NP - All Work and No Play Make the Baining the "Dullest Culture on Earth"

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Really interesting article.  Thanks!

Laura


-----Original Message-----
>From: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>Sent: Aug 1, 2012 10:22 AM
>To: P-list <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: NP - All Work and No Play Make the Baining the "Dullest Culture on Earth"
>
>The Baining are small-scale agriculturalists, who subsist on their
>gardens and the few animals they raise. In their style of life and
>attitudes they are in many ways the opposite of hunter-gatherers,
>including those hunter-gatherers to whom they are closely related.
>Hunter-gatherers love the bush, or forest; value freedom and
>individual initiative; and are extraordinarily playful in their daily
>lives and especially value play among children. Hunter-gatherer
>children are allowed to play all day, every day, from dawn to dusk,
>and in that way they acquire the subsistence skills, social skills,
>and personal traits and values that characterize their culture. In
>contrast, the Baining shun the bush, which they view as chaotic and
>dangerous, and they derogate play, especially that among children.