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

[David Morris]

These people really do sound like the product of science fiction.

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:52 AM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Fascinating, yes, thanks..
>
> I'll bet some Pynchon resonances are circulating in playful minds....
>
> From: "kelber at mindspring.com" <kelber at mindspring.com>
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Sent: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 10:53 AM
>
> Subject: Re: NP - All Work and No Play Make the Baining the "Dullest Culture
> on Earth"
>
> 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.
>
>
>