RE: The mistake of agriculture (was: evolution and diet)

From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri May 23 2003 - 14:38:32 MDT

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    Ramez Naam wrote:

    > Diamond seems to have changed his mind on this over the
    > years. The article you quote was written in 1987. In _Guns,
    > Germs, and Steel_ he comes back to the topic with a softer
    > tone. In particular he concludes that hunter gatherers do
    > NOT have more leisure time than farmers. And certainly he
    > makes it obvious that agricultural societies had massive
    > competitive advantages over HG societies.

    I don't think Diamond's '87 article states anywhere that agricultural
    societies did not have a competitive advantage over HG societies, so I'm not
    sure why you mention it.

    The question of leisure time has always been a matter of controversy, so
    it's not surprising that Diamond might have changed his mind on this
    subject. If you have his book handy then I would be grateful if you could
    quote a passage in which he states his opinion that paleolithic peoples did
    not have more leisure time than moderns.

    -gts

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