Can a culture be abnormal, evil, neurotic?
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This is a copy and paster from a previous thread.
Well, here is the dictionary definition:
wis·dom Pronunciation Key (wzdm)
n.
The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.
Common sense; good judgment: “It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things” (Henry David Thoreau).
The sum of learning through the ages; knowledge: “In those homely sayings was couched the collective wisdom of generations” (Maya Angelou).
Wise teachings of the ancient sages.
A wise outlook, plan, or course of action. wis·dom Pronunciation Key (wzdm)
Here is my definition:
To me, wisdom is something obtained through years of trials and tribulations, a sixth sense if you will. Its knowing what lies beneath the surface.
I dont necessarily think a person HAS to be old to acquire wisdom, just been through a whole lotta sh*t in their lives. Learning from their experiences, being kind and using your knowledge - are some traits I would associate with wisdom.
Take care
Well, here is the dictionary definition:
wis·dom Pronunciation Key (wzdm)
n.
The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.
Common sense; good judgment: “It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things” (Henry David Thoreau).
The sum of learning through the ages; knowledge: “In those homely sayings was couched the collective wisdom of generations” (Maya Angelou).
Wise teachings of the ancient sages.
A wise outlook, plan, or course of action. wis·dom Pronunciation Key (wzdm)
Here is my definition:
To me, wisdom is something obtained through years of trials and tribulations, a sixth sense if you will. Its knowing what lies beneath the surface.
I dont necessarily think a person HAS to be old to acquire wisdom, just been through a whole lotta sh*t in their lives. Learning from their experiences, being kind and using your knowledge - are some traits I would associate with wisdom.
Take care
*stRgrL*,
Thanks for that. It explains a lot.
Exactly that...
Love,
Nelson
Thanks for that. It explains a lot.
Exactly that...
Love,
Nelson
orthogonal
Registered Senior Member
My vote for the most evil and neurotic human culture goes to the Yanomamo Tribes of South America. These thoughly nasty people were first discovered by white men in the 1950's. They spend their days snorting drugs, praying to their gods, planning war, murder and rape.
Steven Pinker wrote that 44% of all Yanomamo men have killed someone. Killers are held in high esteem, having on average three times as many wives as those who have not killed. So much for the old-wive's-tale that man in his "natural" state is benelovent.
Here is an excerpt from a piece written about the Yanomamo, by Professor Michael Moffatt, at Rutgers:
"But the village still lies ahead, heard but not seen through the jungle. He and the missionary plung through the foliage and walk into the village for the first time (for him), and see . . ..
a dozen burly, naked, filthy, hideous men staring at us down the shafts of their drawn arrows. . . Immense wads of green tobacco were stuck between their lower teeth and lips making them look even more hideous, they had strands of dark-green slime dripping or hung from their noses. We had arrived, Chagnon explains, at the village while the men were blowing a hallucinogenic drug up their noses. One of the side effects of the drug is a runny nose. The mucus is always saturated with the green powder and the Indians usually let it run freely from their nostrils . . .
The Yanomamo recognize the missionary, calm down, lower their bows and arrows, and go back to their hallucinogene-snorting. But why so nervous a reception? Chagnon finds out later that the Yanomamo of this village have sneak-attacked another village the day before, killing a few men and dragging off a few women, and now they're a little worried about a counterattack. (They're taking hallucenogens to contact religious spirits who help them in times of crisis).
This turns out to be the standard form of Yanomamo warfare -- sneak attack, kill a few men, and abduct a few women. Plus, rape the women. Any woman abducted in war, Chagnon tells us somewhat casually later, is raped by all men in the war party, and then raped again by any men who "want to" back in the victorious village and then given to one of the victorious men as a wife. The Yanomamo don't do this with their own women relatives, however, about half the women they abduct originally belonged to them, as sisters, wives and daughters. The other half they rape."
Michael
Steven Pinker wrote that 44% of all Yanomamo men have killed someone. Killers are held in high esteem, having on average three times as many wives as those who have not killed. So much for the old-wive's-tale that man in his "natural" state is benelovent.
Here is an excerpt from a piece written about the Yanomamo, by Professor Michael Moffatt, at Rutgers:
"But the village still lies ahead, heard but not seen through the jungle. He and the missionary plung through the foliage and walk into the village for the first time (for him), and see . . ..
a dozen burly, naked, filthy, hideous men staring at us down the shafts of their drawn arrows. . . Immense wads of green tobacco were stuck between their lower teeth and lips making them look even more hideous, they had strands of dark-green slime dripping or hung from their noses. We had arrived, Chagnon explains, at the village while the men were blowing a hallucinogenic drug up their noses. One of the side effects of the drug is a runny nose. The mucus is always saturated with the green powder and the Indians usually let it run freely from their nostrils . . .
