Comment by preg_match
5 days ago
There is also value in the abstract sense, meaning tradition can have value for the consensus and social understanding it causes.
Like, maybe Christmas as understood for Americans has no value. But the fact a Christmas exist does result in families getting together and provides a cohesive context for the winter season across pop culture, and that can have downstream value.
> for the consensus and social understanding it causes.
This is an underlying reason
I guess maybe, but it's not intrinsically linked to the event. Like maybe Christmas would be useless if only I celebrated it, but it has a purpose if lots of people celebrate it. Also Christmas is probably not a good example but you get the idea.
Just because tradition can be necessary to the value of some things doesn't mean tradition is sufficient to proving value.
Female genital mutilation is traditional in some places. That alone doesn't mean it's valuable.
2 replies →