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| Humans with a different kind of civilization; How could it happen? | |
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| Topic Started: Jun 5 2010, 08:26 AM (620 Views) | |
| Dean | Jun 5 2010, 08:26 AM Post #1 |
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Infant
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I have an idea about an alternate path which humanity might have followed. But the big question is, could this have worked or not? How would the 2010 of this world look like? Homo sapiens sapiens evolves the same way as it did in our world, but here a big difference in lifestyle occurs: A culture is developed in which predatory mammals like wolves, big cats and bears are highly respected and humans spend much time observing them, and trying to mimic their lifestyles as hard as they can. Meanwhile both intelligence and strenght is respected, but only practical intelligence, which could lead towards better hunting techniques, more stable housing against bad weather and more and more uses for fire. The kind of thinking which could lead towards artistic, proto-religious and proto-moral tendencies, and friendly behavior between the small tribes which these humans form, is not only heavily discouraged but even punished by death. Educating eachother is also disrespected but educating oneself by observing predatory mammals and the world around oneself is encouraged. Edited by Dean, Jun 5 2010, 08:50 AM.
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| Ammonite | Jun 5 2010, 09:37 AM Post #2 |
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Adolescent
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Wolves and other large predators move around all the time. If the humans wanted to mimic their behaviour and hunting techniques, why are they becoming more sedentary?
Why? Besides which, this emulation of large carnivores very much fits the social-oriented definition of a religion.
Hmmm...that is an interesting way of promoting the feral aspect of the culture and keeping its connection to and reliance on nature. |
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| Dean | Jun 5 2010, 09:52 AM Post #3 |
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Infant
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They aren't becoming more sedentary, but they do make temporary camps, and while they do mimic the behavior of predators, their survival instinct is still there, and if they are capable of making something that will protect them from the elements, they'll do it.
Basically, they know that the most important thing to humans is to get pleasure, and because of this, thinkers who promote the idea of "sacrifice some of your pleasures but be more humaine to others" are very unpopular. Yes, the emulating of large carnivores is similar to a religion. Religious behavior that is about acting more civilized towards others, discouraging pleasure, and explaining things with made-up instead of observable explanations to achieve these goals is the behavior that is discouraged. Art is also discouraged because it can alter people's minds to different thinking patterns. Here, humans have more respect towards predators than towards other humans. Edited by Dean, Jun 5 2010, 09:55 AM.
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| Ammonite | Jun 5 2010, 10:46 AM Post #4 |
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Adolescent
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I see. Good idea, since humans are more sensitive toward the weather than other animals.
But some of the things you listed do give pleasure to people. In particular, art arose to give pleasure to people by fueling their creative side. I don't think it would be possible for a human society to get rid of artistic expression even if they wanted to.
Ah, OK. That's pretty clever. I never thought of it that way.
Maybe if the person was trying to create art for the sake of other people, but most people - aside from those who need to make a living off of it - create art for their own pleasure and don't usually care what others think of it.
For some reason this reminds me of Primal Rage...it is an interesting concept, that's for sure. |
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| dialforthedevil | Jun 8 2010, 02:35 PM Post #5 |
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Frumentarii Administrator
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Would the predators completely dominate humans as if they did I am guessing they would avoid intruding on a bears hunting ground or would they try and out do the predators in their own style? Also if this way of thinking began around the ice ages would saber tooths and short faced bears survive since humans revere them so greatly and if one of these predatory species became extinct what would be the cultural impact? |
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| Holben | Jun 8 2010, 02:38 PM Post #6 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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i'm not sure many of the extinct marsupials could survive a shotgun attack though... |
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Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea. "It is the old wound my king. It has never healed." | |
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| Ammonite | Jun 8 2010, 03:31 PM Post #7 |
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Adolescent
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How/why would shotguns even be invented if people revered and emulated large carnivores? |
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| dialforthedevil | Jun 8 2010, 03:37 PM Post #8 |
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Frumentarii Administrator
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I think he posted on the wrong topic by accident |
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Please come visit A Scientfic Fantasy http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3433014/1/ ALSO!!! JOIN THE NEW RPG SITE!!! FOR ALL MEMBERS!!! IM GOING TO RUN MA GLOBAL SIMULATORS THERE!!! http://s4.zetaboards.com/jasonguppy/index/ Join the Campaign to save minotaurs from extinction!!! (include this in your signature to show your support!) | |
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| Pando | Jun 8 2010, 03:40 PM Post #9 |
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Obey or I'll send you to the moon
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I don't think he did. |
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| Holben | Jun 9 2010, 02:21 PM Post #10 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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Reverence and emulation don't necessarily mean you'll let the marauder rip your family and home apart, Ammonite. |
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Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea. "It is the old wound my king. It has never healed." | |
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| Ammonite | Jun 9 2010, 05:55 PM Post #11 |
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Adolescent
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Maybe not, but if you emulate a large carnivore like a wolf or a bear to such an extent, you are going to idolize that animal's way of hunting, attacking, and defending itself. None of the ways in which any of the large carnivores attack suggests anything to the effect of a shotgun. Besides which, how and where could these people get the idea to develop a shotgun? Who did they get the idea from? Where, and how, are they getting the resources and then the methods of constructing a shotgun? Aside from the fact that these are probably a pre-Iron Age people and hence know nothing on producing Iron in the first place, they have a culture that is fundamentally different than any sedentary culture that is around today. Or has ever existed, for that matter. So there is that communication issue to work out as well. Even if someone tried to teach these people how to construct and use a shotgun, who do you think the people are more likely to listen to? Some strange human, or the animals they revere and emulate? Remember what the OP said their views on other humans were. |
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| colddigger | Jun 9 2010, 07:47 PM Post #12 |
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Joke's over! Love, Parasky
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Sounds like a mixture of animal worship and satanism. I doubt this would last long as once a person realizes that biting and clawing is less efficient than stabbing and poison and trapping they will view these wolves and lions and bears as competition or even merely prey. If they supported pleasure, 'savagery', and killing what better way than to kill competition and gain food, tools, and fur as well? |
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7:13 PM Jul 10