Human sacrifice was rational necessity when groups could only survive by eating human flesh

Evidence

“Raoul Glaber has described with an insistence verging on sadism the appalling famine which preceded the year 1033. He notes for instance that at the fair at Tournus in Burgundy, a man was offering human flesh for sale, ready cooked on a butcher’s stall.” — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1476 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Put another way, when competition between groups is intense, and when other factors such as war technology and population size are similar, groups that happen to have members who acquire traits favoring self-sacrifice and subordinate self-interest for group interests—that is, groups with stronger social solidarity—will tend to win out. Of course, when a whole group wins out, the individuals in that group win out as well, and the self-sacrificial strategies that led to their groups’ success spread. … It must not be forgotten that although a high standard of morality gives but a slight or no advantage to each individual man and his children over the other men of the same tribe, yet that an advancement in the standard of morality and an increase in the number of well-endowed men will certainly give an immense advantage to one tribe over another. There can be no doubt that a tribe including many members who, from possessing in a high degree the spirit of patriotism, fidelity, obedience, courage, and sympathy, were always ready to give aid to each other and to sacrifice themselves for the common good, would be victorious over other tribes; and this would be natural selection. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 453 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Context makes some killing morally required rather than wrong; Group-level selection favors tribes whose members sacrifice for the common good — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 453; Famine in 1033 drove Europeans to sell cooked human flesh openly — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1476 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Famine in 1033 drove Europeans to sell cooked human flesh openly #exemplifies (0.85) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1476
• Context makes some killing morally required rather than wrong #expands (0.80)
• Group-level selection favors tribes whose members sacrifice for the common good #complicates (0.72) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 453