Saved by sari
Tradition is Smarter Than You Are
It is said that traditions are answers to enduring questions, and so dispensing with them because we do not understand them (or "see the point of them") is an unfortunate way to squander this inheritance.
Simon Sarris • In Praise of the Gods
When it comes to culture, tradition plays the role of the evolutionary constraints. A bit of conservatism, a certain bias in favor of history, can buffer us against the boom-and-bust cycle of fads.
Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths • Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
We can see here why many traditions are robust over decades or centuries, even if they really are arbitrary,
Richard H. Thaler • Nudge: The Final Edition
It’s also not a bad idea to keep tradition in mind. I think most of us in modern times disdain tradition as the equivalent of superstition. It’s not a bad idea to think of it instead as what has survived the test of time. Not everything that survives is necessarily worthwhile. You might not bow to tradition, but it’s not a bad starting place.
Russell D. Roberts • Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us
To understand exactly why this is the case, let’s consider Chesterton’s Fence, described by G. K. Chesterton himself as follows:
There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use o... See more