3 ms·
> It might even explain why so many cultures had rites to male adulthood involving extreme pain. Right. And a notable trend among those cultures is that they a
by disconnected 9y ago
> It might even explain why so many cultures had rites to male adulthood involving extreme pain.
Right. And a notable trend among those cultures is that they are all nearly extinct. So much for their fertility.
Of course this observation could biased due to my own ignorance. I only remember, like, 3 such cultures, and they were your typical African/Amazonian/Aboriginal tribes that still live in near-neolithic conditions.
Is there any industrialized culture that still follows such rituals?
- jgust 9y agoSee: The NFL
- disconnected 9y agoWhen I think "painful initiation ritual", I think "glove made out of bullet ants" [1] not "organized sporting event in which everyone is wearing armor and hurting someone badly is grounds for stopping the game and rushing him/her to the hospital". Even if you pick something like Boxing or similar contact sports where the goal is to intentionally hurt your opponent, it is still a far-cry from sticking your hand into a whiting mass of animals that have the most painful bite ever recorded. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraponera_clavata#Initiation_rites https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraponera_clavata#Initiation_...
- badosu 9y agoIronically maybe having a glove full of ants once in a while is safer than shocking your head repeatedly every week for years...
- pas 9y agoIsn't that inferal tree in Australia more painful?
- guitarbill 9y agoPedantic: it's a tree so it doesn't bite? But yeah, the gympie gympie [0] sounds horrible - potentially too horrible/long-lasting effects for a rite of passage? Luckily, it's in Australia! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides
- cortesoft 9y agoFertility is only one aspect of evolutionary fitness.
- tomcooks 9y agoThe whole body mod movement
- kinkrtyavimoodh 9y agoYour comment is needlessly dismissive, and to be honest, just incorrect. The cultures that are dominant today aren't dominant due to mere reproductive success. Ironically, fertility is low in almost all developed nations.
- 52-6F-62 9y agoClearly your father wasn't Scots