The Yanomamo recognize the missionary, calm down, lower their bows and arrows, and go back to their hallucinogene-snorting. But why so nervous a reception? Chagnon finds out later that the Yanomamo of this village have sneak-attacked another village the day before, killing a few men and dragging off a few women, and now they're a little worried about a counterattack. (They're taking hallucenogens to contact religious spirits who help them in times of crisis).
This turns out to be the standard form of Yanomamo warfare -- sneak attack, kill a few men, and abduct a few women. Plus, rape the women. Any woman abducted in war, Chagnon tells us somewhat casually later, is raped by all men in the war party, and then raped again by any men who "want to" back in the victorious village and then given to one of the victorious men as a wife. The Yanomamo don't do this with their own women relatives, however, about half the women they abduct originally belonged to them, as sisters, wives and daughters. The other half they rape."
Michael
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I studied the Yanamomo a little in sociology. This was during the full strength upswing of political correctness. None of our study materials mentioned even a single thing we might consider bad, such as murder or rape or such. It was all about the beauty of the noble savage. When I asked the teacher questions about these aspects of Yanamomo culture, she said "We're not allowed to teach that stuff any more".
orthogonal
Registered Senior Member
Hey Adam,
I hear you. Sociology at best is a “soft” science. It’s difficult enough for a physicist to prevent his personal views from tainting the data. Consider how much more tempting it is for a sociologist to form a hypothesis that runs counter to his or her own personal beliefs?
“(Empirical) observation must not be casual, however, observation must be supplemented with reason and care, or else you fall into related traps of believing what is agreeable to you and of relying on selectively chosen anecdotes or vague and unprovable hypothesis as supporting evidence.”
Matt Young, No Sense Of Obligation
As a famous example, Margaret Mead as a young woman went to the Pacific Islands to observe the lives of the Samoans. Her “research” culminated in a book in 1928 titled, Coming of Age In Samoa. In this book she described the sexual life of the Samoans as pure and free, as contrasted with the repressed and unhealthy sexual behavior of the Western world. However, it later was revealed that the Samoans were merely having a bit of fun at Mead’s expense. Samoan men routinely counseled boys on the intricacies of rape, for example. Mead quite simply never bothered to substantiate many of the hair-brained stories told to her by her Samoan contacts.
Her book made quite a splash in the West however. It was grist for the mill for those who wanted to prove that our “unnatural” Western civilization was to blame for our moral problems. Despite later work indicating that Samoan society was quite the opposite of the idyllic world depicted by Mead, some quarters have yet to repent their bias in this direction. In our own time, such thinking squares well with the PC view that white men are the curse of the world.
Remember the well known pronouncement of Camille Paglia:
"There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper."
Though men are enigmatic creatures, it never can be said that we do things half-way. We construct fighter aircraft and nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles to satisfy our aggressive inclinations. Our compassion prompts us to produce polio vaccines and sophisticated cancer treatments. When we love, we produce violin sonatas and other exquisite works of art. Men are both a curse and a treasure; some men more one than the other, some men both at the same time.
Michael
I hear you. Sociology at best is a “soft” science. It’s difficult enough for a physicist to prevent his personal views from tainting the data. Consider how much more tempting it is for a sociologist to form a hypothesis that runs counter to his or her own personal beliefs?
“(Empirical) observation must not be casual, however, observation must be supplemented with reason and care, or else you fall into related traps of believing what is agreeable to you and of relying on selectively chosen anecdotes or vague and unprovable hypothesis as supporting evidence.”
Matt Young, No Sense Of Obligation
As a famous example, Margaret Mead as a young woman went to the Pacific Islands to observe the lives of the Samoans. Her “research” culminated in a book in 1928 titled, Coming of Age In Samoa. In this book she described the sexual life of the Samoans as pure and free, as contrasted with the repressed and unhealthy sexual behavior of the Western world. However, it later was revealed that the Samoans were merely having a bit of fun at Mead’s expense. Samoan men routinely counseled boys on the intricacies of rape, for example. Mead quite simply never bothered to substantiate many of the hair-brained stories told to her by her Samoan contacts.
Her book made quite a splash in the West however. It was grist for the mill for those who wanted to prove that our “unnatural” Western civilization was to blame for our moral problems. Despite later work indicating that Samoan society was quite the opposite of the idyllic world depicted by Mead, some quarters have yet to repent their bias in this direction. In our own time, such thinking squares well with the PC view that white men are the curse of the world.
Remember the well known pronouncement of Camille Paglia:
"There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper."
Though men are enigmatic creatures, it never can be said that we do things half-way. We construct fighter aircraft and nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles to satisfy our aggressive inclinations. Our compassion prompts us to produce polio vaccines and sophisticated cancer treatments. When we love, we produce violin sonatas and other exquisite works of art. Men are both a curse and a treasure; some men more one than the other, some men both at the same time.
Michael
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