Cognitive Appeal Keeps Inefficient Solutions Alive and Hinders Cumulative Cultural Evolution
abenitezburraco · x · 2026-10-17
A pre-registered transmission-chain experiment in Nature Communications shows that visually appealing but inefficient solutions survive across generations, outcompeting better-scoring ones (684 vs 743 points). Cognitive appeal helps explain why costly, ineffective practices like bloodletting and divination persist and hinder cumulative cultural evolution.
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