Re: Will there be time to Relax?

phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu
Wed, 10 Nov 1999 12:57:45 -0800

Robin Hanson <rhanson@gmu.edu> wrote:

> > > .... We do know that in situations of extreme poverty,such as
> > > during famine, people show the *least* social bonding. And as we have
> > > gotten richer, we have spent more time on activities whose primary purpose
> > > I think is social bonding: leisure, education, and health care. ...

People also come together in crises, sometimes.

But we evolved in a cyclical environment. It'd make sense to bond during plenty, and use the bonds during hard times. Anthropologists think they see this in the gift cultures of a lot of gatherer and peasant societies: one person with a big kill or bumper crop throws a feast, spreading the wealth. Primitive insurance.

-xx- Damien X-)