What today’s hunter-gatherers can teach us about modern life | James Suzman
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- Опубліковано 17 бер 2024
- James Suzman lived with a tribe of hunter-gatherers to witness how an ancient culture survives one of the most brutal climates on Earth. His learnings may surprise you.
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What do you imagine life was like for hunter-gatherers throughout human history? You might guess that daily life for them was a constant struggle between eating and being eaten in a world where surviving was a full-time job.
But anthropological research suggests that probably wasn’t the case. When the anthropologist James Suzman went to the Kalahari Desert to study the Ju/'hoansi hunter-gathers, for example, he found that they worked only 15 hours per week, and that much of that time was spent on activities that many people in the modern West consider leisure, like hiking and fishing.
Of course, hunter-gatherers experienced plenty of hard times throughout world history. But a general theme has emerged from anthropological research on hunter-gathers both contemporary and ancient: Rather than being a constant battle for energy between people and their environment, life was more of a continuous flow of give and take between species, and leisure was part of the fabric of daily life.
As Suzman told us, looking at the lives of hunter-gatherers can help us rethink the ways we conceptualize work and society.
Read the full video transcript: bigthink.com/the-well/modern-...
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Even only the fact that "work" of hunter-gatherers became our "leisure" shows how depressing "modern work" and in general modern life is.
You are free to go live where and how you'd like to
@@sassenspeyghel4155 I'm also free to write any comment I want. You are also free to disagree...
@@muratak6214 Way to get upset at a motivational comment
Contemporary idea of neo-liberalism really took a toll on us as a fundamental level. Often we equate “jobs” to “identity” and feel pressed to be something by achieving on and on in a competitive industry.
What hole of political thought did you crawl out from and why don't you crawl back?
So where do you factor in Feudalism being a whole system based on equating jobs and identity? I wish people would stop acting like everything ailing us is a new problem and not just the same terrible ideas that have been floating around for a thousand years showing up in new clothes every few decades. Really makes it hard to get anywhere.
Achievement is good and not intrinsically capitalist. The communist Soviet Union also deified achievement and produced many high-achievers, like the first man and woman in space, innovators in movie making and animation, farms, factory and mine workers who overachieved their daily individual production norm by 13x sometimes, highly successful pilots and snipers during WW2 etc. The real problem is, in the West, achievement is defined as "owning/consuming the things that the capitalist system tells you to, because it's profitable for big companies", like owning a car, having the latest smartphone, eating out in restaurants, and going on vacation regularly...
Found the conspiratorial socialist in chat who think the world can be fully explained by: “capitalism bad”
@@djon3043 Found the adolescent who lives with his mom.
This is a lovely take. Nature has so much to teach us, and always will. We lose our way when we cease to hear.
So beautifully said. Thanks for spending time with us!
That Coke bottle gave us nothing but trouble
A great movie! 🍿
You win.
The Gods must be crazy
Especially if you drank the contents.
Wait till you meet the sky alien who threw it.
In our modern society we seem to live by the misconception that love, recognition and even safety are conditional, and that we are only worthy - good enough - if we achieve and adapt ourselves to the expectations of others.
Speaker every 2 minute : "Ju😘Hoansi Tribe"
🤣🤣🤣👍🏻
You could say that communal anarchy and lack of hierarchy are our most natural state. There is nothing chaotic about anarchy , it is much more stable than the modern alternatives - Capitalism is simply a very small anomalous blip in human history, and it will be shown for its absurdity in due time. If we can make it through to the other side...
Profoundly well said
You might want to increase your meds
@@kurtdvetDid you watch the vid
It was an interesting video, thank you!
How cool he pronounced the tribe's name!
Glad you liked it! Thanks for being here!
The lie of modern economics (and colonialism and fascism) is the first thing I learned about when I studied anthropology in school. It's not a new idea, it's just that there's a concerted effort to make people think all humans are vicious when it's only the weakest, most damaged of us who are also the most power hungry
He keeps sending kisses
it's because he loves us and the zund(kiss*)wasi tribe
Ive felt for a while, that ive been stripped of that lifestyle. Its dumb, but I have wished I could somehow reach a way of living, similar to the Ju/'hoansi people.
