How humans invented good and evil, and may reinvent both
Over thousands of years humans domesticated themselves
Trial by boiling water was not as bad as it sounded. In medieval Europe, those accused of grave crimes might be ordered to plunge an arm into a bubbling cauldron to retrieve an object. If they were scalded, that was God’s way of revealing their guilt. The chance of acquittal would seem to be zero, but 60% of those who underwent this ordeal got off. How come?
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “How humans invented good and evil”
Culture October 12th 2024
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- Why you should read Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
- Boris Johnson shows how not to write a political memoir
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From the October 12th 2024 edition
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