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costly signaling (2)
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study critique (270) book review (221) bad science (31) coordination problems (12) American history (7) archaeology (5) fraud (4) religious history (4) translation (2) rationalization (2) costly signaling (2)

Your Book Review: The Book Of Abraham

A deep dive into the Book of Abraham, focusing on how Joseph Smith's translations of Egyptian papyri were definitively proven false by Egyptologists, yet Mormonism continues to thrive—raising questions about whether instrumental rationality trumps epistemic rationality.

acx
Jul 8, 2026 16,711 words 318 likes 807 comments Listen · 105 min Read Read
evolutionary psychology (39) game theory (27) signaling theory (11) cooperation (10) costly signaling (2) hunter-gatherer societies (2)

Guilt: Another Gift Nobody Wants

Scott proposes that guilt evolved as a costly signal to prove trustworthiness to potential cooperation partners, explaining why guilt involves public self-punishment and can even occur when someone hasn't done anything wrong.

lw
Mar 31, 2011 2,285 words 105 likes 103 comments Read Read
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