I agree with this. I'm grateful for the amenities I have, but I feel like we've lost something in ourselves living in these societies where you basically live for your paycheck instead of working for your livelihood
I've felt this way too a long time. But this commentary makes me feel differently now. I feel more strongly now that I can act in this spirit. I feel that I can take this into my own society and circles. We are different but not by much... The egalitarian way of thinking is what I find so important here, and the acknowledgement of the Way Things Are. In American society at least, we have tried to further ourselves from hunger and death as far as possible but we are still just inches away. Our instincts are present but we tamp them down with ideas of wealth. If we batted away money like flies we'd feel much happier. If we humiliated our cockiest we'd be much better for it. If we served our enemies our finest we might feel the peace of grass.
It's not dumb I've felt this way for the last 5 years
Industrialization messed us up.
Go live off the land then.
The problem with jndustrialization is it works against nature. I hope we can find a way to progress without ruining the environment further.
I'd say it was unfettered capitalism.
I AGREE @@user-tq4fm4he8i
@@user-tq4fm4he8i How would you fetter it?
This is really thought provoking and also looking at the evolution from a new perspective.
Thank you for sharing the knowledge.
Thanks for watching!
Darwin never said anything close to "dog eat dog" tho. A lot of people grossly misunderstands the term "survival of the fittest". It means that the animals/humans that best fits their environment, is most likely to survive. It definitely doesn't mean that whoever is strongest or most agressive will survive.
They are the real life Fremen! I love learning about this community and how they live.
Everyone needs to read (or listen too!) The Origin of The Family, Private Property and The State. It feels like being on the magic schoolbus travelling through human history lol
A number of Studies have shown 3 hours of work per day for hunter-gatherers. One thing I disagree with in this video is saying it was sharing with the rest of the ecosystem per se, I imagine the giraffe would disagree. There is plenty of Dog Eat Dog w their environment in addition to sharing within a tribe.
But when a human dies, they decay into the earth and are absorbed as nutrients that then the giraffe will consume through the leaves of a tree. So does giraffe kind win in the end or 🤷?
It's a give and take, a flow of energy.
Such good stuff! Turning our common conception on its ear!☺️ One day, Well, perhaps ill get to share with you my thoughts on "non-zero-sum". This video matches up quite nicely! ❤
It relief the stress!! Thank you
Great stuff!
Thanks for watching!
Wow! Great video! Thank you!
Our pleasure! Thanks for being here!
I love this channel great vid thx
Thanks for spending time with us!
Fantastic
Thank you! Cheers!
Transcript screenshotted about “gentling young men’s paths” 5:00 ish
When neo-liberal capitalists require constant ridiculously high payment for our places to just be, and draw lines all over the landscape that are forbidden to cross, they leave us very little room to grow as a society and as individuals. We need to change the way we operate.
This tribe seems to have similar language and way of living to the tribe from Kalahari Desert in movie The Gods Must Be Crazy. Not sure if there is direct connection?
I think about this a lot. How much less work and how much more storytelling, play, exploration and family time there was/is in Hunter-Gatherer societies.
"It's not meant to be a strife. It's not meant to be a struggle uphill"
Undo, Bjork
It's a very male idea that life is competition.
This is so necessary nowadays.
Now it is such a good feel to know that they work less ,they are stress free and their work is not about competition. Iam wondering how their lives have not been touched by what is happening outside the Kalahari desert. Why they have not moved out to do other things . Do they know other languages. How have they insulated themselves from the outside
If this interests you, and you haven't already done so, I highly recommend checking out a few books by Daniel Quinn: Ishmael, The Story of B, and My Ishmael.
I love this series, and its historical and its sociological points are very important, but the ideology becomes bogged down in its own dogma. It is necessary to see everything flexibly. There is no black and white vision for human existence, and we didn't entirely lose ourselves when mass agriculture began. The main thing is to exist in balance.
