John Schinnerer
Oct 20, 2023

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A belief that aboriginal/indigenous societies were 'simple' blinds us to the brilliance of their actual designs . In fact they were demonstrably more complex in numerous cases. Read up on Australian Aboriginal culture for starters, as it's the oldest we know much about. Their social relations are intricately interwoven and interdependent, at all scales from interpersonal to continental. And, significantly, include all life, not just humans. By comparison, contemporary power-over societies, which are mostly autocratic or oligarchic patriarchies, are 'simple' - crude is perhaps a better word to capture their essence. They lack holistic complexity present in numerous aboriginal/indigenous societies - complexity which provides built-in "psychosocial integration," and benefits thereof.

We have plenty of examples to look to - and, doing so may require more humility than contemporary adolescent society can muster.

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John Schinnerer
John Schinnerer

Written by John Schinnerer

A generalist in a hyper-specialized society. "How we do what we do is who we are becoming." - Humberto Maturana

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