Margaret Mead on Civilisation

Warrigal

Warrigal

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Something to think about that I just saw on Facebook.

"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.
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I haven't verified the quote but to me it does make a lot of sense.
 

I can remember that Neanderthals were once thought of as senseless and crude brutes until we found evidence of their burial rituals and evidence that crippled members of their community had survived long-term due to being cared for by others.

Margaret Meade was a brilliant and insightful anthropologist, way ahead of her time, who has much to teach us about our roots and origins...
 
Another quote on the subject (often misattributed to Gandhi but actually said by US Vice Pres. Hubert Humphrey at the Hubert Humphrey Bldg. dedication in Washington, DC, 11/1/77):

“...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”

Something that interests me about that observation is that societies that are considered by some as "savage", i.e., hunter/gatherers, seem to be better at caring the the most vulnerable; it appears that once agriculture took hold, it became more of a dog-eat-dog world and it wasn't until the arts became more important that humans starting thinking again how the vulnerable should be treated.
 
"Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts."

Animals have been known to do that, also. There was a video making the rounds a while back of a dog trying to rescue another dog who was injured and trying to pull it off the highway to safety. It was in Peru or Chile from what I remember. Maybe dogs have been domesticated for so long, they've also become "civilized."
 
officerripley said:
Another quote on the subject (often misattributed to Gandhi but actually said by US Vice Pres. Hubert Humphrey at the Hubert Humphrey Bldg. dedication in Washington, DC, 11/1/77):
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However Gandhi did, i believe, make a very pertinent statement on the subject. A reporter asked what he thought of 'Western Civilization' and he replied "It would be an excellent idea!"
 


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