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> Civilization is what is necessary to avoid periodic famines. There's a reason the hunter-gather existence fell out of favor. It's only an idyllic lifestyle to
by anthonyb 15y ago
> Civilization is what is necessary to avoid periodic famines. There's a reason the hunter-gather existence fell out of favor. It's only an idyllic lifestyle to people who haven't really thought about it.
Not actually true. Most hunter-gatherers were better fed and healthier than people living in cities - they worked for a couple of hours a day gathering food.
It fell out of favour because city dwellers were eventually able to fortify and outproduce on the better land, forcing everyone else to the outskirts.
- learc83 15y ago>they worked for a couple of hours a day gathering food. It's true there are some climates/geographies that will support some small amount of human life year round with little effort. There are many others where most of your day will be spent chopping wood, making shelter, and preserving enough food to make it through the winter.
- anthonyb 15y agoHence the line about people being pushed to the outskirts. Now hunter-gathering is a subsistence lifestyle. Back before agriculture it was a very different story, since there would have been hunting in the most productive lands, too. Fossil records back this up - early hunter gatherers were much larger and taller than later farmers.