Don't Sleep, there are snakes

[Lozzer]

Considering buying the book by Daniel Everett, is it worth it? They sound fascinating, and I'd like to use them as an ethnographic example in my upcoming anthropology exam. How much of the book is simply a biography? I need an account of the Piraha culture more than anything else.

[Pappa]

It's a great book. I highly recommend it.

[Lozzer]

It's a great book. I highly recommend it.

Sweet!

What's their religious perspective, by the way? I know they rejected Christianity due to its irrelevance, but I've heard they have a hardened belief in spirits. I mean this in terms of opposites, do they have good V evil represented in the little myth that they have?

[Pappa]

The anti-Chomskian rant gets a bit tiring at times, but otherwise it's excellent.

The religious take is interesting. They won't believe anything exists or happened unless they either saw it themselves or it was seen by a person they know (so mythology is out). They also have an interesting "shit happens" take on life. Get it and read it. It's interesting from an anthropological perspective, but also interesting to see the process of a missionary abandoning his faith due to theological conflict.

[Lozzer]

The anti-Chomskian rant gets a bit tiring at times, but otherwise it's excellent.

The religious take is interesting. They won't believe anything exists or happened unless they either saw it themselves or it was seen by a person they know (so mythology is out). They also have an interesting "shit happens" take on life. Get it and read it. It's interesting from an anthropological perspective, but also interesting to see the process of a missionary abandoning his faith due to theological conflict.

Awesome, but opposites, do they have good V evil typical in every culture?

[Twoflower]

The anti-Chomskian rant gets a bit tiring at times, but otherwise it's excellent.

The religious take is interesting. They won't believe anything exists or happened unless they either saw it themselves or it was seen by a person they know (so mythology is out). They also have an interesting "shit happens" take on life. Get it and read it. It's interesting from an anthropological perspective, but also interesting to see the process of a missionary abandoning his faith due to theological conflict.

Awesome, but opposites, do they have good V evil typical in every culture?

I read it over the summer, they don't really have a good v evil thing, they are more pragmatic. If someone does something wrong or evil they are shunned from the rest of the group.

[Lozzer]

The anti-Chomskian rant gets a bit tiring at times, but otherwise it's excellent.

The religious take is interesting. They won't believe anything exists or happened unless they either saw it themselves or it was seen by a person they know (so mythology is out). They also have an interesting "shit happens" take on life. Get it and read it. It's interesting from an anthropological perspective, but also interesting to see the process of a missionary abandoning his faith due to theological conflict.

Awesome, but opposites, do they have good V evil typical in every culture?

I read it over the summer, they don't really have a good v evil thing, they are more pragmatic. If someone does something wrong or evil they are shunned from the rest of the group.

Does this contradict Strauss' structuralist premise?

[Twoflower]

The anti-Chomskian rant gets a bit tiring at times, but otherwise it's excellent.

The religious take is interesting. They won't believe anything exists or happened unless they either saw it themselves or it was seen by a person they know (so mythology is out). They also have an interesting "shit happens" take on life. Get it and read it. It's interesting from an anthropological perspective, but also interesting to see the process of a missionary abandoning his faith due to theological conflict.

Awesome, but opposites, do they have good V evil typical in every culture?

I read it over the summer, they don't really have a good v evil thing, they are more pragmatic. If someone does something wrong or evil they are shunned from the rest of the group.

Does this contradict Strauss' structuralist premise?

Read the book and find out.

[charlou]

Intrigued .. will look this one up.

[Ronja]

A couple of months ago I spent almost two hours in the non-fiction section of the Academic Bookstore, choosing between this and four other books, but had to leave it then due to not wanting to spend all too much. I may ask for it for my birthday, or get it myself later. I am pretty sure I will enjoy it - the alternating between autobiography, describing the Pirana culture, pondering about religion and describing the Pirana language seemed fascinating. There is a lot about the language in it - if linguistics isn't your cup of tea, you should be able to skip those passages tolerably easily.