Are Hunter-Gatherers The Happiest Humans To Inhabit Earth? • Hacker News Board

Re: Are Hunter-Gatherers The Happiest Humans To Inhabit Earth?

#131

Post by nils-m-holm » Mon, Oct 09, 2017, 9:41 AM UTC

guntars wrote: post #115

nils-m-holm wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And anyone who mentions it will get marginalized. :(

I doubt you or the parent commenter are going to be marginalized because of that comment is any way. The fact that you can have these beliefs and express them in a public forum is a sign of how civilized things actually are. There are plenty people alive that have lived through times where that wasn't an option. Talking to them might give you some perspective.

Rest assured that I'm not making such a remark without having some perspective. Of course you can express your opinion freely, as long as it is irrelevant and pretty much nobody listens. That's why I can make such a comment here: nobody cares. Talking to some people who were abused and tortured today in so-called democratic countries might give you some perspective.

Re: Are Hunter-Gatherers The Happiest Humans To Inhabit Earth?

#132

Post by ivanhoe » Mon, Oct 09, 2017, 10:18 AM UTC

Can_Not wrote: post #117

ivanhoe wrote: post #101

I somehow think this is an idea popular mainly among people who never had to live that way for real (and no, going for a weekend in woods for fun is not comparable). Yes, they don't have our types of stress, but it's just not true that this is stress free living. Their every single moment is fighting to survive, to collect enough water, to hunt enough meat, not to get hurt, not to get sick or injured. And they're use…

> And if it's too stressful for you, is it really because of the civilization, or because of your own choices and ambitions? Most people didn't choose their parents, their gender, their skin color, their poverty level, their childhood religious beliefs, what highschool they went to, their birth location, the job opportunities around their birth location, their spouse's choice's, their illness itenerary, etc.. So it's…

AFAIK underprivileged dream mostly about becoming more like privileged ones, and not so much about giving up everything to go and live in a jungle/mountains. IMHO most of the people complaining of modern life being too stressful are the middle or upper class working their asses off to buy a bigger house/car/yacht/whatever just because everybody around them does the same and that's what they see as a measure of success. Many of them could easily solve the problem by changing their life style, but that would mean giving up on some ambitions, social status and luxury. It's a choice one makes, not something you're forced into, so I really don't see them as victims, at least not victims of the society.

Re: Are Hunter-Gatherers The Happiest Humans To Inhabit Earth?

#133

Post by gbog » Mon, Oct 09, 2017, 3:22 PM UTC

toomanybeersies wrote: post #119

gbog wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> how much stuff has added sugar I depends on what is "edible stuff" to you. Carrots, meat, cabage, fish, etc. have no added sugar in them. Why not simply cook your food, like most people in the world do? From what I read here and there, Americans have completely lost foot with food, for them having a meal means to take some boxed thing out of the fridge and put it in the microwave owen for 10 mn. This is /not/ a nor…

I'm not an American. But yes, in the end, I did end up cooking all my food, not that I eat that much ready-to-eat food anyway. The problem is that I ended up having to make practically everything from scratch. I couldn't use pasta sauces, since they all have added sugar. Most bread has added sugar as well, so no bread for me.

That's not bread, that's sliced industrial cake branded as bread sold in wharehouses. Get your bread from a boulangerie and slice it yourself. And yes, buy no "pasta sauce" because it is just industrial pseudo tomato jam with a formula that has 50 "ingredients", just buy tomatoes and cook them slowly with some onions.

Re: Are Hunter-Gatherers The Happiest Humans To Inhabit Earth?

#134

Post by QAPereo » Mon, Oct 09, 2017, 6:15 PM UTC

valuearb wrote: post #130

pvaldes wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hunter/gatherer societies are always small and relatively disorganized. There is a limit to the number of people that you can feed hunting unless you are always moving to fresh territories, so there is a limit also to desire to build cities or to the number of your permanent structures. And you shouldn't allow other tribes to enter in your territory or you will suffer from hunger. You can have problems in winter or w…

Just because no one recorded the histories of hunter gatherers, doesn’t mean they were all sweetness and light. They may not have been able to raise large armies, but someone was raping the daughters of neighboring tribes. There is a reason we still have some Neanderthal genes.

I share a somewhat pessimistic view of our ancestors, but it is worth noting that we have evidence of mixed genes and not rape. There are ways for genes to mix consensually, although there is no evidence to support that either. We only know that they had sex, and children who were fertile, nothing more.

Re: Are Hunter-Gatherers The Happiest Humans To Inhabit Earth?

#135

Post by valuearb » Mon, Oct 09, 2017, 7:55 PM UTC

QAPereo wrote: post #134

valuearb wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because no one recorded the histories of hunter gatherers, doesn’t mean they were all sweetness and light. They may not have been able to raise large armies, but someone was raping the daughters of neighboring tribes. There is a reason we still have some Neanderthal genes.

I share a somewhat pessimistic view of our ancestors, but it is worth noting that we have evidence of mixed genes and not rape. There are ways for genes to mix consensually, although there is no evidence to support that either. We only know that they had sex, and children who were fertile, nothing more.

chimpanzees rape and murder, it’s hard to imagine any human tribe that didn’t.

Re: Are Hunter-Gatherers The Happiest Humans To Inhabit Earth?

#136

Post by QAPereo » Mon, Oct 09, 2017, 9:43 PM UTC

valuearb wrote: post #135

QAPereo wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I share a somewhat pessimistic view of our ancestors, but it is worth noting that we have evidence of mixed genes and not rape. There are ways for genes to mix consensually, although there is no evidence to support that either. We only know that they had sex, and children who were fertile, nothing more.

chimpanzees rape and murder, it’s hard to imagine any human tribe that didn’t.

I agree with the general notion, but of course humans are not chimps, we just share a common ancestor. We have evidence of violence and cannibalism however, and while the latter can be understood in non-violent contexts, but also violence ones, the problem either way mos that evidence is scarce.