Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!hercules!sparkyfs!usasoc.soc.mil!aero!chamber.cco.caltech.edu From: morphy@chamber.cco.caltech.edu (Jones Maxime Murphy) Newsgroups: soc.feminism Subject: Re: Societal Extremes Message-ID: Date: 18 Sep 90 18:52:39 GMT References: <85455@aerospace.AERO.ORG> Sender: nadel@aerospace.aero.org Organization: California Institute of Technology Lines: 32 Approved: nadel@aerospace.aero.org Status: R [I've edited out most of the included text as there isn't much of a reason to include all of the original article. Please, everyone, it makes our job a lot easier if you quote only what you need to in order to track a reference. Also, the subject of this is drifting a bit from the charter of the newsgroup so I've set followups to talk.politics.misc. -MHN] travis@houston.cs.columbia.edu (Travis Lee Winfrey) writes: >Well, to offer a new subject, I found the following short >description in a book called "The Collapse of Complex Societies" >(full reference at end). I have little to add to it, other than >to note that I think of examples like this whenever I hear people >discuss the "natural urge to marry" or whatever acculturated >trait they think instinctual to humans. > > Due to drought and disruption by national boundaries of the >traditional cycle of movement, the Ik live in such a food- and water- >scarce environment that there is absolutely no advantage to >reciprocity and social sharing. The Ik, in consequence, display >almost nothing of what could be considered social organization. This seems kind of obvious, but I have to ask it anyway. Why are people doing anthropological observations when they should be helping people feed themselves? From the above ovservations, infant mortality must be astronomically high, and life expectancy must be abysmal. Doing "research" in this tragic situation is at best callous, and at worst inhuman and irresponsible.