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Modern humans existed for hundreds of thousands of years without any concept of "innovation". They lived in tribal formations with traditional economies and wer
by mrtesthah 3y ago
Modern humans existed for hundreds of thousands of years without any concept of "innovation". They lived in tribal formations with traditional economies and were able to satisfy their psychological/interpersonal needs[1] as well as most of their physical needs[2]. Far from nihilism, their worldviews[3] were imbued with deep spiritual and communal significance.
1. https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-06-18/the-blackfoot-wisdom-that-inspired-maslows-hierarchy/ https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-06-18/the-blackfoot-...
2. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/10/01/551018759/are-hunter-gatherers-the-happiest-humans-to-inhabit-earth https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/10/01/5510187...
3. https://www.mhyfvic.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Aboriginal_spirituality_Aboriginal_philo.pdf https://www.mhyfvic.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Aborigina...
- exoverito 3y agoThe guy I was responding to was literally a nihilist and didn't see the point in humanity persisting. While it may be true primitive tribes sometimes had satisfying lifestyles with relatively little wealth, we are far beyond the carrying capacity of hunter gatherer modalities, and modern people have the expectation that their lives will generally improve. If it becomes harder to save wealth, own a home, and start a family, then people will defect from the current system. It will be a serious risk factor for societal instability, as we can already observe.
- mrtesthah 3y agoI don't see nihilism reflected in his comment. I see someone drawing attention to unstated assumptions embedded in our society about technological/social/civilizational progress. Unfortunately earth has basic physical limits that simply do not permit an indefinite growth-based social order. When wealth is produced by depleting non-renewable resources and destroying natural systems keeping the earth in balance, that wealth will inevitably lose its purpose. Choosing a social order that values human life and the wealth of the natural world is not nihilistic. Choosing a social order in which the natural world is destroyed to increase the number of 0s in a bank account is.
- johnthewise 3y agoHow could there be no innovation across thousands of years? It's not like we suddenly decided to innovate at BC7380, some people somewhere at all times must have kept innovating, at least to beat other tribes, farm/hunt better.
- mrtesthah 3y agoThere was “innovation” in terms of basic toolmaking, etc., but the idea of innovation wasn’t an aspirational goal of their societies, collectively or individually.