RE: virus: Primitive society violence and murder rates. was Re: :The Disciplinary Process of the Church of Virus

From: Blunderov (squooker@mweb.co.za)
Date: Mon Oct 06 2003 - 13:47:15 MDT

  • Next message: Blunderov: "RE: virus: Primitive society violence and murder rates. was Re: :The Disciplinary Process of the Church of Virus"

    Jonathan Davis
    > Sent: 06 October 2003 1850
     
    > Pinker argues persuasively in the "The Blank State" that the idea of
    the
    > noble savage is bunk and that primitive societies were (and are)
    indeed
    > extremely violent. I will try and post relevant bits later.

    [Blunderov]
    I look forward to it with interest.

    Just to be clear, I don't think anyone is suggesting that savagery is
    noble exactly. I think the issue is more one of how possible it is to
    make meaningful comparisons at this remove.

    I share the Mermaid's suspicion of invoking percentage comparisons to
    this end. I cannot help but wonder whether a species of category error
    hasn't crept in unnoticed. The thought strikes me that the statement
    'primitive societies were/are more violent than modern ones' is perhaps
    more of a modern value judgment than it is a clear comparison of two
    similar things.

    Best Regards 

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