Conventions, not instincts or rationality, best explain much human behavior

Evidence

To solve the mysteries of human behavior, bioanthropologists point to instincts. Psychologists suggest manias, phobias, and disorders. Economists assume rationality. But the Sri Lankan fishermen’s behavior is best explained through conventions—namely, actions taken in pursuit of status value. Linguist Rudi Keller argues that conventional thinking is arguably the “most fantastic and certainly most decisive of human abilities.” The entire enterprises of language and culture exist only because we can so easily coordinate around arbitrary choices. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 186

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines conventions as actions taken in pursuit of status value, contrasting with instinct-, psychology-, and economics-based explanations.
• XREF: connects to: Explaining a behavior through ordinary social processes does not excuse it morally — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 903; Humans rationalize arbitrary customs post hoc rather than recognizing their contingency; Animal and human behavior is highly contingent on circumstance — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 439 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Humans rationalize arbitrary customs post hoc rather than recognizing their contingency #expands (0.85)
• Human moral behavior may originate in mere conformity to convention, not genuine morality. #exemplifies (0.85) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 541
• Humans rationalize arbitrary customs as rational or biological after settling on them #expands (0.85) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 117
• Rationality emerges from taboo rules rather than rules arising from rational reflection #corroborates (0.80) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 135
• Human status is socially learned like language, not animal instinct #corroborates (0.78) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 62
• Explaining a behavior through ordinary social processes does not excuse it morally #qualifies (0.75) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 903
• Animal and human behavior is highly contingent on circumstance #corroborates (0.75) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 439
• Social conventions and organizational incentives can make people trustworthy #exemplifies (0.75) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 235
• People widely absorb that ideas co-occur without knowing why they do #expands (0.75) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1870