@@abraxasjinx5207 Fair points, and I agree, if for no other reason than to maintain a sliver of optimism. I feel it's an important perspective to gain, to understand that our way is not the only way, and might not even be the best way. Or that we can compete, but not to the extent of eliminating the competition. Balance, as you say.
Will YOU share all that is shown behind you in this video?!?
Professor-Marty.
We might re-learn our past. Hopefully. 😊
Wherever Our Kindness Exists.
It's not a new idea.
2:04 cosmic joke - all that crazy colonizing just to drink tea in fancy cups, play croquet on the lawn with your beloved friends and family wearing fancy jewelry.
😘😘😘
Are endhi ra aya idhi, okadu status petindu watsapp la, suste nemo yemm ardam aithale 😮
THE GOAT LAW RULES ALL! THIS MAN REALLY KNOWS THE TRUTH! OUR SYSTEM IS BACKWARDS!
😂😂😂It took looking at life of Africans to realise your so called "Modern" way of life is actually backwards
This was deeply insightful. Thank you for debunking Darwinism ❤❤❤-Xclusyph Icon
Sheesh I came here early... Just like in bed
😂😂😂
This fellow appears to know little or nothing about our ancestral Hunter-Gatherer clan/band lifeway, versus the massively overpopulated "modern" urban/suburban nightmare we westerners find ourselves in. For instance, we are now 3,000 times more populous and only 1-4% of the vertebrate biomass is wild now. We live in incredibly stressful "built" environments filled with strangers, machine noise, technological dangers, degraded natural resources, climate collapse, crowding, endless wars, mass migrations, stress diseases, etc. NONE of these were known to ancestral H-Gs, who were constantly immersed in nature, always with the same small group of lifelong familiar clan/band members, etc. I recommend the writing of Eaton, Shostak, and Konner (all physicians and anthropologists), "The Paleolithic Prescription". Also, the free online PDF, "Stress R Us".
5:40 I wonder where they gathered polished white rice and aluminium pots
Nice what-aboutism you came up with there. It's almost as if multiple systems can coexist?
Amazon. DUH😊
@@johnbasement7337I thought they were in Africa not South America……?
Interesting but for the distraction of all that clicking. WHY do people use features of a non-English language when speaking English???
I feel too lazy to go hunt or fish. Leisure activity is playing video games or watching movies. I don't like criticism, and if I killed an animal and women would criticize me, I would make sure they don't eat the animal I killed. Life seems to be even more unfair in tribes.
Why be vindictive? Why withhold resources from people that you love and have spent your entire life around? if the community struggles you have nowhere to go, no one to care for you, and no one to care for.
If you would truly prohibit people from eating out of spite, you need to do some soul-searching.
I could have told you this.
'hunter-gatherers' lol. You mean humans and not robot slaves like modern 'people'?
Agriculture has been our demise.
That is an extremely narrow and short-sighted perspective. Read some Daniel Quinn, and then realize that even his ideas are overly dogmatic. Over-production began the road to many of the troubles we exist in today, but even then, there is benefit to planning for lean times. We lost our balance.
@abraxasjinx5207 agriculture birthed religion and every "ism"
The Hadza have no religion. No possessions. They are free.
I did think that kids t-shirt was funny, especially in a culture as described.. Very likely he has no idea what it says.
A competition is a highly effective way to illicit an old affordable quantity of talent for free.
Sooooooooo no Hobbes?
Hobbes would be hunting and gathering Calvin in this scenario.
They certainly have music of some kind in their tribe. So there must be people who sing and dance and play instruments. I’d say that’s a hobby.
Agreeableness is also a trait that is heavily influenced by genetics.
Informal studies are great, but maybe it's best to get a deeper understanding of something before you try to prescribe a new way of life for people.
The Yamnaya, Western Bantu tribes, Ameridians and Polynesians make a great arguement for this being something specefic to this population of hunter gatherers at the genetic level.
As all those cultures are patriarchal and competitive.
Agreeableness is, like most things, heavily influenced by both genetics and environment. As he said in the video these people are not all naturally born this way, when young men achieve something great they need to have their ego deflated in order for this societal system to continue to function.
