Category Archive

I recently came across this story on The Anthropik Network, and I think it succinctly illustrates some of the most fundamental distinctions between a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and the cultural “work ethic” that pervades the modern global society.

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “only a little while.”

The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15 - 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions–then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

Once there were four men who stood beneath a stained glass window. Their backs were toward the window, though, so they never saw the glass–they could only see the light that passed through. As the sun rose, the men each saw a different color of light: red, yellow, blue, and green. The men argued with each other over what color the light was, each one believing the color he experienced was the one true color of the light.

The men continued to argue as the sun rose higher and higher. As the sun climbed higher into the sky the light through the window also intensified, for the window was also a lens. The men argued over the true nature of the light, oblivious to the increasing heat. Soon the heat became too much, and all four men shriveled and died.

Aidan grew up with a large extended family. Through the years of his youth he experienced all the customs, traditions, and beliefs of his family, and always had their support. On the day he married, however, Aidan moved far away from his family–too far to maintain any communication. After awhile, Aidan’s memories of his family became distant, and he lived a different way of life then he had lived back then. Eventually he forgot about them, as his energies were focused on his own family. His own children grew up and had children, and they in turn had children; but none of the children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren knew anything about the family Aidan had left. All the customs, traditions, and beliefs of their ancestors were now lost.

One day a man got a disease. He saw no symptoms of the disease right away, though, and so had no reason to think there was anything wrong with his health. Eventually, a rash appeared. The man noticed the rash and promptly bought some ointment that took care of it. Later he developed a headache, but he attributed this to stress and took some medicine to relieve the pain. He developed a cough, stomachache, and fever, but all of these he treated separately and took care of. Finally, the disease caused severe seizures and left him mostly paralyzed. The man cursed the gods for giving him this paralysis, but even then he did not realize that all of these experiences were symptoms of the same disease.

Disabling a warning message is like chopping off your arm and then filling yourself with morphine…there’s still something seriously wrong, but you can’t feel it any more. [Gentoo Forums]

Once there was a pride of lions. These lions hunted gazelle, raised their young, grew old, and died, completing the cycle of life. In the years that the hunt was good, the lions ate well and their numbers increased. In the years when the hunt was scarce, the lions sometimes went hungry and their numbers decreased. So it was also with the gazelle and buffalo and zebras and everything else that lived in the plain: the gods provided and the gods took away.

One day, the lions discovered a large herd of gazelle in a vast valley. For a while, the lions were content to hunt as usual. But one day the lions said to each other, “Look, there are only a few ways into this valley. Let us defend the entrances and deny our competitors entrance. This way, the gazelle will be all ours!” So the lions defended the entrances and drove away the competitors that were already in the valley. Hunting became very easy for the lions, and a great feast was held every night. As the lion’s food supply increased so did their numbers; and as their numbers increased so did the rate of hunting. Most of the lions lived fat, happy lives without ever wanting for food.

One day, however, the lions realized that they had extinguished their food supply–they had hunted the gazelle in the valley out of existence. The lions tried to return to their former hunting grounds, but these had already become occupied by other competitors. This pride of lions soon began to diminish in population. With no food source they eventually died out, cursing the gods with their last dying breath: “Why did the gods allow us to find the valley of gazelle? It would have been better for us if we had lived and hunted as our fathers before us, and their fathers before them, and their fathers before them.”

Everyone know this story. The hare thought he was the fastest creature in all the forest, so he challenged everyone to a race. Only the tortoise replied to this challenge, which greatly amused the hare. As the race began, the hare took off into the distance as the tortoise slowly trod along. Eventually, the hare was so far ahead that he decided to take a nap before finishing the race. However, as he slept, the tortoise slowly continued along his path and eventually won the race.

What’s the moral of this story? Well, it’s not “slow and steady wins the race”. As admirable as the tortoise is, there was absolutely no way he would have won without the hare making a terrible blunder. The moral of the story seems to actually be more focused on the character of the hare: “arrogance often leads to failure”. The record needs to be set straight–I don’t think I was the only one confused by this story in grade school.

A couple had a favorite vacation spot. They would spend as much time as they could manage there, in a tropical and magical atmosphere. This destination always provided them a fresh outlook, compared with the drudgery of daily work. Every time they went on this vacation, they would bring their cameras and journals, with the intent of capturing some of the magical moments they experienced. But they always left without having taken any photos or written anything down. It just seemed better not to try and take those experiences home–and to instead simply look forward to the next time they visited.

A boy died and saw what heaven was like. Doctors managed to revive his body, so he was pulled back to earth to live many more years. His friends and family were all eager to hear what heaven was like. With joy and excitement in his eyes, he happily told them what he saw: “The pears were on fire! Everything smelled of green and nectar, and the food was in the sky.” But his smile faded when he realized that people only understood gibberish from what he was saying. The words he choose could not have been any better, but those who had not shared his experience could not comprehend what he said.

There was a village that lived peacefully in isolation. Everyone’s needs were always met, no one had any wants or needs, and everyone was generally happy. One day, a young boy wished to journey far beyond the village to explore the world. None of the villagers had ever desired to leave their community, but they saw no wrong in allowing the boy his desire. The boy travelled far and wide over the course of three years. He saw and learned new ideas, saw marvelous inventions, and met people from a vast array of cultures. At each destination, he also saw pain, hate, and war unlike anything in his village.

He returned to the village having changed a great deal from all his experiences. He told the village that he could not remain there, but he had to live in the world society. They agreed and he lived his days continuing his exploration. Throughout his life, he always did what he choose and what seemed best, and yet he was never as happy or content as the villagers he left behind. At a very old age he returned to the village, accomplshed yet not as happy as those who greeted him. The village priest came and told the old man that the gods have provided him with the chance to re-live his life in the village and among his people. The man knew he would have been much happier if he had stayed in the village. But he shook his head, for he would not choose to live in the village.

Once there was a boy who decided he needed to have a special golden coin in order to be happy in life. He searched near his home, but was unable to find any. Getting worried that he would never find his source of happiness, he went on a journey across the entire world to search for his treasure. At each stop he found nothing, and with each failure he became more and more worried that he would never be happy in life. Years later, in despair, he returned home. No sooner had he returned when he found his treasure in his very neighborhood! But alas, his despair and worry over the years had grown to such a degree that the possession of his treasure provided him with no happiness at all.

A shepherd had two goats. One goat was obedient and always stayed nearby, while the other goat was reckless and often tried to run away. As the goats grew, the shepherd had to spend more and more time chasing after this goat. One day, the shepherd returned from chasing this goat to find that the other goat had run away, never to be found again.

A girl wanted to get a cat. She went to a farm and found the perfect kitten, but it was too young to go with her. First, the kitten needed to grow and learn about the world, then it could come with her. The girl visited the kitten every day, and watched it grow and mature. One day, the girl was unable to visit her kitten. The next day, she found the kitten had died suddenly.

The next year, she decided to try again. She went to a farm and found the perfect kitten. This time, she took the kitten home with her right away. But the kitten was too small and immature, and soon died.