وأرجلهم تخليداً لذكرى معاناة يسوع المسيح。 في تايلاند ، يحتفل التاويون بمهرجان الآلهة التسعة تكريمًا للآلهة الصينية من خلال إراقة الدماء وتطويق أجسادهم بأي شيء من السكاكين والأسياخ إلى القرون والأشواك 。 في أمريكا الوسطى ، أجرى المايا مراسم إراقة الدماء حيث قام الرجال بثقب قضبانهم بأشواك الراي اللاسعة。 وفي ولايات الأبلاش الجنوبية بالولايات المتحدة اليوم ، ترقص مجموعات من الخمسينيين بنشوة في كنائسهم بينما يتعاملون مع الثعابين القاتلة。 تتدلى من ذيولها ، وهي حرة لتلدغ في أي وقت - وغالبًا ما تفعل ذلك。 كان هناك أكثر من مائة حالة وفاة موثقة بين المتعاملين مع الثعابين。 ولكن نظرًا لأن هذه الممارسات غالبًا ما تكون سرية ، فقد تكون الأرقام الحقيقية أعلى من ذلك بكثير。 وفقًا لعالم النفس الاجتماعي رالف هود ، الذي درس هذه المجتمعات ، "إذا ذهبت إلى أي كنيسة تتعامل مع الثعابين ، فسترى أشخاصًا بأيدٍ ضامرة وأصابع مفقودة。 لقد عانت جميع العائلات التي تتعامل مع الثعابين من مثل هذه الأشياء。في أجزاء أخرى من العالم ، ينخرط الناس في طقوس أقل إيلامًا ولكنها ليست أقل تكلفة。 يقضي الرهبان التبتيون عقودًا في محاولة لإتقان ممارساتهم التأملية ، وإبعاد أنفسهم عن العالم من أجل حياة من التأمل الصامت。 يحرم المسلمون في جميع أنحاء العالم أنفسهم من الطعام والماء من الفجر حتى الغسق خلال شهر رمضان 。يمكن أن تستمر مراسم الزفاف الهندية أسبوعًا كاملاً ، حيث تستغرق الاستعدادات عدة أشهر ، ومئات أو حتى آلاف الضيوف مدعوون。 يمكن أن تكون التكاليف معيقة بالنسبة للأسرة العادية。 وفقًا لتقديرات مؤسسة القرية التقدمية ومعهد الرعاية الاجتماعية （منظمة غير حكومية محلية） ، يلجأ أكثر من 60 % من جميع الأسر الهندية إلى مقرضي الأموال لتمويل حفلات زفاف أطفالهم ، غالبًا بمعدلات ابتزازية。 غالبًا ما يُجبر أولئك الذين ليس لديهم وسيلة أخرى لضمان هذه القروض على العبودية لسداد ديونهم。حتى الآن لم أذكر سوى الاحتفالات الدينية。 ومع ذلك ، تعتبر الطقوس أساسية لجميع مؤسساتنا الاجتماعية تقريبًا。 فكر في قاضي يلوح بمطرقة أو رئيس جديد يؤدي القسم ، الجيوش والحكومات والشركات ، في احتفالات البدء ، والاستعراضات ، وعروض الالتزام المكلفة。 يتم استخدام الطقوس أيضاً من قبل الرياضيين الذين يرتدون دائمًا نفس الجوارب في الألعاب المهمة ، ومن قبل المقامرين الذين يرمون النرد أو يتشبثون بسحر الحظ عندما تكون المخاطر كبيرة。 وفي حياتنا اليومية يمارسها كل واحد منا عندما نرفع كأسًا لعمل نخب ، أو نحضر حفل تخرج أو نشارك في احتفال عيد ميلاد。 الحاجة إلى الطقوس بدائية ، وربما لعبت دورًا محوريًا في الحضارة الإنسانية。ولكن ما الذي يدفعنا جميعًا للانخراط في هذه السلوكيات التي لها تكاليف ملموسة دون أي فوائد واضحة مباشرة؟ ولماذا تعتبر هذه الأنشطة غالبًا ذات مغزى عميق ، حتى لو كان الغرض منها غامضًا في كثير من الأحيان؟。Dimitris XygalatasRitualTranslated By #Maher_Razouk 。。。more

Besart Ç。 ，

Great book， highly entertaining and informative！

Ian ，

Generally speaking， when I finish a book I have a clear idea about my reaction to it， and about what I will say in the “reviews” I come up with。 My thoughts about this book are quite jumbled， and I found this a difficult one to write about。The author has made a speciality out of studying the role of ritual in human society， and the human drive to engage in ritual。 The book considers both mundane and extreme rituals， but with more emphasis on the latter。 I certainly can’t argue with the depth of Generally speaking， when I finish a book I have a clear idea about my reaction to it， and about what I will say in the “reviews” I come up with。 My thoughts about this book are quite jumbled， and I found this a difficult one to write about。The author has made a speciality out of studying the role of ritual in human society， and the human drive to engage in ritual。 The book considers both mundane and extreme rituals， but with more emphasis on the latter。 I certainly can’t argue with the depth of the author’s research， which encompasses extensive field observations with the use of biometric sensors， hormonal sampling， behavioural measurements， and psychometric tests。There was an interesting opening section in which the author claims that ritual behaviour can be observed in the animal world， which is something I had not suspected。 It is of course in humans that ritual behaviour has developed most， and we know from prehistoric grave sites that it has been long-established in our behaviour。 The early part of the book discusses the its mundane manifestations， such as “touching wood” or blowing on dice， that are often performed in solitary fashion。 It’s well-known that these rituals are most prevalent amongst certain categories of people， such as gamblers， sailors and sportsmen。 They are all people whose daily tasks have unpredictable outcomes， and the rituals adopted are essentially attempts to impose order on chaos。 They therefore stem from the same need to control the world as science does。The bulk of the book however， concerns social rituals。 The author provides a battery of evidence to suggest that participation in these promotes social connectedness and， for better or worse， creates highly bonded groups。 He seems to have made a special study of Thaipusam， a Hindu Festival in which the most committed devotees pierce their bodies （including their faces and tongues） with numerous sharp skewers; and of the Anastenaria， a small sect in his native Greece who engage in fire walking preceded by days of exhausting dancing。 A feature of extreme rituals is that the people with the lowest socio-economic status often engage in the most extreme behaviours。 Doing so allows socially marginalised people to gain respect and status。 The author argues that social rituals promote the mental wellbeing of participants。The restrictions on funerals during the COVID pandemic illustrated the continued importance of ritual in marking the major transitions in people’s lives。 Many people were deeply affected through being unable to conduct proper funerals for family members， and it is remarkable how quickly variations to the traditional services developed。It’s nevertheless true that traditional ritual has been in decline in western society， and the author links this to how the vast majority of its people live in comfort， far removed from the existential struggles most people have historically had to deal with。 He comments that new rituals are being invented， but it remains to be seen whether these will stand the test of time。There was much of interest in this book， but whilst the author provided extensive evidence for his conclusions， I couldn’t help feeling that much of it confirmed things I already intuitively felt。 Perhaps the book’s main merit was in how clearly the author articulated those intuitive feelings。 Despite the high quality of scholarship， my personal enjoyment of the book was between a 3 and a 4-star rating。 I’ve gone for the more generous option。 。。。more

Reference

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