Sick societies
by Robert B. Edgerton · first published 1992
5mentions
3recommended by
4HN commenters
2015–2019first – last mentioned
75% recommend25% neutral
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…(a Nobel prize winner). Not as organized and methodical as I thought it would be, and half a year later I forgot most of the physical explanations, but it was an interesting read. Robert B. Edgerton, Sick Societies. A thorough examination of the hundreds of horrible examples when "natural" societies studied by anthropologists have customs that are not only bad from our modern Western point of view, but arguably…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗Sick Societies by Robert Edgerton changed my view on pretty much all aspects of mankind. By giving vivid examples of failing or badly functioning and "maladaptive" (processes in) various (indigenous) societies he made…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗Yep. There's a great book called Sick Societies that does a great job dismantling the myth of the noble savage. PNG is one place discussed. IIRC, it also contains some cultures that highly value eating people you betray. The greater the betrayal (as…
on “Witch Burnings in Papua New Guinea” ↗Yes, for example the book "The Impact of Inequality: How to Make Sick Societies Healthier". From the Amazon blurb: "Comparing the United States with other market democracies and one state with another, this book offers irrefutable evidence that unequal societies create poor health,…
on “Poverty is not a personal choice, but a reflection of society” ↗…ultimately, salvation through the advent of free markets, with a small dose of ascetic belt tightening along the way, especially for the East Asian economies." See also: "The Impact of Inequality: How to Make Sick Societies Healthier" by Richard G. Wilkinson And: "The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger" by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett And: "The Price of Inequality" by Joseph E. Stiglitz Another…
on “Post-crash economics: have we learnt nothing?” ↗