Viewing profile — jvb1000

The role of the senate in Canada is not to pass or reject bills. Their role is to make sure the bills are written coherently and accord with previous legislation. Think of them mor…

A terrible story but not new. Reminds me of a fascinating article from decades ago, "A Rape in Cyberspace."

Alongside this, there are also several international traditions of sci-fi (Russian, French, Indian, Chinese) that imagined modernization in supposedly under developed countries to …

Even if it's not true of all science fiction (especially the pulp traditions of American sci-fi), it is arguable that the origins of science fiction are thought experiments that ex…

For those not aware, despite it seeming highly contemporary, the first English translation of the book was published in 1924.

That's probably a testament to the criticism. Interesting that what Yevgeny Zamyatin presents as a clear, almost too on the nose dystopian satire has been repackaged as a desirable…

Kurt Vonnegut was accused once of ripping off George Orwell's 1984 with Player Piano. He responded by saying that he and Orwell had both just ripped off Yevgeny Zamyatin's We. Yevg…

What arguments/evidence do you have to support claim that humans by nature always desire "more"?

The Yanomamo were one of probably thousands of different groups that lives in the prehistoric era. One problem in the study of prehistoric human life is that only a few groups kept…

As others have pointed out, the issue with observations about prehistoric life have been generalized from a small sample size.

Politics existed long before. The decision to embrace or avoid agriculture were political decisions too.

You're missing a lot of nuance. Graebers work is great. Tons of evidence-based discussions and thorough logic. What you've written here is even really deserving of a forum post.

Göbekli Tepe is the evidence unless you've found evidence that they were a complex agricultural society

Or maybe your assumptions about agriculture/surplus/specialization are wrong. I'd start by digging deeper into existing evidence instead of evidence free speculation of complex agr…

See Graeber for a more nuanced understanding of how and why agriculture was (and often was not) integrated into prehistoric societies.

I hate this adage. I've taught, a lot. At universities, in high school, and to adults. The idea that people who can't do can teach is not remotely true. Most people can't teach eff…