The societal behaviour and traditions of a group has a massive impact on how its members interact and see the world.
Just saying “it’s genetic” and thus dismissing the concepts at play in their society is a very short sighted and ignorant view on the subject.
The gentleman in the video specifically said that we should learn from such societal systems what is potentially possible. Not that this is guaranteed to work and stop all conflict in the whole world.
@@alecmillea4539 Competition doesn't necessarily mean conflict. The communism tradition hinders the development of the tribe.
@@JiasenLiu Of course competition does not guarantee conflict. However it does most often lead to it. Labelling the societal system of this tribe as communism is definitely stretching the commonly recognized implementation. Ironically however I think this tribe is closer to true communism than any nationally implemented system has ever been. Basically all “communist” states have just been dictatorships that labeled themselves as communist with little to no actual communist ideals. I’m curious as to why you say that this tribes communism tradition hinders their development. As the original comment states very clearly there are actually more authoritarian, patriarchal hunter gatherer societies left in existence than these “communist” society’s, directly contradicting your point. Please provide some evidence to support your claim. Otherwise it is just a useless statement of opinion that means nothing to anyone.
@@alecmillea4539 I don't think your condescending tone can benefit anyone. And I don't see how the alternative tribal forms offered by the original comment contradict to me pointing out the flaw in your indiscriminate praise of this particular form. And please don't keep stretching the original comment since I don't see him saying "it's just genetic" or "authoritarian".
Nope.
Hunter gatherers don't think about gender because they know it's just 2 lol😂
damn you must be pretty obsessed if that was your takeaway from this video.
@@DoctorMooCow lol so just because I ironically commented about it you assumed I'm obsessed
@@nazarakopyantc514 What was ironic about that?
@@DoctorMooCow that leftist always reference hunter gatherers as an example of their values, often overstating their liberal values to the max, yet these societies aren't confused about their gender (since there's only 2)
@@nazarakopyantc514 i think the point 'leftists' make is that there is that there is no hierachy of gender in these societies (as was stated in the video) and people are free to be who they want to be, contribute how they want to contribute and not forced into arbitrary pink and blue categories.
The point i was making about your gender obsession is that there was actually no mention of gender identity in the video at all, just that someones gender at birth doesnt indicate the level of influence they can have within the tribe as it does in most modern societies.
Basically youre shoehorning gender identity into a topic that really didnt mention it at all. I have never heard anyone use hunter gatheres as an argument for gender self identification as you are suggesting. All i have ever seen is people give evidence of trans equivalent people having merely existed throughout history, which is undeniably true.
He is too idealistic, not in touch with reality. Also the giraffe that thay eat have some objections.
If animals dont die of old age, its literally a fight for survival. This nerd knows nothing.
Survival is living. Most of those hunted animals use flight over fight, and that effort makes up a very small percentage of their overall lifespan.
Isn't this communism?
Somewhat yes. It's supposedly voluntary here. The video is very propagandistic. Big Think videos tend to be. Who owns them???
@@TheJakecakes Yeah, their "thinkers" are a mixed bag. Quality drops when it's a book promotion.
Not at all. Communism describes state-owned means of industrial production. None of that applies here. This is just forager egalitarianism. Not the same thing at all.
@@ushalexa I believe the means of production is controlled by the tribe. Hunting tools are their factories.
@@JiasenLiu , But there is no factory at all. Each person makes what they need. Nobody owns any means of production; nobody works for anybody else. Also, Communism is about class struggle. There are no social classes here. There is no state. There is no class. There is no industrialism/factories, etc. The whole point he made in the video is that nobody tells you what to do. People, by nature, tend to be cooperative. That's not the same thing as being made to cooperate by some central authority.
Tell this to these animals that these hunters kill that the life is not about survival and dog eat dog 😂
they relax too… but then their work is avoiding us :P
The tribes don’t hunt the local animals to extinction. There is a balance to be struck. No one party is the ultimate victor or loser . I think that’s what they mean by it isn’t “dog eat dog” more than a literal interpretation