Cook ended scurvy by exploiting prestige copying rather than force or education.

Evidence

On the suggestion of an English physician, Cook obtained a large supply of sauerkraut, which we now know will prevent scurvy. Since sauerkraut represented a rather pungent and unusual deviation from the traditional maritime fare, Cook worried that his sailors would refuse to eat it and knew that neither force nor education were likely to succeed in creating an enduring dietary shift. Instead, he ordered that plates of sauerkraut be dressed and served at the officers’ mess, but not at the sailors’ mess. Within a week of setting sail, inferring that the officers had a taste for sauerkraut, the rank-and-file crew began actively requesting servings of sauerkraut. Very quickly, sauerkraut became so desired that it had to be rationed. Cook finished his expedition with not a single case of scurvy, a feat theretofore unheard of among Europeans during such long ocean voyages. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 463

Categorization

• SHARE: A naval-history-adjacent story worth sending to a sailor or history buff.
• CANDY: Sauerkraut made prestige-desirable among sailors is a short, amusing fact.
• XREF: connects to: Humans copy even fitness-destroying practices when prestige cues are present