On Nov 17, 2011, at 9:37 AM, Dieter Brand wrote:
The argument about the superior health of the hunter gatherers is probably exaggerated or based on a small statistical base of a few archeological finds.
See Jared Diamond's article, "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race."
http://www.ditext.com/diamond/mistake.html
or mine, "Is Sustainable Agriculture an Oxymoron?"
http://www.patternliteracy.com/203-is-sustainable-agriculture-an-oxymoron
Not exaggerated. Essentially all the data available show that the shift to agriculture resulted in a huge spike in epidemic disease, shorter lifespan, shrinkage in stature (suggesting poorer nutrition), tooth and bone problems, arthritis, etc. There aren't a lot of sites, it's true, probably no more than 40 or so that cover the transition, but they all show the same thing consistently. We paid a huge price nutritionally for the shift to agriculture (not to mention the loss of freedom, which is far more significant to me).
Okay, I really am procrastinating on writing a tough section of the patterns book. Back to it!
Toby
http://patternliteracy.com
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