Readers should know that ‘anarchism’ is a very common philosophy among American cultural anthropologists and a definite turn off for me prior to leaving the field. Graeber’s book - Bullshit Jobs - is also polemical and reflects his disgust with modern bureaucracies (probably academia specifically). This review really reminded me of the long standing problem in American anthropology - the temptation to search for some superior, lost way of life in the sands of pre-agricultural time....the fact that there is little way we could ever know what was going on, because there is simply no meaningful data source...Many cultural anthropologists project their own personal alienation from modern life, which is sometimes due to neurodiversity, onto their native societies. It’s a long standing problem with the field.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau didn't invent the "blank slate" image and obviously, as seen in this book and detailed analysis by Rob, he won't be the last. Always a mystery why so many are stuck to the "anti-hierarchy" flagpole. J.B. Peterson and his lobster analogy provides excellent support for the idea that dominance hierarchies are older than trees! Thanks, again Rob; many readers trust to you ferret out worthy and unworthy nuggets.
Thanks, Rob, for doing the real spadework in this review on this scholarship ad absurdum.
So glad you did this review. I will not waste my time on what sounds to be like wishful thinking and hogwash.
Thanks I’ll skip this book...
I usually try to read anything Nassim Taleb recommends. Looks like this might be the exception…
Readers should know that ‘anarchism’ is a very common philosophy among American cultural anthropologists and a definite turn off for me prior to leaving the field. Graeber’s book - Bullshit Jobs - is also polemical and reflects his disgust with modern bureaucracies (probably academia specifically). This review really reminded me of the long standing problem in American anthropology - the temptation to search for some superior, lost way of life in the sands of pre-agricultural time....the fact that there is little way we could ever know what was going on, because there is simply no meaningful data source...Many cultural anthropologists project their own personal alienation from modern life, which is sometimes due to neurodiversity, onto their native societies. It’s a long standing problem with the field.
It is surprising that Taleb endorsed this book.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau didn't invent the "blank slate" image and obviously, as seen in this book and detailed analysis by Rob, he won't be the last. Always a mystery why so many are stuck to the "anti-hierarchy" flagpole. J.B. Peterson and his lobster analogy provides excellent support for the idea that dominance hierarchies are older than trees! Thanks, again Rob; many readers trust to you ferret out worthy and unworthy nuggets.