'Parasitism is too mild a term for a relationship predicated on the periodic killing of large numbers of human beings.'
That's the question Barbara Ehrenreich tries to answer in her brilliant Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passion of War. Or, to put it more precisely, what predisposes the human species to get caught up in war fever?…
Article comments
76 - Jewels
Silas, virginal meaning yes, I went to site, saw NO DICK....am I missing something?
77 - Bob A. Booey
Is Jewels OK? :) This is some pretty crazy stuff. Is it just me or was she asking me for my penis?
I'll spank you, Jewels :) Settle down, honey.
That is all.
78 - Bob A. Booey
I think Jewels got into Bo Bice's stash.
That is all.
79 - Shark
Booey to Duane: "Your rambling diatribe... has nothing to do with anthropology."
Booey, babe, I know you're a precocious well-read young intellectual whippersnapper, but anthropology as a Science is right up there with Astrology and Dowsing for Water. (And about as useful, too.)
But you knew that, right?
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Best line: DaveNalle as Hank Hill meets Napoleon Dynamite
Booey, babe, you're forgiven. That was about as perfect a capture as I've ever seen.
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NOTE TO LUKE: ["you incipid wench"]
Dude, we already have a barely literate Official Village Idiot on this site;
Please take a number; you'll have to wait your turn.
Thanks,
The Management
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Jewels, Bob, get a room.
PS: I'm always prone to imagine someone like 'Jewels' as a 6' 5" gay Samoan leper -- after all, it IS the internet.
xxoo
Shark [young virile Erroll Flynn type]
80 - Silas Kain
...a 6' 5" gay Samoan leper...
Now THAT was a visual I did not need this early in the morning. I may have to go straight for the day.
81 - Bob A. Booey
Errol Flynn was a gay icon for a reason, Sharky poo :)
Biological anthropology (archaeology and primate evolution studies) is absolutely scientific. Cultural anthropology isn't scientific. I think it's closer to the humanities myself, but it has more and better insights into human culture and social organization than all the mainstream history, sociology and political science literature combined. I feel psychiatry and psychoanalytic literature is useful in much the same way -- it might not be objective or rooted in hard science, but it touches upon certain insights into socialization and culture which are useful in understanding how people develop. They may be cultural fictions or subjective analysis, but they're useful literature with some aspect of truth for the culture they speak to.
And Jewels is an aging house yenta. Get it right.
That is all.
82 - Dave Nalle
>>Folks, that's one of those 'creative anachronism' clubs where on weekends, a buncha grown men dress up like cowboys and have little 'quick draw' contests.<<
Actually, Shark, SASS rules prohibit quick draw competitions. They're too dangerous. Competition is mainly on speed of firing and accuracy.
>>If that ain't some Gay Yankee thang, I don't know what is.<<
Well, it's mostly a southwestern and western activity. Northerners like to dress up in bear skins and pretend to be Natty Bumpo.
Dave
83 - Natalie Bennett
The problem of course is that "science" isn't scientific either, since human factors are always involved - egos (yes mostly male), rivalries, accident, error all contribute to our scientific understandings and misunderstandings..
84 - MCH
"Cowboy Action Shooting is more of a western thing."
- Dave Nalle
Try that silly little game out here in Montana, Nalle - especially in that goofy-looking cowboy hat - and you'll be laughed out of the state.
85 - Nancy
It's spelled "insipid" (unless you meant "incipient" which doesn't scan). I've been accused of several things on this website, but not of being insipid - or incipid - or incipient. That's a first.
86 - Bryce
In argument of the "Men are responsible for war", you have to look at the full biological argument and refer to primates. Female Chimps will band together to fight off males in a group when one or more threatens their way of life. Furthermore, just because something is universal DOESN'T mean that it is instinct, thus because women have no "history" of war doesn't mean it is an instinct against it.
87 - valko
The cause for all wars and human conflicts may be what Dimitar Zahariev refers to as the Emotional Breakdown Syndrome or EBS. In theory, this condition is caused by egological pollution or egological smog. The external mark of EBS is a mark or marks in the nape of the neck. To my knowledge, this mark is not always visible - sometimes it appears after a visualizing EBS test has been used. Dimitar Zahariev has created a methodology aiming to help pople ignore EBS. Needless to say, this is a global problem.