Unless the meme that {buying lottery tickets is a good idea} is beneficial for those that hold it, we should not expect it to become prevalent even it if benefits the species.
But it is prevalent. And on average people lose money at it, while the occasionaly winners tend not to do well.
So it’s natural to suppose that the meme for buying lottery tickets is a perversion of some other functional meme.
Here’s a way that lotteries could be functional after all for people in extended families. If you sacrifice and save and start to build up a little capital, you may be accosted by distant relatives in need who have the right to your assistance, and it all drains away. But when you win the lottery you can go live in some distant place and only share enough to stay in distant good standing. When building up savings is considered immoral, paying 40% on average might not seem so bad for a chance to get some capital anyway.
Unless the meme that {buying lottery tickets is a good idea} is beneficial for those that hold it, we should not expect it to become prevalent even it if benefits the species.
But it is prevalent. And on average people lose money at it, while the occasionaly winners tend not to do well.
So it’s natural to suppose that the meme for buying lottery tickets is a perversion of some other functional meme.
Here’s a way that lotteries could be functional after all for people in extended families. If you sacrifice and save and start to build up a little capital, you may be accosted by distant relatives in need who have the right to your assistance, and it all drains away. But when you win the lottery you can go live in some distant place and only share enough to stay in distant good standing. When building up savings is considered immoral, paying 40% on average might not seem so bad for a chance to get some capital anyway.