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> The issue of poor time-keeping is not just a Kenyan problem. It is a problem in Ghana and throughout Africa (and of course in many other cultures as well). R
by spodek 9y ago
> The issue of poor time-keeping is not just a Kenyan problem. It is a problem in Ghana and throughout Africa (and of course in many other cultures as well).
Reading Affluence Without Abundance -- https://www.amazon.com/Affluence-Without-Abundance-Disappearing-Bushmen/dp/1632865726 https://www.amazon.com/Affluence-Without-Abundance-Disappear... -- about hunting and gathering cultures in southern Africa, whose cultures endured 200,000 years, changed my views on our views on time, law, agriculture, growth, eating meat, and other things.
From a western perspective, loose time-keeping seems a problem.
A thought-provoking question: can you imagine a culture where such a perspective on time worked? And worked for orders of magnitude longer than your culture has existed?
- extra88 9y agoI can’t imagine such a culture producing modern medicine or becoming a space-faring one. Without modern medicine, the span of the average individual life is limited, without getting off this rock, the culture’s life is limited.
- Oxitendwe 9y agoHow well did these cultures fare against the imperialist Europeans, exactly? How well do they fare against their more technologically advanced neighbors? Incidentally, you may also wish to read "Industrial Society and Its Future" by former Berkeley mathematics professor Theodore Kaczynski.
- dang 9y agoWe've banned this account for repeatedly using HN for ideological battle, which breaks the site guidelines. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- Oxitendwe 9y agoHow is this engaging in ideological battle? Is this not a completely legitimate question to ask?
- spodek 9y agoTerribly. Agriculture is destroying their culture by taking the land they lived on, causing plants and animals to go extinct, imposing laws that don't fit, and spreading alcoholism, war, etc. Agriculture seems more aggressive and destructive. People seem to work harder and enjoy life less. It seems what makes one culture defeat another isn't necessarily what makes the people in the culture happy. Or what keeps the air, land, and water clean, or plants and animals from going extinct. That's the Unabomber, right? I'm probably supposed to read between the lines from your mentioning him that way, but I didn't get the meaning.
- toasterlovin 9y agoAs a counterpoint, here's an (IMO) more sober take on the supposed affluence of the bushmen: http://quillette.com/2017/12/16/romanticizing-hunter-gatherer/ http://quillette.com/2017/12/16/romanticizing-hunter-gathere...