The harmless people
Presents an account of an expedition into the Kalahari Desert to study the way of life of the mysterious African Bushmen, and examines the effects of industrial civilization on their unique culture.
Stats for nerds
2recommend
2mentions
2people
2011–2012years
100% recommend
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- [1] If you want to learn more about hunter gatherers I strongly recommend Elizabeth Marshall Thomas's The Harmless People and The Old Way.
For an intersting philosphical treatment of hunter gatherers vs agricultural societies, see Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
- It's (probably) true that the average quality of life declined during 15-4k BC as agriculture spread throughout Eurasia and North Africa-- agriculture made severe and persistent social inequalities possible
I would be cautious about drawing such a conclusion. I think if you were a typical neolithic farmer you would not be looking yearningly at the hunter-gatherers living in the mountains, wishing you could live like them. You'd probably feel that their life was pretty hard.
If anyone wants to learn more about the realities of life for nomadic hunters, I'd recommend Elizabeth Marshall Thomas's The Harmless People (http://www.amazon.com/Harmless-People-Elizabeth-Marshall-Tho...).
