Presentation

I put up the presentation that I gave at the M-BEES conference on my website. The first slides are a bit cryptic. In order:

1. Title slide.
2. Families watch striking miners return to work. Strikes are a good example of the need to cooperate outside of a contractual framework.
3. Worshippers at a church in Virginia. Religion and rituals have been explained as costly signals of commitment to a particular group.
4. Simeon Stylites, who spent 37 years on top of a pillar. Costly signalling can be very costly.
5. Still from There Will Be Blood. But if it's not costly enough, it fails to deter selfish people from entering the community. (You'll know what I mean if you've seen the film.)
6. Examples of anonymous rituals: marching and uniforms.
7. Examples of anonymous rituals: music. Gertrude Bell has a fabulous quote on this which is in the powerpoint notes.
8. More examples: church donations, Secret Santa, anonymous voting.
9. ... and applause. (Spot the Stalin connection.)

After that it gets more ordinary.