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Marshall Sahlins is one of the most well respected anthropologists in the field, the context of the book "Stone Age Economics" was to refute the popular misconc
by faizshah 12y ago
Marshall Sahlins is one of the most well respected anthropologists in the field, the context of the book "Stone Age Economics" was to refute the popular misconceptions of hunter gatherers at the time (1960s-1970s) within the field. This book does not have much to do with modern theories within the field on hunter gatherers. It's usually added to introductory anthropology books to refute commonly held notions about hunter gatherers that students may have.
- Arnt 12y agoThe text reminded me of the foreword to Gibbon's history of the Roman Empire. Gibbon complains about esteemed historians who quote other esteemed historians, but never go to the original sources or collect raw data. A few hunter-gatherer peoples still exist and have been observed by anthropoligists. Are those peoples actually healthier and and have lower mortality than modern Andorrans? (I'm just picking a country at random here.) Or is there some reason to believe that they would have been healthier, if the modern world did not exist?
- Sorgam 12y agoHe didn't claim lower mortality, nor that they wanted it. We assume living long is important, but some people value their lives less than others, just as some value their possessions less. It's the nature of tribalism to not value your life much. So I wouldn't count high mortality rates as "bad" any more than low possession counts.
- capisce 12y agoBy random you just happened to pick the country with the highest average life expectancy? :) "According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Andorrans' average life expectancy is 83.5, officially the highest in the world." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7649339.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7649339.stm
- Arnt 12y agoIt is? I had no idea. "Hm, I need a first-world country, reasonably obscure... A... Andorra!" Done.