Comments on: The Wisdom of Ritual https://www.isegoria.net/2013/01/the-wisdom-of-ritual/ From the ancient Greek for equality in freedom of speech; an eclectic mix of thoughts, large and small Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:33:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: Gina https://www.isegoria.net/2013/01/the-wisdom-of-ritual/comment-page-1/#comment-750210 Gina Thu, 31 Jan 2013 06:26:08 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=30861#comment-750210 I would say that it is imbuing the objects and movements with meaning, and that can come later.

]]> By: Aretae https://www.isegoria.net/2013/01/the-wisdom-of-ritual/comment-page-1/#comment-748986 Aretae Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:30:05 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=30861#comment-748986 Bob,

Your extension pushes the definition of ritual beyond the reasonable. And maybe so does Al Fin’s.

Repetition is how creatures learn. And it’s cheaper to build habits than to consider options. Hence, you would expect all creatures to run habitual behaviors.

Ritual needs to be something beyond that. Is the something observation and copying? I don’t think so. We see monkeys do that sometimes. And some birds.

What is the defining characteristic of ritual, as opposed to simple rote-learning?

]]> By: Bob Sykes https://www.isegoria.net/2013/01/the-wisdom-of-ritual/comment-page-1/#comment-743067 Bob Sykes Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:26:33 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=30861#comment-743067 It may go very deep. Even cats have rituals they perform to get food, open doors, get attention, etc.

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