Brain size doesn't dictate brain power. There is obviously a loose connection. The cranial size doesn't tell us about how compact and interwoven the actual neural networks are. — I like sushi
You don't know that.Doesn't matter if you agree or not. A complex social strata doesn't necessarily have to have farming — I like sushi
How are modern day hunter gatherers faring these days? — Hanover
They were fine until the neighbors moved in. Now they fare as well as their prey base. Not so good. What, with all the clear cutting, strip mining, over-grazing, damming, paving, subdividing, developing and commodification of natural and human resources. It's not looking good for them, but it's not looking good for the culprits either. — James Riley
I'm thinking the land demands per capita for hunter gatherers exceeds that of industrial societies by several hundred fold at least. — Hanover
Hunter gatherers lost the Darwinian game. — Hanover
My argument though will be that it is through the surplus created by agriculture that wealth was generated and as a consequence the early beginnings of the idea that those with power (strength in the main but ideas too) created the very early beginnings of the class struggle and the haves and have nots. — David S
I'm thinking the land demands per capita for hunter gatherers exceeds that of industrial societies by several hundred fold at least. — Hanover
I would hesitate, as well, to say that agriculture has been bad for humans in general. If anything, it along with advances in medicine and in technology generally, has resulted in our being too successful. We have overpopulated, and threaten the ecological status quo. — Michael Zwingli
but it's not looking good for the culprits either. — James Riley
I wanted to start with quite a controversial argument I imagine which is to suggest that the discovery of agriculture is one of civilisation’s biggest mistakes. — David S
We could have all the good things that the hunter-gatherers had without any of the bad that they had to suffer with.
Could we not have clean air, clean water, highly complex and extensive biodiversity, "wilderness", open space, etc? Can't we have our cake and eat it too? — James Riley
most of us are completely disconnected from the natural world and only know about it through television or the occasional visit to a park — darthbarracuda
Could we not have clean air, clean water, highly complex and extensive biodiversity, "wilderness", open space, etc? Can't we have our cake and eat it too? — James Riley
The problem is that would take a drastic reduction of human population. By one estimation earth cannot sustain a human population of more than 200,000,000 using organic farming techniques, not to mention returning to hunter gatherer life. Who knows what the real number is? But it seems obvious that it's much, much less than the present population.
So, the problem is how to effect such a reduction ourselves when the whole question seems to be taboo to most people. Nature may do it for us, or we may do it to ourselves in some unthinkable way, but neither of those are alternatives that many people would wish for. — Janus
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