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Peter Gerdes's avatar

I'd suggest part of the difficulty here is that there are multiple senses in which we can say X is the reason people do Y.

Speaking informally we often say X is the reason that people do Y when introspectively X is what comes to mind when people think about it, i.e., they aren't lying. I think in this sense the reasons mentioned above are a substantial reason that people have marriage ceremonies.

However, I suspect that you are more interested in a kind of causal/counterfactual reading, e.g., if X wasn't true than we wouldn't do Y. I think it's in this sense many of the signalling based explanations are true even if people are not consciousnessley aware of them.

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Peter Gerdes's avatar

I largely agree with your analysis but I don't think the happiness and joy expressed at weddings is evidence that we think it's a better choice generally. It's merely evidence that we think it's a better choice for those who are inclined to make it (the same way we can celebrate the choice to become doctors, priests and other professions without believing that people who choose a non-doctor profession are worse off).

I happen to think we do believe marriage is a better choice I just don't believe this particular behavior is evidence for that claim.

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