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We tend to take modern society for granted—from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and even obesity—yet for nearly all of its 6 million years of existence, human society had none of these things. Even now, says UCLA Professor Jared Diamond, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs and Steel and the new World Until Yesterday, we still possess bodies and social practices often better adapted to traditional conditions. In fact, he says, traditional societies’ solutions to universal human problems—child rearing, elder care, dispute resolution, risk, and physical fitness—could teach us a lot.
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I have seen Mr. Diamond’s documentaries and facinated by his
findings. Is he traveling to other cities in US for Florida or
any other states? I was under the impression that he would be
in Philadelphia in the Spring but see that he is coming in January.
So disappointed I will miss this event.
I’m fascinated with this topic now. I recently married a man from a traditional African society and we’re planning to move (back) to his village in about 10 years. Outside of my idealistic fantasies and his nostalgic reminiscings I’m hoping this book will give me a framework for intellectually approaching this radical change in cultural circumstances.
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