By that I mean was institutionalized human sacrifice fated to die out, for reasons besides enemy conquest and the caprices of certain rulers/religions.
For example, one can make an argument that slavery as an institution was doomed because it was economically inefficient, especially when industrial machinery came to the fore. Is there an equivalent argument for human sacrifice?
Obviously sacrificing humans comes at a real cost to society (you might be sacrificing a potential Einstein or Nelson, for example), but surely that can't mean much if, like the Nahua, you sacrificed to prevent the end of the world.
So is there a reason for the abandonment of human sacrifice in the long-run? Or could a surviving Aztec religion still plausibly retain such rituals into modern times?
For example, one can make an argument that slavery as an institution was doomed because it was economically inefficient, especially when industrial machinery came to the fore. Is there an equivalent argument for human sacrifice?
Obviously sacrificing humans comes at a real cost to society (you might be sacrificing a potential Einstein or Nelson, for example), but surely that can't mean much if, like the Nahua, you sacrificed to prevent the end of the world.
So is there a reason for the abandonment of human sacrifice in the long-run? Or could a surviving Aztec religion still plausibly retain such rituals into modern times?