Keith Daggett
ktdoggett@c.im
Never get tired a this un...
"Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.
But no.
Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed.
Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die.
You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food.
You are meat for prowling beasts.
No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.
A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery.
Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts, Mead said."
We are at our best when we serve others.
Be civilized.
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qurly(not curly)joe
qurlyjoe@mstdn.social@ktdoggett
There are a lot of Neanderthal remains showing healed bones. They had a rough life.
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schoolingdiana
schoolingdiana@mstdn.social@ktdoggett This is wonderful. I’m going to share it with my students tomorrow. Some are having trouble wrapping their heads around how to compile their final paper for Winter Quarter, and I think this might just be the ticket to get them to understand the expansiveness that is open to them as writers.
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@ktdoggett Please be civilized for out hope and survival….
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SearingTruth
SearingTruth@universeodon.com"Compassionate citizens make civilization."
SearingTruth
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Keith Daggett
ktdoggett@c.imHow many Margaret Meads do we get in this world?
That is what to hope for.
A woman of women.
We have a Gulmakai Rahib.
I am lucky to have noticed her.
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Gerty Steinblatt
GertyBz@mastodon.art@ktdoggett
In my adult relationships, caring for illness never felt like "serving". I did it solely cos that person improved my life enough to fuel my own altruism, & I hope that was true for them with me.
I think "good deeds" help more when done with legit altruism.
Whenever I've seen helping involve significant sacrifice, it tended to be emotionally toxic, & I think pedestalising sacrifice only helps people sacrifice themselves.
I say let's be more kind more often, especially to ourselves.
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@GertyBz
Yes.
I think of the "seeing others" mind as beyond definition.
You find it in yourself and others, as it is yours and everyone else's.
It is life itself, an anomaly in the rule of the chaotic universe, to be sure, but it is realer than real.
It is not a feeling, nor ephemeral thought.
It is everything.
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Srijit Kumar Bhadra
srijitI am sharing a rebuttal of this story.
Gideon Lasco is an anthropologist and a physician based in Manila, the Philippines. He dug into the origins of a popular story, attributed to Margaret Mead about the original sign of civilization, since the story immediately aroused skepticism on his part. And the more he dug into it, the more it seemed to fall apart. According to Gideon Lasco there is no reliable evidence that Mead said what has been attributed to her.
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coalacroata
coalacroata@botequim.social@ktdoggett I love that story, but I spent a few minutes researching and I'm sorry to say that it looks like another (!) margareth mead anecdote without reputable sources https://www.sapiens.org/culture/margaret-mead-femur/
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Aral Balkan
aral@mastodon.ar.al@ktdoggett Love the story. Sadly, it does seem like it was made up (https://www.sapiens.org/culture/margaret-mead-femur/). Still, point well taken :)
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Coach Pāṇini ®
paninid@mastodon.world@coalacroata @ktdoggett scrolled down until I found this, cuz I’d heard the whole anecdote was a myth
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Coach Pāṇini ®
paninid@mastodon.world@coalacroata @ktdoggett “In our age of misinformation, the spread of this story illustrates the ways that memes and stories can go viral without their creators taking the time to investigate where their cultural references come from.”
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